🔷 Saved Rounds 2.11.25

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

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They Said It

“We in Congress, the executive branch, and industry must stop hiding behind the word “innovation.” We must move beyond innovation theater and recycled talking points about technology transition. We need real warfighting capabilities, clear-cut ways and means to achieve them, and streamlined resourcing to make it happen on a timeline relevant to the speed of battle and pace of technological change.”

— Rep. Don Bacon, US congressman, and retired 1-star Air Force general, in an op-ed that’s worth the read.

Zoom in

One of the primary purposes of the US Navy is to keep the seas open and free, and a big part of that narrative is deterrence, which means being globally deployed with a presence in the regions that matter most. But what if it’s flawed logic?

Zoom in here for an interesting take on how forward presence might actually hurt deterrence.

In that Number

19.1%

Global computer chip sales rose 19.1% in 2024.

 ICYMI

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Saved Rounds

• Urban Sky raised a $30m Series B round for imaging stratospheric balloons

• Honeywell is breaking up its $150B conglomerate, spinning off a separate aerospace business

• Airbus was tapped to perform a risk study for using the A321 as France’s next maritime patrol aircraft (MPA)

• NATO announced TASK FORCE X, a multi-domain effort to integrate autonomous platforms for maritime surveillance (initial focus is the Black Sea)

• Geost sued Sierra Space for breach of contract in a military satellite program

• AeroVironment received a $288m Army order for more Switchblade loitering munitions

• Teledyne completed the $710m acquisition of Excelitas’ aerospace and defense electronics business

• L3Harris’ Viper Shield F-16 EW system flew for the first time

• Ukraine revealed it's using a new laser weapon

• Lockheed Martin won a $2.8B contract for THAAD development through 2035 (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense)

• Germany’s first P-8A Poseidon was unveiled (first of 8, August 2025 delivery)

• Saab opened a factory in the UK to produce Giraffe 1X systems, forecasting a significant demand for the 3D AESA radars

• ThinKom and Boeing demoed a high-speed, low-drag SATCOM antenna for military aircraft

• Turkey latest Tayfun ballistic missile test exceeded 300 miles

• Turkey reported $7.1B in defense exports last year, a 29% increase from 2023 (anchored by drone maker Baykar, who gets 90% of its business from international customers)

• Boeing’s T-7A trainer jet issues were highlighted in a recent test report

• XDOWN unveiled a hand-thrown, football-shaped exploding drone

• Nordic Unmanned ASA is filing for bankruptcy

• Atmos Space Cargo was approved for its first reentry mission (it uses an inflatable heat shield)

• Insta unveiled the Insta Steel Eagle ER for Ukraine, a drone with a down-ward firing explosive charge with 3,000 fragments

• The Navy showed off its HELIOS laser firing from a Burke-Class destroyer

• Ukraine is employing Boeing 1,000lb JDAM-ER glide bombs from Su-27s

• Bombardier delivered the first Global 7500 multi-mission jet to the Swiss Air Force (replacing Cessna Citation Excel 560XLs)

• Ukrspecsystems unveiled a longer-range Shark recon drone

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