🔷 Saved Rounds 7.15.25

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

80%

France wants an 80% share in the FCAS, the $117B program involving Airbus (Germany), Dassault (France), and Indra (Spain).

The news adds to growing concerns about the partners' ability to collaborate on the complex program.

France has the lead for the fighter and overall program, whereas Germany has the lead for the Collaborative Combat Aircraft (dubbed ‘Remote Carrier’ in FCAS) and the combat cloud network to connect it all.

Zoom in

The Silicon Valley Defense Group unveiled its 2025 NatSec100, spotlighting the top 100 startups at the forefront of defense and dual-use technology innovation.

Zoom in here for the list.

 ICYMI

Saved Rounds

• Maxar secured 3 multi-year deals totaling $205M for satellite imagery and analytics

• Ocean Infinity unveiled a high-speed autonomous patrol vessel called Needlefish 

• The Air Force halted its cargo rocket testing program on a remote Pacific atoll over environmental concerns

• The Pentagon’s Chief Digital and AI Office’s (CDAO) CTO directorate was eliminated

• Rafael won a $2.2B air defense contract from Romania

• Silvus launched a new EW-resilient comm upgrade for its StreamCaster MANET radios

• Saalex acquired Greenfield Engineering to expand defense software development

• The Pentagon is transferring the Blue UAS list control over to the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA)

• Japan received its first SPY-7 radar antennas from Lockheed Martin

• The Pentagon is standing up a counter-drone joint interagency task force, to be led by the Army

• Robotican is delivering ROOSTER hybrid drones to European special forces

• The Space Force unveiled its first International Partnership Strategy

• The Navy terminated its Razorback drone (torpedo tube launch and recovery)

• Australia is buying 400 more AIM-120 missiles ($1.4B deal)

• The UK, Italy, and Japan set a 2025 contract goal for the Global Combat Air Program (GCAP)

• India unveiled its first stealth photonic radar system

• Denmark is leasing air defenses to fill critical gaps

• Aselsan tested its high-power laser to neutralize anti-aircraft missiles

• PureCipher won an Air Force contract for secure aerial communications

• Indonesia pilots flew KAI’s KF-21 for the first time

• Varda Space raised $187M to make drugs in space

• Helsing plans to produce thousands of autonomous mini subs (UUVs) in the UK

• The UK and France are buying more Storm Shadow cruise missiles

• The Pentagon’s drone-spotting CLUE air traffic system is in development for air traffic control

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