Weekly News Update: Oct 13, 2023
7 - 13 Oct 2023
Good morning,
Last weekend, the Iranian-backed, Palestinian terrorist group, Hamas, launched a surprise attack on Israel. Israel has responded with a siege of the Gaza strip. Russian sympathizers are capitalizing on this event to call for a diversion of aid away from Ukraine, drawing a false dichotomy in our need and ability to support both states. Social media—especially X and TikTok—have been plagued by disinformation over events in Israel. Closer to home, Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) has withdrawn his name from consideration to serve as the next Speaker of the House of Representatives, after he failed to garner sufficient support from within the Republican Party. Much of this weeks news will focus on the Army, as the Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA) hosted its annual event, which was allegedly an absolute shitshow with hours-long queues to even enter.
Let’s dive in to these and other issues surrounding aerospace and defense technology.
Weekly News Round Up
Special Topic: Israel-Hamas
Live updates on the current Israel / Palestine conflict are available at these sources: ABC, AP, NBC
Iranian-backed Hamas launch widespread attacks into Israel, overwhelming Iron Dome defenses with more than 5,000 rockets in 20 minutes (WP)
Hamas invasion rewrites rules in Middle East (WSJ)
Israel’s Netanyahu forms unity government to direct war (WSJ)
Bank of Israel will sell up to $30B to strengthen shekel in wake of Hamas attacks (BBG)
After Hamas attacks Israel, Biden’s top foreign-policy goals hit turbulence (WSJ)
22 Americans among slain in Hamas’ widespread terrorist attack on Israel (WP)
Israel to lead hostage rescue efforts of Americans in Gaza, U.S. to advise (MT)
Israel declares Gaza siege as Hamas fires rockets, toll mounts (WP)
US to hold off on disbursing $6B in Iran oil revenue unfrozen in prisoner deal, following Hamas attack (WSJ)
Biden confirms Americans are being held hostage, calls Hamas attack “sheer evil” (CNBC)
Israel and Egypt in talks to create safe passage out of Gaza for Americans (AX)
Some officials worry Iran could try new attacks on U.S. forces in Middle East (Pol)
U.S. repositions carrier strike group to eastern Med (USAT)
U.S. navy uses unmanned systems to ‘track’ Iranian ships and boats in Strait of Hormuz (NT)
Israel bombs southern Lebanon after Hezbollah rocket attack (RT)
US raises Israel travel advisory to Level 3 - Reconsider Travel (AX)
Major airlines suspend Israel flights after attacks (CNBC)
Middle East conflict spurs bullish rush in oil options market (BBG)
Military
U.S. Defense modernization and innovation
Pentagon efforts challenged by ‘immature’ hypersonic tech, supply chains (BD)
Army Futures 2-star seeks faster battle rhythms, planning cycles (AT)
Army’s Project Convergence may look different in the future (C4)
Army Acquisition Chief answers questions on industrial base capacity (DN)
Army mulls attack drones, ground robots for Replicator Initiative (C4)
Army explores water use, reuse and its effect on combat (AT)
Army previews strategy for digital engineering (DN)
Army to begin prototyping of electric light reconnaissance vehicle in 2024 (DN)
High Altitude Platforms gain traction with U.S. Army (DN)
Europe, Russia, the Arctic, NATO, and the war in Ukraine
Finland says ‘outside activity’ likely damaged pipeline, telecoms cable (RT)
Germany to send $1B in air defense to Ukraine, plus more tanks (DN)
Announcing new weapons to Ukraine, SecDef highlights aid to Ukraine, Israel not mutually exclusive (S&S)
U.S. envoy to NATO: ‘Aid to Israel won’t come at expense of Ukraine’ (NYT)
Ukraine’s Zelenskyy joins meeting of global defense heads, pleads for continued support (AP)
Poland names generals to replace top military leadership in lead-up to election (AP)
Sweden will only consider sending Gripen jets to Ukraine after NATO membership (BD)
China, Korea, and Asia
China State Fund buys bank shares, fueling rescue hopes (BBG)
Myanmar’s military bombs displacement camp, kills 30 in northern state (AP)
N. Korea says spy satellite key to preventing U.S. ‘militarization of space’ (RT)
Middle East and Africa
Ghana army leader rules out intervention in Niger (DN)
U.S. Defense Industry News
American Rheinmetall exhibits drone-killing robotic vehicle at AUSA (DN)
Boeing flies upgraded AH-64E for first time (DN)
Boeing pushes for more upgrades to Apache, Chinook helicopters (DN)
Boeing invests billions in CAPEX expansions, hoping for future payoffs (BD)
Boeing’s 737 MAX output falls to lowest level in two years (WSJ)
