🔷 Saved Rounds 5.20.25

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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In that Number

24

Kratos revealed began serial production of 24 Valkyrie units using company funds as it continues to fly prototypes with customers on a path to customer production decisions.

Zoom in

Crucibles—not comfort—shape future military leaders. The lack of formative experiences creates a void of strong, resilient leadership in the ranks. Wind is needed to create stronger roots. That’s the idea.

Zoom in here to judge for yourself.

They Said It

“Modernization gets more expensive and more disruptive the longer you delay it. We waited too long already, and we literally can’t afford to wait any longer.”

— Gen. James Mingus, Army Vice Chief of Staff, on the service’s aggressive aviation transformation plan

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Saved Rounds

• Varda Space’s capsule reentry capsule landed in Australia, completed a hypersonic research mission (the video is a heater: check it out on IG, LinkedIn, or Facebook)

• Lockheed Martin partnered with Rheinmetall to establish a Rocket Centre of Excellence in Germany

• AeroVironment unveiled Titan 4, an upgrade to its counter-drone jammer

• DIU expanded its 'hybrid' space satellite project with 12 new vendors

• QinetiQ won a $49M Army contract to collect and manage sensor data and improve the application of AI

• The Air Force is establishing a new AI Center of Excellence

• The Air Force is exploring air-launched fighter drone concepts

• The Marine Corps developed software to control commercial radars

• Indra unveiled a multi-purpose air weapon for collaborative combat

• General Dynamics unveiled the “NEMESIS,” a self-propelled howitzer with a turret that can fire in any direction—and shoot on the move

• Turkey was approved to purchase $304M in AIM-9X Block II & AIM-120C-8 missiles

• Kepler demoed a high-speed optical connection between space and ground stations

• The UK & Germany will develop a 1,200-mile deep strike capability by the 2030s

• QinetiQ landed the lead on the $4.2B Army contract for aerostat ISR (10-year IDIQ contract)

• SpektreWorks was selected for the Pentagon’s APFIT program to field its Group 3 drones

• Lockheed won a $616M NGA contract for GEOINT collection management

• RTX is expanding its UAE presence with new projects for producing gallium and counter-drone tech

• Northrop Grumman tested a new hypersonic navigation unit

• Helsing unveiled an autonomous surveillance submarine drone that uses an acoustic model to hunt other subs

• The Marine Corps is recompeting its mid-sized cargo drone program after the two prototypes being evaluated did not meet the program requirements

• Taiwan test-fired its domestically developed surface-to-air missile (the Land Sword II SAM)

• The Air Force completed its first EA-37B Compass Call training mission

• DIU is launching a platform to connect startups with the Pentagon
  

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