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🔷 Saved Rounds 4.22.25

🔷 Saved Rounds 4.22.25

April 22, 2025

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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In that Number

$23.8 Billion

Led by the UK and Germany, the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) has committed to $23.8 Billion in military aid to Ukraine.

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Zoom in

Here are some good summaries worth the click.

State of the Army 2025
State of the Navy 2025
State of the Marine Corps 2025
State of the Air Force 2025
State of the Space Force 2025

They Said It

“One of the precepts of unmanned is, never send a human being to do something that a machine can do. So … inherently, we’re moving in that direction, and I’d welcome the ability to execute that lift.”

— Adm. Sam Paparo, Commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command

ICYMI

🔷 Cost-Plus

Cost-plus contracting is evil. Fixed-price contracting is perfect. Neither are true.

themerge.co/p/cost-plus

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Saved Rounds

Mayman flew their jet-powered VTOL drone for the first time
General Atomics announced investments in Emergent Swarm Solutions and Saluqi Motors
PsiQuantum was awarded a $10.8M AFRL contract for experimental quantum chips
France’s upgraded Mirage 2000D is now operational
Venus Aerospace is preparing to flight test its hypersonic Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine (RDRE)
L3Harris & Gecko Robotics unveiled an XR 3D system to permit remote aircraft inspections
Katalyst Space partnered with the European startup LMO Space to demo a new spacecraft docking technique
The British Army tested a radio-wave weapon that knocked out drone swarms
Quantum Systems and RENK India formed a strategic partnership in India
NATO acquired the Maven Smart System (MSS NATO)
The Space Force unveils a vision for fighting in space
Voyager Technologies was added to the Air Force's $46B agile acquisitions contract
L3Harris expanded its space manufacturing as it readies to compete for 'Golden Dome'
Northrop Grumman lost a rocket motor building in an explosion
The Texas Space Commission awarded $26M to 5 companies
Northrop opened $20M facility for IBCS battle management production in Alabama
Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI received authorization for classified operations
Boeing created a ground twin for its 2026 quantum satellite demo
DIU is hosting a competition for a long-range undersea drone
Stark unveiled an AI-powered VTOL loitering munition
Astranis secured a $115m deal for Taiwan’s first dedicated comm satellite
Roke won a $333M UK missile defense research contract
The Philippines was approved for a $120M sale of AgustaWestland TH-73A training helos
The Italian Air Force received 2 Gulfstream G650ER jets (VIP and medical airlift)
The Army expanded access to its encrypted Wickr messaging platform to boost secure communication
Anduril took over the Army’s IVAS project from Microsoft
Quantum Systems partnered with Frontline for advanced counter-drone integration in Ukraine
Airbus delivered Spain’s first A330 MRTT aircraft
DIU selected 8 companies for a nuclear microreactors project
India successfully tested a 30-kW laser weapon against drones
The Army is moving out with a multi-phased plan to field new Human Machine Integrated Formation (HMIF) units in 2027
India flight-tested a new glide bomb