Weekly News Update: July 21, 2023
15 - 21 Jul 2023
Good morning!
54 years ago, yesterday, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to step on the moon. Today, we’re in a race to return as Artemis II astronauts train in Texas, Russia’s Lunar-25 lander prepares for launch, India’s Chandrayaan-3 craft moves closer to the moon, and China unveils its timeline for its new lunar-capable spacecraft.
But the news isn’t only about space and the moon, this week. Goldman Sachs’ has cut its probability of a U.S. recession; of course, the Leading Economic Index disagrees, suggesting a recession will begin shortly. Tech giants are ramping up efforts to keep pace with OpenAI. Congress’ puts NASA’s Mars Sample Return fate in question. A U.S. soldier fled to North Korea. Security at nuclear sites, world wide, has gotten too lax. Wagner Group head Prigozhin has seemingly surfaced in Belarus. And China’s rhetoric grows ever more bellicose towards the United States.
Read about the most important stories related to the aerospace & defense industries and the impact on national security below. And have a great weekend. No spoilers on Oppenheimer though. I’m still angry from 1997 at that guy that told me how Titanic would end.
Weekly News Round Up
Military
Europe, Russia, the Arctic, NATO, and the war in Ukraine
Ukraine strikes Kerch Strait Bridge linking Russia, Crimea (RT)
One in four Wagner fighters in Ukraine killed; half wounded (Pol)
Wagner Group appears to be in Belarus, training Belarusian fighters (WP)
… including chief Prigozhin (BI)
Putin proposes Andrey Troshev as new head of Wagner Group (CNN)
Putin claims Russia has ‘sufficient stockpile’ of cluster bombs (MT)
Russia may be preparing attacks on civilian shipping around Ukraine (NPR)
U.S. approves $1.3B package of long-term military aid for Ukraine (MT)
U.S. to send 3,000 more reservists to Europe, angering some Republicans (MT)
Fearful of a Trump return, Senate votes to make NATO withdrawal harder (DN)
Senate defense bill grants U.S. training assistance to Kosovo (DN)
China, Korea, and Asia
China accuses U.S. of militarizing space, protests Taiwan Straight plane (C4)
China’s Washington envoy warns of retaliation against further US tech curbs (RT)
U.S. ambassador to China hacked in China-linked spying operation (WSJ)
U.S., S. Korea host airpower drill in response to North’s ICBM launch (S&S)
N. Korea fires 2 short-range missiles into the sea (MT)
US soldier held in North Korea after crossing border (WSJ)
U.S.S. Ronald Reagan makes port call in Bali (USNI)
Nuclear capable U.S. submarine makes first call in S. Korea in 40 years (CNN)
China, Russia begin air, sea drills in Sea of Japan (RT)
Japan, France to hold first-ever joint fighter jet drill next week (RT)
Middle East and Africa
U.S. Navy cargo ship runs aground in Bahrain (S&S)
U.S. sending jets, warship to Gulf to protect ships from Iranian seizure (MT)
Russian jet spies on U.S. base in Syria (S&S)
Russian fighter jet flies dangerously close to U.S. warplane over Syria (AP)
Israeli reservists threaten not to serve over gov’t-planned judicial changes (AP)
Sudan army returns for talks in Jeddah as war enters fourth month (AlJ)
U.K. sanctions Wagner-linked officials in three African countries (AlJ)
U.S. Defense modernization and innovation
House narrowly passes defense bill after Democrats defect over social issues (DN)
… Senate takes on NDAA, budget debates (MT)
Senate wants to consider an independent Cyber Force (ASF)
White House unveils cybersecurity labeling program for smart devices (C4)
Defense Innovation Board pushes ‘Oasis’ fund for promising tech (C4)
Vice Chairman: ‘JADC2 is a mindset’ not ‘single technology’ (C4)
Data analytics firm Govini warns U.S. behind China on tech advancements (DN)
Retired Army generals dissent on shift from Brigades to Division (Mil)
Navy Information Forces pushing sailors to keep pace with changing tech (USNI)
U.S. Defense Industry News
Anduril providing Lattice software to Space Force for surveillance sensors (SN)
GM Defense is working with the Defense Innovation Unit to bring electric power to the battlefield (DN)
