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- 🔷 Saved Rounds 4.1.25
🔷 Saved Rounds 4.1.25

Welcome to Tuesday's Saved Rounds, where we send out all the goodies we couldn't squeeze into our Sunday newsletter.
In that Number
84 days
Saab and Sweden have developed and evaluated a counter-unmanned aerial system (UAS) in a record 84 days.

Zoom in
Taiwan recently received pressure to increase its defense budget to 10% of GDP to defend itself better—but that’s not the problem.
Zoom in here to learn how Taiwan’s biggest limitation in defense isn’t spending—it’s delayed decisions and deliveries of US defense tech.
They Said It
“This is a little bit a moment of truth for Europe.”
— MBDA CEO Eric Béranger on aggressive spending as European militaries race to arm themselves amid a deepening rift with the US
ICYMI

Saved Rounds
Turkey test-fired its first SOM-J cruise missile from an F-16 (originally designed to fit inside their F-35 fleet)
Overland AI unveiled ‘Spark,’ a bolt-on product to make a military vehicle fully autonomous
Booz Allen introduced ‘Brilliant Swarms' satellite concept for missile defense
HII was tapped by the Army to develop a high-energy laser (HEL) weapon to shoot down drones
The Air Force is looking for alternatives for the B-52 RTX AESA radar upgrade
Sweden plans to boost its defense spending by $30B to 3.5% of GDP by 2030
Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) announced they are using Shield AI’s software to develop indigenous autonomy
France purchased 3 E-2D Advanced Hawkeye, making it the second international customer (Japan is the other)
Mach Industries & Heven Drones are partnering on defense production (Heven’s hydrogen fuel cell-powered drones produced by Mach Industries)
Distributed Spectrum raised a $25M Series A fund to advance its autonomous RF characterization software
The Air Force may need to extend the service life of the KC-135 tanker fleet due to KC-46 delays
Outbound Aerospace flew its 22ft wingspan, 300lb Blended Wing Body drone test bed for the first time
Collins Aerospace announced 160 layoffs in Cedar Rapids, Iowa
General Electric secured a contract worth up to $5B for F110-129 engines for F-15 and F-16 foreign military sales
T2S acquired Blue Marble Communications to expand space technology capabilities
Northrop Grumman won a $24.9M Navy contract to develop an autonomous undersea sensing capability
Anduril is opening a factory and R&D facility in the UK
Pangea Aerospace raised a $25M Series A round for its advanced rocket engines for use in launch vehicles and spacecraft
Boeing & Airbus both plan to build new airliners from lightweight thermoplastics—not aluminum
Navy Super Hornets are now carrying RTX StormBreaker glide bombs in combat
The Bell-Boeing JV was awarded a $590M contract for 5 CMV-22B Osprey
The Air Force tested the Angry Kitten electronic warfare (EW) pod on a C-130 with promising results, opening the door for larger RCS platforms like the A-10
BlueHalo successfully fired its low-cost FE-1 Freedom Eagle counter-drone missile for the first time (IG pic)
Boeing landed a $240M Army contract for 5 more MH-47G Block II Chinooks
Draper was awarded a $308M Navy contract for navigation systems and analysis for the Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) hypersonic missile program
Hanwha (South Korea) bought a 9.9% stake in Australia’s Austal shipbuilding company
Kongsberg launched the ARVAKER I satellite for maritime surveillance for Norway, marking its entrance into the space industry as both a satellite operator and service provider
QinetiQ demonstrated Australia’s first laser defense technology
Primoco UAV secured historic military and civilian certifications to fly its Group 3 drone in Europe
The Pentagon to propose Advana, the department’s massive data analytics platform, as a formal program of record
Boeing’s MQ-28 Ghost Bat may execute a live fire air-to-air test event later this year
The Army tested a multi-drone launcher with an eye on mass production
BlueHalo demoed advancements in space-based laser comms
Airbus revealed a missile-equipped version of its Do-DT25 target drone
Bell proposed its 505 Jet Ranger X light helicopter for the Army’s “Flight School Next” program
Maxar launched Raptor, a visual-based navigation system for drones based on its satellite imagery
Bombardier supplied 2 Challenger 650 biz jets for Australian ISR Ops
L3Harris expects to deliver the MC-55A Peregrine ISR jets to Australia this year
The University of Arizona was tapped by the Army to explore 3D-printing hypersonics
HII reaches over 700 REMUS underwater drones
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