🔷 Saved Rounds 4.23.24

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

📺 The Show: Check it out on YouTube, Spotify, or Apple

They Said It
“I think we’re not going to reach that number until probably the mid-2030s and beyond. I think there are other technological advancements that we would see to be able to augment that and have a better mix … before we commit to that as being the platform beyond that.”

— Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin on the service’s hesitation to commit to more than 100 B-21 bombers

Zoom in

The US Marine Corps has been transforming itself to fight in the Pacific, but they aren’t alone.

Zoom in here to learn about how other Pacific allies are copying the Marine Corps’ new littoral-based war-fighting concepts.

In that Number

10.4 percent

Global military spending jumped 10.4 percent in 2023, bringing the total above $2 trillion for the first time.

Saved Rounds

• Lockheed Martin won the MDA’s $17B Next Generation Interceptor (NGI) program

• Poland is joining Europe’s Sky Shield initiative, a continent-wide effort to coordinate nations’ air defense technology and integration

• Aerojet Rocketdyne and Kratos successfully hot-fire an advanced solid rocket motor that will support hypersonic and ballistic missile defense testing

• Anduril and HD Hyundai formed a partnership focused on designing and producing autonomous naval systems

• Boeing was awarded a $90m contract to upgrade Australia’s P-8A Poseidon fleet

• Taiwan’s redesigned indigenous MQ-9-esque drone is now in testing

• Diversified Technologies delivers an undersea power station to the Navy for recharging submarine drones on the sea floor

• Lockheed Martin may resume F-35 deliveries in a few months, but the new jets won’t be combat-ready for a year or more

• The Army deployed its midrange missile system to the Philippines for the first time (it fires the Navy’s SM-6 and Tomahawk missiles)

• SDG developed a Roll-on/Roll-off (RO/RO) SATCOM kit and flew a 26-hour mission on an Air Force C-130J-30

• L3Harris received a $90m Air Force contract to integrate SATCOM using commercial internet for military aircraft

• The Navy started operating its MQ-4C Triton in Europe for the first time

• Netherlands budgeted over $4B in military aid for Ukraine

• Hungary’s first KC-390 tanker transport aircraft was delivered

• The UK Royal Navy plans to install DragonFire laser weapons on ships by 2027

• 5N Plus was awarded a $14m Pentagon contract to boost production of critical solar cell components for satellites

• The Army aims to complete its multidomain task force structure by 2028

• Italy halted plans to buy Israeli underwater drones

• AeroVironment is teaming with Parry Labs to bring modular mission software to its P550 drone for the Army’s Long Range Reconnaissance (LRR) program

• Russia received a new batch of Su-35S fighter jets

• India flight-tested a new indigenous cruise missile

• Albania is reviving its weapon production plants

• General Atomics is positioning a future version of its MQ-1C Gray Eagle as a potential alternative to the Army’s now-canceled recon helicopter program

• Venezuela revealed it has Iranian anti-ship missiles

• Maxar Intelligence is looking to expand beyond the traditional imagery business

• Iceye raised an additional $93m to advance its constellation of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites

• Hanwha Aerospace is building a new engine factory to support KAI’s KF-21 fighter

• Australia released a new National Defense Strategy

🎁Earn Free Merch!🎁 

Hey. 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