HII, Babcock announce partnership on nuclear decoms, construction (BD)
Lockheed projects higher sales as war boosts orders (WSJ)
… but will lose hundreds of millions over delayed F-35 deliveries (DO)
Lockheed secures $221M Army deal for air defense laser prototype (BD)
Plasan to supply armored cab for AM General’s JLTV (DN)
ULA Vulcan schedule delays launch of Air Force Research Lab navigation satellite (C4)
U.S. State Dept clears $2.9B sale of AMRAAM missiles to Germany (DN)
Foreign Defense Industry News
China’s J-20 fighter seems to have anew homegrown engine, after years of struggle (BD)
U.K. lawmakers’ report lambasts acquisition of 3 E-7 Wedgetails for $2.5B (BD)
…as Air Chiefs from U.S., U.K., Australia align on intent to co-develop E-7 (ASF)
U.K. reducing New Medium Helicopter buy to 25-35 aircraft: Airbus exec (BD)
U.K. defense plan zeroes in on replenishing weapons stockpiles (DN)
British chief spy discloses use of AI in disrupting Russian weapons flow (AP)
Elbit Systems opens R&D, manufacturing facility in U.K. (DN)
Hungary orders Hero kamikaze drones from Rheinmetall-UVision (C4)
Italy explores seafloor drones to protect vital cables (DN)
Turkey’s defense and aerospace exports grew sharply in 2022 (DN)
Turkish Aerospace, Aselsan ink $2B in deals to upgrade F-16 jets (DN)
Saudi Arabia buys Turkish drones during Erdogan’s visit (AlJ)
Saab looks for M&A opportunities abroad, hopes Sweden’s NATO entry boosts GlobalEye chances (BD)
Serbia looks to join Spain, Colombia on surveillance drone program (C4)
Space
U.S. Space Force to open national security space launch to third provider (C4)
… over concerns about capacity (SN)
U.S. Space Force head wants to protect Allies from anti-satellite attacks (WSJ)
NASA’s 2024 budget could spell the end of the Mars Sample Return (AT)
China looks to launch next-gen crewed spacecraft as early as 2027 (RT)
Venezuela signs up with China-Russia ILRS lunar plans (SN)
Musk’s new AI company aims to solve mysteries of the universe (FX)
Portugal earmarks 9.2M EUR for its space agency (PN)
SpaceX forecasts $8B in revenue, $3B profits by 2028 (TI)
Rocketlab recovers Electron booster following launch of 7 smallsats (SN)
Space debris washes up on Australian beach (TG)
Nuclear Power & Weapons
Watchdog: Global security of nuclear materials down for first time (WP)
U.S. projected to spend $117B on nuke command and control in next decade (C4)
Pro-nuclear organizations urges Senate to oppose re-nomination of NRC commissioner Jeff Baran (YF)
Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Energy, and other cool tech
Apple tests generative AI tools to rival OpenAI's ChatGPT (RT)
Meta opens AI model to commercial use, throwing nascent market into flux (RT)
Microsoft closes at record high after revealing pricing for AI subscription (CNBC)
McKinsey partners with startup Cohere to help clients adopt generative AI (RT)
Figure, a Bay-area robotics startup, received a $9M investment from Intel Capital (TC)
Apple supplier TSMC delays start of Arizona chip factory (CNBC)
Lithuania's PVcase, which develops software for solar power systems, has raised $100 million from Highland Europe, Energize Ventures and Elephant (BI)
Terabase Energy, a startup building digital and automation solutions for solar power plants, raised a $25M round led by Fifth Wall (BW)
AI and robotics startup Neura Robotics raised $55M in funding led by Lingotto, Vsquared Ventures, Primepulse, and HV Capital (FN)
Optalysys, a startup developing photonic processing tech, raised a $27.4M Series A led by Lingotto, imec.xpand, and Northern Gritstone (FN)
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Important Reads
York Space Systems’ Charles Beames discusses the need to accelerate the speed of acquisitions to secure space, in race with China, suggesting “best schedule” over “lowest price” as key criterion.
CB Insights has released their State of Venture Q2’23 Report.
Seraphim has released its Space Index looking at the trends related to the private space industry.
Lighter Side
Meteor and Milky Way over the Alps | Image Credit & Copyright: Nicholas Roemmelt (Venture Photography)
Keep building!
Andrew