🔷 Saved Rounds 8.12.25

Welcome to Tuesday's Saved Rounds, where we send out 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

30%

The US Army plans to grow its air and missile defense force by 30% over the next eight years, adding new battalions and counter-UAS capabilities to address evolving threats.

Zoom in

Drone swarms—you’ve heard all about them. But almost none of it is drone swarming. From mobs to teams to swarms, there is still work to be done to field distributed systems that enable resilient, adaptive coordination.

Zoom in here to get up to speed.

They Said It

“That’s the message to industry: We’re not putting up with continual failures and promises in the future.”

— Space Force Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy, emphasizing the Pentagon’s new stance on accountability by canceling underperforming space contracts

 ICYMI

Saved Rounds

• New Frontier Aerospace is partnering with the Air Force to advance a hypersonic VTOL aircraft

• Ascending Node Technologies launched Spaceline to automate the design of satellite constellations

• Red Cat Holdings filed an injunction to halt Vector Defense over alleged intellectual property theft, and Vector has taken to LinkedIn to defend itself

• V2X won a $4.3B contract to provide Air Force T-6 support

• Lockheed Martin set a 2028 demo target for space-based missile interceptors

• L3Harris launched a new rocket motor plant to boost production

• Anduril announced it is now the third US supplier of solid rocket motors

• The Pentagon announced 80% staff cuts to the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC)

• Lockheed Martin & Rheinmetall conducted the first GMARS live fire test

• L3Harris completed its design review for the Space Force’s Tranche 2 Tracking Layer

• Lockheed Martin won a $2B contract to produce additional THAAD interceptors

• The Army issued another solicitation for launched effects

• Oracle launched its Oracle Defense Ecosystem to strengthen US and allied national security

• Lockheed Martin launched a prototyping hub to develop Golden Dome command systems

• Greece allocated a $28.8M budget to develop and produce a homegrown ISR military satellite 

• Korea Aerospace Industries released a look at its refined and stealthier KF-21EX fighter

• Hanwha Systems unveiled its indigenous AESA radar system for the KF-21 jet

• Japan received its first 3 F-35B fighters

• The Army set negotiations to award an autonomy software contract for its robotics initiative

• Scout Space completed its first Aurora spacelane suborbital test flight

• Lockheed Martin advanced the development of its Remote Interceptor Guidance system

• Voyager acquired ElectroMagnetic Systems to bolster its position in AI-enabled ISR capabilities

• Australia was approved to buy baseline 2 upgrades to its MC-55A fleet

• Archer made 2 acquisitions—Overair and Mission Critical Composites

• The Navy’s new TACAMO aircraft will be called the E-130J Phoenix II

• Cummings Aerospace unveiled a new variant of its Hellhound drone for Golden Dome

• Intuitive Machines is set to acquire KinetX to bolster its deep-space navigation capabilities

• Motorola Solutions acquired Silvus Technologies to expand its unmanned systems communication portfolio

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