🔷 Saved Rounds 7.1.25

Welcome to Tuesday's Saved Rounds, where we share 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

5%

NATO Allies have agreed to increase their defense spending from 2% to 5% of their annual GDP by 2035.

But the commitment broadens the definition of defense spending, so it's not a direct comparison. The 5% comprises 3.5% for core defense needs and 1.5% for critical infrastructure and their industrial base.

Zoom in

DARPA made stealth aircraft real, but do you want to know what they're thinking next?

Zoom in here for a video interview with DARPA’s Deputy Director, Rob McHenry.

 ICYMI

They Said It

“I like to say the B-21 is put together by bartenders, babysitters, and baristas. Why do I say that? Because when I go out and walk the floor and I talk to people out there, I go, ‘What was the last job you had before you came here?’ And those are the answers I get: ‘I was a server at TGI Fridays.’ Right now, they’re putting together the most sophisticated aircraft in the history of the world, right? And doing a hell of a good job at it.”

— Tom Jones, Northrop Grumman Corporate Vice President and Aeronautics Sector President at Northrop Grumman

Saved Rounds

• Australia completed its first MQ-28A Ghost Bat flight from an operational base and (video!)

• France conducted the first live fire test of its next-gen MICA air-to-air missile

• Saab ordered 2 Global 6500 aircraft from Bombardier Defense

• Thales unveiled a mini electronic warfare (EW) payload for drones

• India is buying 6 Tejas combat jets

• Turkey’s new indigenous F-16 EW pod (EDPOD) entered production

• Hoverfly delivered its tethered drone system to the Australian military for experimentation

• Belgium plans to buy 10 NASAMS air defense batteries from Kongsberg ($3B deal)

• IdeaForge sold $16M worth of indigenous mini-drones to India

• Maxar Intelligence launched Sentry, a geospatial intelligence service for surveillance

• NATO ordered 2 more A330 MRTT aircraft, bringing the planned tanker-transport fleet size to 12

• Denmark & Sweden joined NATO’s Multinational MRTT Fleet (MMF) pooling program

• France is phasing out its aging KC-135 fleet for A330 MRTT aircraft

• The MDA’s Long-Range Discrimination Radar (LRDR) completed the first successful test that tracked a live ballistic missile surrogate

• Japan conducted its first domestic missile test shot (prior to this, all missile testing was done in the US or Australia)

• Obviant raised $7.1M in seed funding to develop a defense data intelligence platform

• Muon Space released its first multispectral thermal satellite imagery

• The Navy is building a 400kW laser weapon called SONGBOW to shoot down aerial threats

💎 Free Merch! 💎 

Don't keep us a secret!
Share the Merge = earn free swag.
It's that simple.

You currently have 0 referrals, only 3 away from receiving Stickers.

Or copy and paste this link: https://themerge.co/subscribe?ref=PLACEHOLDER