Weekly News Update: Jul 5, 2024
29 Jun - 5 Jul 2024
Good morning and Happy (belated) Independence Day,
It’s a short week with the markets and much of the government closed yesterday and today.
The United Kingdom has a new government this morning, following an historic referendum on the Tories. NATO seeks to future-proof Ukraine aid, hedging against a potential Trump presidency. Russia and China are teaming up to mass-produce attack drones. Russia is also reverse engineering the guidance system on an intact ATACMS missile (ruh roh). China tried sending miltary drones to Libya, but Italy intercepted the shipment. Israel and Iranian-backed Hezbollah are slowly inching towards war, even as a potential Gaza ceasefire is back on the table. AI remains the ‘it sector’ as military leaders eye it, while some analysts warn of a pending dot.com type bursting bubble.
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
House passes defense spending bill amid F-35, submarine purchase spats (DN)
Air Force requests more money for drone wingmen effort (BD)
Air Force Secretary: Next-gen fighter not dead, needs cheaper redesign (DN)
Navy commander who oversaw 'unprecedented' Red Sea battle says the US Navy needs to make sure it's ready for a drone fight (BI)
Marine Corps looking to make MQ-9 drones stealthy with special pods (DS)
US Central Command to demo integrated counter drone sensors this fall (C4)
Defense Tech Opportunities
The Army’s DEVCOM is seeking information about technologies related to navigational warfare (SAM)
Europe, Russia, the Arctic, NATO, and the war in Ukraine
Britain wakes up to new government as Labour Party wins election in a landslide (NBC)
US to give $2.3Bn more in military aid to Ukraine (AP)
Kansas man pleads guilty to selling aviation tech to Russia (AP)
German arms exports on track to hit record high again (DN)
NATO members Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey activate Black Sea naval task force (DN)
NATO seeks to ‘Trump-proof’ Ukraine aid (WSJ)
Russia warns of possible response to US drone flights over Black Sea (MT)
China and Russia are collaborating to develop an attack drone similar to Iran's Shahed, European officials say (BI)
China, Korea, and Asia
US Marine head: Marine Corps wants to shut down sea lines of communication in a Pacific fight (USNI)
US adds six companies to trade restriction list, four for training China's military (RT)
Satellites show expanded Chinese spy bases in Cuba (WSJ)
As it prepare for China conflict, Taiwan is drawing lessons from Ukraine’s war (WP)
China is turning to private firms for offensive cyber operations (DO)
China considers drone-only response to US drone ‘hellscape’ for defense of Taiwan (SCMP)
North Korea brags of new missile with ‘super-large warhead’ (AP)
Middle East and Africa
Biden tells Netanyahu: It's "time to close" Gaza hostage-ceasefire deal (AX)
Italy seizes Chinese military drones heading to Libya, authorities say (DN)
Houthis use public tracking data to target merchant ships (DO)
US struggles to deter Houthi threat as crisis spirals (TH)
Israel and Hezbollah lurch closer to war (BBG)
U.S. Defense Industry News
Skynode S: Auterion autonomy kit lets attack drones fly through jamming (BD)
Blue Origin, Stoke Space join Space Force pool of small launch vendors (BD)
P-8 LRASM testing expected to wrap this summer, Boeing official says (BD)
US will criminally charge Boeing and seek a guilty plea (BBG)
DZYNE’s Ultra Long-Endurance Tactical Reconnaissance Aircraft flies for three days straight (DO)
Kratos’ Erinyes test vehicle logs hypersonic speeds on first flight (C4)
Supercomputer cloud services Rescale and ParallelWork greenlit by Pentagon's innovation office (DO)
Foreign Defense Industry News
Australia aims to boost local arms production; so far it’s leaning foreign (DN)
BAE Systems receives UK Sting Ray torpedo MLU assessment contract (BD)
BAE cuts steel on first anti-submarine frigate for Australia (DN)
Construction begins on new fleet of warships for Royal Canadian Navy (DN)
Spurned by KNDS, Leonardo teams with Rheinmetall for Italy’s new tanks (DN)
Italy signs deal for final submarine in four-strong U-212 NFS series (DN)
Finland selects SNC’s RAPCON-X for MVX border surveillance jet program (BD)
Space
House appropriators cut $205M from NASA budget (SN)
Space Force working with SpaceX to closely watch falling Starlinks (BD)
Russia plans to create core of new space station by 2030 (RT)
India looks to build its own ‘Space Coast’ (NIE)
Japan successfully launches its H3 rocket (BBG)
The Soviets built a space radar from a battleship, now Ukraine is trying to destroy it (FRB)
Nuclear Power & Weapons
Trump advisors call for renewed nuclear testing, if he’s elected (NYT)
AI, Robotics, & other Frontier Tech
Pentagon wants to make AI acceleration initiative a long-term fixture (C4)
Army Futures Command’s Gen. Rainey reflects on AI’s potential in modern warfare (DS)
UN adopts Chinese resolution with US support on closing the gap in access to artificial intelligence (AP)
DARPA wants to use AI to find new rare minerals (DO)
Pentagon’s network defense command improving readiness of cyber defenders (DS)
Pentagon to issue guidance on open radio access networks to support 5G (C4)
Echoes of dotcom bubble haunt AI-driven US stock market (RT)
A&D-Focused Finance
Defense tech and ‘resilience’ get global funding sources: Here are some top funders (TC)
EU bank, NATO fund partner to support European defense businesses (DN)
Industry Ventures raised $900M for its seventh hybrid fund to invest in startups and emerging VCs (TC)
VC Kleiner Perkins raised over $2B across two new funds—including hard tech and AI investments (TC)
J2 Ventures raises $150M Fund II for dual-use investments (TC)
LiveEO raised €25M ($26.9M) in Series B funding to expand its team (SG)
Eve Air Mobility, an eVTOL aircraft manufacturer, raised $94M from Embraer, Nidec and others (PRN)
Boeing agreed to acquire Spirit AeroSystems in a $4.7B all-stock deal (RT)
Nokia will acquire optical telecom equipment maker Infinera in a $2.3B cash and stock deal (RT)
US small jet manufacturer Cirrus plans to raise up to $197M at a $1.3B valuation in a Hong Kong IPO (RT)
Important Reads
Mark Cancian suggests ways to continue advancing precision guided munitions to help the US keep its edge.
Lighter Side
Keep building!
Andrew