Weekly News Update: Jul 19, 2024
13 - 19 Jul 2024
Good morning,
We made it to Friday in an intense week. COVID is surging, leaving the President and much of the US sick. Speaking of sick, a sick individual attempted to assassinate former President and Republican Nominee Trump. Somebody dropped $44.5M to buy a stegosaurus skeleton (not hating, just jealous). The world woke up this morning to find IT systems paralyzed by a botched Crowdstrike cybersecurity update. Cybersecurity is a growing concern for the DoD, along with digital modernization, hypersonic defenses, and CJADC2.
The ranks of unicorns in DefenseTech got a new member today as Saronic announced a $1Bn valuation as it raised a $175M Series B.
Let’s dive in to these and other issues surrounding aerospace and defense technology.
Weekly News Round Up
Military
U.S. Defense modernization and innovation
Pentagon inspector general to put the microscope on hypersonic defenses, CJADC2 ‘strategy’ (BD)
Audit finds flaws in Pentagon’s 2019 digital modernization strategy (DS)
DARPA picks UT Austin to house microelectronics manufacturing hub (DN)
Defense Innovation Board calls to resurrect Acquisition Technology & Logistics office, but with new name (BD)
DIB recommends new undersecretariat for Internat’l Industrial Cooperation (DS)
Air Force plans ‘sprint week’ to experiment with ABMS solutions from industry (DS)
Army looks to use hypervelocity projectiles in new cannon (DDN)
Navy missile intercepts target using Army’s new missile defense radar (DN)
Defense Tech Opportunities
Navy seeks industry feedback on new maritime strike weapon for ‘coalition’ (SAM)
Air Force issues presolicitation for ~$99M next-gen target tracking (SAM)
NASA GSFC released an RFI seeking spacecraft options for the AOS Storm program (SAM)
Europe, Russia, the Arctic, NATO, and the war in Ukraine
Russia conscripts 150,000 troops as Ukraine says it needs more arms (NBC)
German businessman convicted of delivering components to Russian firms (DN)
Cyprus plans to build a major naval base to play a larger geopolitical role (AP)
EU's von der Leyen vows security focus before vote on top job (BBC)
New UK government orders review of ‘hollowed out’ armed forces (DN)
China, Korea, and Asia
US close to sending $2 billion in security aid across the IndoPacific (DN)
US renews call on China to stop aggressive actions in disputed sea (AP)
Sister of N Korean leader Kim hints at resuming flying trash balloons toward S Korea (AP)
DoD is developing the Regional Sustainment Framework in the IndoPacific (DoD)
Middle East and Africa
Iranian proxies attack US base in Iraq for the first time in months (MT)
Lebanon files complaint with UN over alleged Israeli GPS jamming (BD)
U.S. Defense Industry News
Pentagon to expand industry pool for CJADC2 experimentation (DN)
Defense AI chief seeks host of industry players for global battle network (BD)
US Air Force deploys Beta's Alia electric aircraft prototype (AIN)
Space Force revamps GA-EMS weather demo contract: $380M through 2030, second bird (BD)
Google Cloud unveils new appliance to bring cloud, AI to ‘tactical edge’ (BD)
Navy issues HII $78M contract mod that includes quality-of-life facility at Newport News (USNI)
US taps IBM to help boost cyber defenses in Europe and beyond (DO)
Leidos secured a $476M contract from NASA to continue providing cargo mission engineering and integration services for its ISS and Artemis programs (WE)
Planet Labs scored a seven-figure deal for a pilot program from an unnamed international ministry of defense customer for its PlanetScope data (VS)
Redwire nabbed a contract to develop roll-out solar array wings for Thales Alenia Space’s Inspire satellites (RW)
Foreign Defense Industry News
Concepts expected soon for NATO's next-gen rotorcraft (DO)
How Europe’s next-generation combat jet aims to catch the AI wave (DN)
Aussie passive radar becomes first kit delivered for AIR6500 missile defense system (BD)
Aussies splash out $140M AUD for tactical drones (BD)
Canada announces plan to buy 12 under-ice submarines (USNI)
Egypt’s Benha Electronics teams with France’s Thales to coproduce military comms devices (BD)
India unveils light tank designed for operations near the China border (DN)
Italy Air Force eyes new tanker competition after dropping Boeing buy (DN)
MBDA eyes a long-range strike missile boom in Europe (DN)
Slovenia picks howitzers, air defense systems and armored vehicles (DN)
Space
Chief of Space Force sees ‘room’ for space capabilities in AUKUS Pillar II (BD)
SPACECOM boss has ‘full confidence’ SpaceX will return to flights quickly (ASF)
Vacant chairs popping up at Pentagon’s space policy shop (BD)
Musk will move X and SpaceX HQs from California to Texas (WSJ)
Nuclear Power & Weapons
China suspends nuclear talks with the US over Taiwan arms sales (WP)
Sentinel ICBM work to continue while Air Force restructures to cut sky-high costs (BD)
NC3 space systems face critical modernization challenges, new study finds (BD)
North Korea threatens to bolster nuclear weapons (AP)
AI, Robotics, & other Frontier Tech
Pentagon’s new cyber rules are ‘stifling’ foreign suppliers, advisors say (DO)
The Pentagon's generative-AI task force is trying to answer a lot of questions (DO)
Pentagon network defense arm conducting intelligence for cyber pilot (DS)
Senators amplify concerns about pace of fielding AI-enabled counter-drone systems (DS)
From basement to battlefield: Ukrainian startups create low-cost robots to fight Russia (AP)
Former Joint Chiefs Chairman: one-third of US military could be robotic by 2039 (MT)
OpenAI is in talks with Broadcom to make its own AI chips (TI)
A&D-Focused Finance
Tech race spurs US investment in new defense suppliers (AX)
European Investment Bank pledges €350M to largest Spanish VC fund for deeptech and space investments (BBG)
Autonomous boat maker Saronic raises $175M Series B—nine month after its Series A—valuing the company at more than $1Bn, led by a16z (WT)
Fusion power startup Marathon Fusion raised a $5.9M seed round led by 1517 Fund and Anglo American (TC)
Ship builder H&W is in talks with Riverstone Credit Partners for an emergency loan (FT)
Blackstone, CVC, and Veritas are weighing bids for Carlyle-backed aircraft maintenance provider StandardAero at a potential ~$10B valuation, including debt (BBG)
KBR agreed to buy defense engineering contractor LinQuest from PE firm Madison Dearborn Partners in a $737M cash deal (WSJ)
Airbus and Thales are in early stage talks to merge some of their space activities (FT)
Alphabet is in advanced talks to acquire cybersecurity startup Wiz for ~$23B (WSJ)
Important Reads
Executives from Orbit Fab explain why refuellable satellites offer an edge in an increasingly threatened space.
FT published an exclusive piece on how Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley funded the sudden rise of JD Vance.
Lighter Side
Keep building!
Andrew