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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| ❗️REMINDER: We’re off next week but will return to your inbox on Sunday, March 24th. |
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| | | | | | They Said It
“Our high-energy lasers are so susceptible to weather. That’s why I think this is going to be a great laboratory because anytime there’s a dust storm, anytime there’s that kind of thing, it starts to alter the physics of the light particles that actually shoot that beam.” | — Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. James Mingus, on sending prototype Stryker-mounted laser weapons to the Middle East |
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| | | Zoom in | Having American-made steel ready for defense programs is a national security imperative. Or is it? | Zoom in here for an interesting counter-argument (and an MRAP story you’ve never heard) by someone who used to oversee the Pentagon’s industrial policy. |
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| | | | | | In that Number | 39% | AeroVironment reported a landmark earnings quarter, marking a 39% increase from last year. | The cause: the demand for loitering munitions in Ukraine—they build the Switchblade. |
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| | | Saved Rounds | The Army started work on new software to automate the fires targeting process AFWERX selected 11 companies for its STRATFI program (SpaceWERX selected 5 more) Exotrail successfully deployed a satellite from its first “spacevan” orbital transfer vehicle Denmark launched a competition to replace its coastal radars Sweden officially joined NATO as the 32nd alliance member Norway is buying 3 more Lockheed Martin TPY-4 surveillance radars Poland received its first Saab 340 AEW&C aircraft Poland is launching its first military satellites in 2025 Rafael expects its Iron Beam laser defenses to be active in 2025 The Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital released their first investment strategy Indra (Spain) and Edge (UAE) are forming a joint venture to develop next-generation radars Taiwan is developing vehicle-mounted 50kW laser weapon Lockheed Martin received a $220m contract mod for the Army’s 400km Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) The British Army is getting computerized rifle sights to shoot down drones Northrop Grumman and AIDC are teaming to upgrade Taiwan’s E-2K Hawkeye fleet China is debuting large reusable rockets in 2025 (ala SpaceX) Bahrain received its first PAC-3 MSE interceptor shipment from Lockheed Martin Planet Labs was awarded a Navy contract for space-based maritime surveillance in the Pacific Lockheed Martin’s first Block 70 F-16s are out for delivery (destination Bahrain) Wave Engine flew its pulsejet-powered drone DIU awarded multiple contracts to install drag reduction tech on C-17, C-130, and KC-135 aircraft Swarm Aero is building a factory in Arkansas to mass-produce drone swarms A UK military drone test squadron has failed to perform a single test since forming in 2020 The Navy wants to expand the kinematic envelope of Northrop Grumman’s GQM-163A Coyote supersonic aerial target Canada is retiring its CT-155 jet trainer fleet and looking for a replacement India activated its first MH-60R anti-submarine helo squadron Astra Space is going private to avoid bankruptcy Thailand’s Air Force unveiled its long-term vision to buy jets, drones, and missile defenses The US and Japan are finalizing an agreement to jointly develop a hypersonic missile defense interceptor
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