🔷 Saved Rounds 12.16.25

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

1 million hours

The Navy and Marine Corps have surpassed 1 million hours flown of small drone ISR services since the program’s inception in 2005.

New Episode!

Pryzm

YouTube

Apple

Spotify

Zoom in

Additive manufacturing has been growing in popularity for defense applications, but it still has limitations.

Zoom in here for more on 3D-printing.

They Said It

“We have to have a robust small drone program, a robust large drone program, and an even more robust counter drone program.” 

— Emil Michael, Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering

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Saved Rounds

• Beehive Industries completed a high-altitude test of its Frenzy engine, clearing it for flight

• The Army is building mobile refineries to produce critical minerals for ammunition

• The Navy selected Damen's LST-100 for its new Medium Landing Ship

• The Army is seeking new airborne and ground EW systems next year

• Peraton won a $30B+ FAA contract to overhaul air traffic control overhaul

• Ondas announced an $11M investment in Drone Fight Group, a Ukrainian drone developer

• Norway plans a $6.4B spend on 2 more submarines and long-range strike weapons

• Lockheed Martin & Hadrian partnered to accelerate US defense manufacturing

• Boeing's MQ-25 Stingray first flight for the Navy was pushed to early 2026

• LeoLabs won an interagency contract to license its space object catalog

• Muon Space won a $1.9M SBIR contract for missile defense sensor payloads for satellites

• Boeing, Insitu, & TNO announced multi-function radar advancements for ISR drones

• DRDC issued a $1M hypersonic IDEaS challenge

• Boeing completed the $4.7B reacquisition of Spirit AeroSystems

• Northrop Grumman tested a new type of solid rocket motor

• General Dynamics revealed a loitering munition launcher on an Abrams tank

• The US approved sales of JASSM-ER missiles to Italy and GBU-39 bombs to South Korea

• Saab & Airbus are in cooperation discussions on Collaborative Combat Aircraft tech

• Lockheed Martin started GMLRS missile assembly at a new Port Wakefield facility

• Turkey began construction on MILDEN, its first indigenously developed national submarine

• The Pentagon rolled out GenAI.mil, offering Google's Gemini to all personnel

• Finland's first F-35A conducted its flight

• The Navy & Palantir launched a $448M 'Ship OS' AI tool to boost shipyard efficiency

• BAE secured a $1.7B Navy contract to supply APKWS laser-guidance kits

• Germany's HAP-alpha solar aircraft completed ground tests, paving the way for 2026 flight

• Odin Space closed a $3M funding seed round to commercialize sensor mapping orbital debris

• NATO expanded its DIANA innovation sites, more than doubling accelerator and test centers

• Anduril & GKN Aerospace partnered for UK defense business

• The Space Force requested midcourse interceptor proposals for Golden Dome

• Iran revealed Hadid-110, a new jet strike drone for its ground forces

• ARC won a $350K Army AI award for its counter-drone weapon sensor system

• Blue UAS formally moved from DIU to DCMA, launching a new trusted drone portal

• The Air Force announced an AESA-upgraded B-52 arrived at Edwards AFB for testing

• BAE Systems won a $16M DARPA contract for the Oversight satellite custody program

• The US's PNNL began testing a 100kW grid battery, a tenfold capacity leap

• L3Harris completed a review of its ground-to-space jammer for international sales

• Metron won a DIU contract to prototype a long-duration autonomous undersea vehicle

• Bangladesh is buying up to 16 Eurofighters

• AMESA won a $1.25M Air Force contract to integrate AI teammates into Air Force wargaming

• Yugoimport (Serbia) unveiled a new long-range kamikaze drone built to strike modern armor

• Taiwan is seeking high-speed kamikaze drone boats

• Northrop Grumman won a $100M Air Force contract for SiAW/AARGM-ER missile production

• Kratos is weaponizing its hypersonic test platform

• Quantum Systems won a German contract for Twister reconnaissance drones

• Switzerland reduced its F-35 buy due to a $610M price increase

• Collins Elbit finished the Zero-G HMDS+ design review for Navy F/A-18 and EA-18 jets

• Pacific Defense unveiled a new ultra-wideband SDR transceiver

• Menlo Micro created a new semiconductor switch to shield military systems from RF pulses

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