Weekly News Update: May 17, 2024
11 - 17 May 2024
Good morning,
Russian President Vladimir Putin seems intent on continuing his disastrous war in Ukraine. To that end, he has initiated a purge of his defense ministry, sacking Sergei Shoigu—the long standing defense minister—and has directed his army to begin a new offensive in and around Kharkiv in Ukraine’s south. This campaign seems to be gaining territory slowly, as Ukraine has had to once again trade space for time, after months of waiting for American aid which is just now beginning to trickle in, again.
Russia is continuing to cozy up to China, which is continuing to attempt to seize and occupy the South China Sea and Philippine Sea, increasing tensions there.
The Pentagon is finally starting to admit the challenge that small and tactical drones pose to the future force. Of course, this extends beyond the small first person view (FPV) quadcopters. The reality is that tech is enabling an explosion in the production of low-cost, long-range autonomous systems in ALL domains.
It’s been a relatively quiet week in DefenseTech finance news—although there’s growing concern about connections between ‘momentum capital’ investors, with ties to China, chasing the DefenseTech sector.
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
Anduril’s Palmer Luckey wants startups to remake the military (BBG)
Lawmakers propose DIU-managed military testing and evaluation cell (C4)
House bill: Time to put Air Force’s ‘flying car’ concept into action (DN)
Rep. Wittman (R-VA) sure US Navy will buy two attack subs in 2025 — like it or not (DN)
LaPlante: ‘Nunn-McCurdy Or Not,’ US Must Have ICBM Leg of Triad (ASF)
US and Japan sign agreement to co-develop hypersonic interceptor (DN)
US jamming technology is significantly worse than Russia's, ex-Pentagon officials warn (BI)
‘No silver bullet:’ Military will need multiple systems to back up GPS (BD)
House NDAA provision would require Army to create Electronic Warfare Center of Excellence (DS)
Army wraps up FLRAA PDR, incorporating special ops design changes (BD)
Army’s new watercraft prototype requires fixes before heading to Hawaii for testing (BD)
Army soldiers unimpressed by 50kW lasers on Strykers (BD)
Army Futures commander: IVAS must ace tests or face becoming bill payer (BD)
Army’s future artillery may include wheeled howitzers, automated cannons, and long-range mortars (DO)
Navy secretary vows more money for anti-drone lasers (DO)
Navy, Marine Corps pitched three systems for first Replicator batch (C4)
Navy gearing up to test secretive Project Overmatch capabilities at RIMPAC (DS)
Defense Tech Opportunities
The Air Force needs more in-house coders (DO)
FPVs, tethered drones could become formal Army programs in 2025 (DO)
The tech call for the Army’s Maneuver Support and Protection Integration eXperiment is still open (SAM)
The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency is looking for an AI-based lie detector (SAM)
DARPA is looking to develop/integrate advanced RF filter tech for AESAs that can reduce signal interference between DoD / commercial SATCOM systems (SAM)
Europe, Russia, the Arctic, NATO, and the war in Ukraine
Blinken announces $2B arms deal for Ukraine (TH)
SACEUR: Russia incapable of strategic breakthrough in Ukraine (S&S)
Putin replaces Shoigu as Russia’s defense minister as he starts his 5th term (AP)
China and Russia reaffirm ties as Moscow presses its Ukraine attack (AP)
China, Korea, and Asia
Australia unveils record $37 billion defense budget (DN)
US will send an unofficial delegation as Taiwan’s president is sworn in, testing ties with China (AP)
China navy secretly built what could be world's first drone aircraft carrier (BI)
Middle East and Africa
House passes bill to undo Biden’s partial Israel weapons hold, prompting $1Bn in new aid (AP)
Kuwait’s new ‘executive protocol’ with Turkey could mean new weapons, training (BD)
Yemen’s Houthis shoot down another American Reaper drone (AP)
U.S. Defense Industry News
NATO taps half-a-dozen US companies for first DIANA cohort (DS)
DARPA taps Aurora to keep designing heavy cargo seaplane in $8.3M deal (DN)
Army gets four Epirus drone zappers in rush to defend troops (AX)
Post-data breach, DOD held ‘very candid discussions’ with Microsoft (DS)
Ocean Power Technologies demonstrates advanced counter-UUV capability (PAI)
Foreign Defense Industry News
Airbus developing an unmanned Lakota helo for US Marine resupply mission (DN)
US Navy buys BAE Systems’ Dual Band Decoy to protect Super Hornet jets (C4)
BAE has begun conceptualizing a 7th generation fighter (BD)
Sensor maker Hesai Group sues US DoD, disputes claims of ties to Chinese military (BBG)
Thales doubles down on radio production as US Army rethinks its network (C4)
China turns to US-made AI chips to boost hypersonic weapon performance (ShN)
Chinese failed with electromagnetic hypersonic railgun test (BM)
Slovakia debuts rapid-fire mortar at local defense show (DN)
UAE’s defense giant expands in Asia with new ammo production line in Indonesia (BD)
UK reveals development of low cost RF directed energy weapon (BD)
UK picks companies for billion-dollar hypersonic missile program (DN)
Space
France undecided on US offer to join ‘Olympic Defender’ space effort (BD)
Space Force should consider alternative launch sites, lawmakers say (DN)
Pentagon grows concerned about ULA’s ability to keep launch pace with Vulcan rockets (WP)
Serbia becomes latest country to join China’s ILRS moon base project (SN)
Nuclear Power & Weapons
AI, Robotics, & other Frontier Tech
US aims to stay ahead of China in using AI to fly fighter jets, navigate without GPS and more (AP)
Autonomous weapons are this generation’s ‘Oppenheimer moment’: experts (TPD)
The Pentagon's growing costly headache: Cheap drones (AX)
Ukraine, Russia race to shield battle tanks from exploding drones (DN)
Disinformation creates ‘precarious year for democracy,’ experts warn (MT)
OpenAI launched its latest GPT-4o AI model (CNBC)
A&D-Focused Finance
Investors with links to China are now funding US defense startups (WSJ)
Maritime software startup Harbor Lab raised a $16M Series A led by Atomico (EU))
Taiwanese company Tron Future Tech raised a $32.4M Series A led by the government-backed Taiwania Capital and CID Group to continue building its counter-drone systems and expand into the US and European markets.
Important Reads
Earlier this week we explored how Army Futures Command is at risk of misinterpreting tech’s influence on warfare.
Lighter Side
Keep building!
Andrew