🔷 Saved Rounds 11.18.25

Welcome to Tuesday's Saved Rounds, where we send out all the goodies we couldn't squeeze into our Sunday newsletter.

📺 PODCAST: Check it out on YouTube or download the podcast on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your content.

In that Number

every 40 days

India's Navy is now commissioning a new domestically built warship or submarine approximately every 40 days.

It’s part of a plan to reshape the balance of power in the Indian Ocean by fielding over 200 vessels by 2035.

Zoom in

Palantir is one of the first (and largest) defense tech ‘neo-primes’ and its stock trades at a premium. But do they have a technical moat, or can much of what they do be replicated with open-source tools?

Zoom in here to see one analyst’s take.

They Said It

“The defense industrial base broadly, and the primes in particular, conned the American people and the Pentagon and the Army into thinking that it needed military-specific solutions, when in reality, a lot of these commercial solutions are equal to or better.” 

— Dan Driscoll, Army Secretary, arguing that the Army has been harmed by relying on expensive, purpose-built defense solutions and must pivot to readily available commercial technologies.

 ICYMI

Saved Rounds

• Leonardo & Baykar established a joint venture (LBA Systems) to build Baykar drones in Italy

• Portal Space Systems unveiled Starburst, a new rapid-maneuverable satellite bus

• Thales delivered an unmanned mine-hunting boat to the French Navy that claims a 99% sea mine detection rate

• Hexagon is acquiring Inertial Sense to complement its PNT portfolio

• Indonesia test-fired a Piranha torpedo from an autonomous submarine

• Germany received its first P-8A Poseidon aircraft

• The Navy will integrate Auto-GCAS into its Super Hornet fleet

• China has unveiled a new adaptive cycle engine that is efficient from takeoff to Mach 4

• Avio announced that Lockheed Martin & Raytheon will be preferred customers for its new solid rocket motor plant

• Germany is developing a miniature missile designed to shoot down drones

• Neros closed a $75M Series B fundraise to expand production of its FPV drones

• BigBear.ai is acquiring Ask Sage

• China showed its GJ-11 UCAV flying with the J-20 and J-17D fighters

• Echodyne’s radar systems are being integrated into Seraphim counter-UAS products

• Embraer announced it will upgrade the A-29 Super Tucano for counter-UAS missions

• Anduril & Hyundai Heavy Industries partnered to design a new class of maritime drones

• GM Defense is bringing commercial autonomous tech into the Army's Infantry Squad Vehicle

• Pinnacle Solutions secured a $369M Air Force order to develop the T-7A Maintenance Training System

• Omnisys unveiled a new counter-UAS system for airports

• XTI Aerospace acquired Drone Nerds and secured a $25M strategic investment

• Japan shared the target damage caused by its ship-mounted electromagnetic railgun

• The Pentagon announced the creation of an Amazon-like shopping portal for drone equipment

• The Army formed a rapid anti-drone response team for military bases in the US

• Ondas is acquiring Sentry to expand its counter-drone portfolio

• Viasat’s terabit-class broadband satellite was launched into orbit

• Saudi Arabia’s defense spending localization reached 24.8% last year (50% target by 2030)

• Saab was awarded $594M to equip Arexis EW systems on German Eurofighters

• Germany was approved to buy 173 SM-6 missiles ($3.2B deal)

• Joby completed the first flight of a new hybrid-electric VTOL aircraft

• Skydio won 2 Air Force contracts for X10D quadrotor drones

• Boeing’s employees in St. Louis ended their strike

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