CACI focusing on software, signals after jamming deal (C4)
General Atomics adds new radar turning Gray Eagles into drone-hunters (DN)
GM Defense, Anduril team on emerging battlefield needs (C4)
HII wins $347M contract for up to 200 ‘Lionfish’ small autonomous underwater vehicles (BD)
Leonard DRS unveils On-Board Vehicle Power system with THAAD launcher (DN)
Army successfully tests Lockheed aerial jammer (C4)
Northrop to develop new guided munition for U.S. Navy (TDS)
Oshkosh begins unmanned ROGUE Fires production line with $40M deal (DN)
Polaris bets on autonomy and electrification for non-tactical vehicles (DN)
ShieldAI unveils V-Bat Teams, swarming capability it hopes Replicator Initiative will adopt (DN)
Sig Sauer plans $150M plant expansion in Arkansas (MT)
Teledyne launches newest ‘Black Hornet’ nano-drone with upgraded sensors (C4)
Teledyne FLIR debuts vehicle for Army equipment carrier competition (DN)
Foreign Defense Industry News
Australia’s Qantas Chairman to step down next year to repair airline’s reputation (BBG)
Norway’s Kongsberg sending counter-drone systems to Ukraine, pitching to U.S. military (DN)
Turkey’s Baykar to spend $100M for drone production plant in Ukraine (DN)
U.K.’s BAE preps adaptable armored vehicle turret for counter-drone missions (DN)
U.S. Army fires new BAE 155mm artillery round, which shoots 68 miles (DO)
Raytheon U.K. confident new laser weapon can secure British Army contract (BD)
Space
Space Force seeks proposals for space domain awareness Project Apollo (DN)
NRO, Space Force partner to craft new moving targeting strategy (ASF)
Rocket-launch company Astra Space is considering a 51% stake sale in its in-space propulsion business that would value the unit at over $100M (BBG)
SLS will remain wildly overpriced, despite new contract (SN)
NASA launches mission to metallic asteroid, Psyche, aboard Falcon Heavy (SN)
OSIRIS-REx returns carbon, water from asteroid Bennu (NYT)
Nuclear Power & Weapons
U.S. must prepare for simultaneous nuclear wars with China, Russia: Report (RT)
N. Korea threatens nuclear strike over U.S. aircraft carrier presence (AP)
Russia to build nuclear plant in Burkina Faso (BBC)
AI, Energy, Robotics, and other Tech
Israel-Hamas war misinformation flourishes on X, as platform struggles (FdT)
Europe gives Musk 24 hours to respond about Israel-Hamas war misinformation and violence on X (CNBC)
Europe gives TikTok CEO 24 hours to respond about Israel-Hamas war misinformation (CNBC)
Fake reporting on U.S. aid to Israel abounds on social media (T&P)
Social media is full of disinformation suggesting the DoD wants to implement a draft (AP)
Space Force halts all use of Generative AI over concerns (S&S)
AMD will acquire AI startup Nod.ai to bolster its software capabilities in its effort to catch Nvidia (RT)
A&D-Focused Finance
Maritime autonomy startup Saronic raised a $55M Series A led by Caffeinated Capital (PRN)
Castelion, an El Segundo-based modern defense production company, raised a $14.2M round led by a16z and Lavrock Ventures (FN)
Regent Craft, an all-electric seaglider startup, raised a $60M Series A led by 8090 Industries and Founders Fund (FN)
Jetson, a startup building an eVTOL you can own and fly for short point-to-point flights, closed a $15M seed round led by will.i.am and other angel investors (EU)
SHINE Technologies, which uses next-gen fusion tech to inspect industrial components in aerospace, defense, energy and other sectors,, raised $70M in funding led by Baillie Gifford and Fidelity (PRN)
Bain Capital has pushed back plans for a Virgin Australia Airlines IPO to as soon as 2024 (BBG)
Beyond Next Ventures, a Japanese VC focused on early-stage Asian startups, completed a first close of $68M for BNV Fund 3 to invest in deep tech startups in fields like robotics and biotech (TC)
Delta Airlines reported a 60% increase in profit that beat analyst expectations thanks to a strong summer, especially for international flights, but Delta lowered its full-year profit forecast due to a jump in fuel prices (CNBC)
Budget carrier AirAsia, which is part of the Capital A Berhad group, is seeking a $400M loan in the form of a revenue bond to refinance debt (BBG)
CNBC offers a reality check on investing in Space Tech and SPACs (NBC)
Important Reads
This Wired piece explains how X was drowning in Israel/Palestine disinformation.
In the wake of the recent attacks in Israel, Noah Smith wrote about what a post-Pax Americana world might look like.
Pitchbook provides a pretty great update on the state of fusion technology and companies.
Lighter Side
Keep building!
Andrew