🔷 Saved Rounds 9.24.24

2Welcome to Tuesday's Saved Rounds, where we send out all the goodies we couldn't squeeze into our Sunday newsletter.

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📺 PODCAST: Check it out on YouTube or download the podcast on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your content.

They Said It
“One of the issues that was raised by the senior officials in the Ministry of Defense and Air Force back when I visited Kyiv was, ‘Can you help us please figure out a way to deny commercial satellite coverage that the Russians are using to see what we’re doing here in Ukraine?’ So, yeah, sensing has become ubiquitous.”

— retired Lt. Gen. David Deptula, Dean of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies

Fighter Pilot Wade "Stab" Holmes & Family
are in the fight of their lives.

His fighter squadron started a way to provide mutual support with just $1, but we were so moved that we donated The Merge’s entire monthly income to the cause.

Then, someone decided to outdo us with a $1500 donation. We couldn’t let this stand, so…we threw down a $1501 donation to resume our place at the top.

But that only last a few hours before someone else leveled-up our effort by $1. Going to press, the current top donor is $1,502. Amazing!

We also set up a webpage here that has 2 key items:

1. A way to capture any leads for trials or treatments for Diffuse Midline Glioma (DMG), the incurable tumor growing on Stab’s brain stem

2. The gofundme his fighter squadron set up to help his family

   
   Please spend a minute to
    read their story.

Zoom in

Do you wish there was a phone book for all the offices in the Department of Defense that buy things? There is.

Zoom in here for the first-ever PEO Directory (it’s not 100% complete or accurate, but is a fantastic baseline).

In that Number

2.5 million

The US Air Force gets bombarded with 2.5 million cybersecurity alerts per day.

Check our latest episode with Dan Magy, co-founder and CEO of Firestorm.

They’re on a mission to democratize the air by re-imaging how drones are built by making them radically affordable and mission-adaptable.

They developed a method to 3D-print drones at the point of need, using a combination of shipping-container-based factories and localized supply chains.

Best of all, the drones are modular—from props to jets, AI to sensors, etc.

Check it out!

YouTube 

Apple 

Spotify

Saved Rounds

• Leidos’ Enduring Shield ground-based AIM-9X system successfully intercepted drone and cruise missile targets during a recent test

• Northrop Grumman demoed MQ-4C navigation over the Arctic Circle

• The Air Force is assuming the lead for the Pentagon’s prototype Joint Fires Network (JFN)

• Lockheed Martin introduced AGM-158 XR JASSM, an extreme-range version of its stealth cruise missile

• The Army wants to buy as many drones as it does munitions

• Canada wants to join the AUKUS alliance to counter China

• Second Front Systems raised a $70m Series C round for their platform that enables delivery of software for national security

• Northrop Grumman won a $54m contract to develop SATCOM antennas to connect military aircraft to commercial space internet (Starlink, OneWeb, etc.)

• India ordered hundreds of new engines for Su-30MKI fighters

• Sweden is increasing defense spending by $1.3B in 2025, with a pledge to reach 2.6% GDP spending on defense in 2028

• Kongsberg is building a missile factory in Virginia

• Special Operations still wants 75 OA-1K light attack aircraft despite Congress’ doubts

• Lockheed Martin is investing $350m to enhance the F-35’s software development capability

• The Army’s 101st Airborne has a new drone unit for Ukraine-style warfare

• Ursa Major is matching a $12.5m investment from the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital to begin work on maturing solid rocket motor production

• The Air Force ordered more F-16 AESA radars from Northrop Grumman

• York Space established optical communications networking on their satellites in orbit as part of SDA’s Transport Layer Tranche 0 program

• Capella Space won a $15m Air Force STRAFI to enhance its SAR imagery satellite capabilities

• Iraq made a $2.8B deal to acquire South Korean layered air defense systems

• CACI is buying Azure Summit for $1.3B to enhance its RF tech portfolio

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