The Future of Software-Defined Warfare; Spotify's Daniel Ek Just Bet Bigger on Helsing

OF NOTE

Defense Tech Developments

1. Operation Midnight Hammer and the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator

Event: The U.S. deployed GBU-57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrators (MOPs) against Iran’s deeply buried nuclear sites at Fordow and Natanz in a nighttime mission involving B-2 Spirit bombers.

Significance: This marked the first operational use of the GBU-57, a precision-guided, earth-penetrating bomb specifically engineered to neutralize hardened underground targets. The weapon can breach up to 200 feet of reinforced concrete or 130 feet of rock, and its deployment is seen as the culmination of over two decades of planning and technological refinement.

2. Counter-UAS Technology and International Sales

Event: The U.S. Army’s fixed site/low, slow, small unmanned aircraft system integrated defeat system (LIDS) was sold internationally for the first time, under a $1 billion foreign military sales agreement with Qatar.

Significance: LIDS is a modular, layered defense system designed to detect, track, identify, and defeat unmanned aerial threats. The deal underscores the growing global focus on countering drone threats to critical infrastructure and military operations.

INNOVATION

The Future of Software-Defined Warfare

How can you bring together technical directors, military officials, and competing commercial interests to craft effective defense tech policy? Whitney McNamara and Stephen Rodriguez, the co-author and commission director of the Atlantic Council’s Commission on Software-Defined Warfare, sit down with Ryan to talk about guiding tech adoption and more in government and defense.

Blockchain in Missile Defense Technology

Modern warfare operates in an increasingly contested environment where adversaries possess not only advanced weapon systems but also sophisticated cyber capabilities that can disrupt critical defense technologies.

The complexity of contemporary missile defense systems requires seamless integration between multiple subsystems and the main weapon platform.

INVESTMENT

Defense technology startup Mach Industries raises $100M

Huntington Beach, California-based Mach Industries currently offers three systems for the defense sector. The first is a jet-powered unmanned aerial vehicle, or UAV, called Viper that can take off and land vertically. That means it doesn’t require a runway to operate. Mach Industries also offers two other UAVs, dubbed Glide and Stratos, that are designed to operate at high altitudes.

Spotify's Daniel Ek just bet bigger on Helsing, Europe's defense tech darling

When Daniel Ek isn’t busy running Spotify or building his new AI-driven health tech enterprise, he’s making massive bets on the future of European warfare, seemingly.

The billionaire, who primarily lives in Stockholm, just led a €600 million investment in Helsing, a four-year-old, Munich-based defense tech company that is now valued at €12 billion, as first reported by the Financial Times and confirmed separately by TechCrunch. The deal makes it one of Europe’s most valuable privately held companies; it also highlights Europe’s scramble to build its own military muscle as the world grows messier and the U.S. turns inward.

War tech goes old school with Sweden’s first TNT factory since Cold War

A Swedish startup is taking defence tech back to basics — by building the country’s first TNT factory since the Cold War.

Stockholm-based Swebal has secured a €3mn investment for the plant, slated to enter full operation in late 2027. Located in Nora, a town about three hours from the capital, the factory is expected to produce more than 4,000 tonnes of TNT a year.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Pentagon places big bets on frontier AI, quantum sensing and next-gen avionics

The U.S. Department of Defense has directed more than $700 million toward a suite of high-priority research and development initiatives on June 16, 2025. The announcement, posted on the DoD website, signals a push into frontier AI, quantum sensing and advanced battlespace simulation. Headlining the investments were a landmark prototype agreement with OpenAI and significant funding for developing next-generation sensory and simulation capabilities.

TECHNOLOGY

Electra Aerospace and Lockheed Martin Team Up

Once upon a time (last Friday), before the US had struck Iran and sent us all into an X-fuelled tailspin, a pretty interesting announcement came out of the tail-end of the Paris Air Show: Electra.aero (maker of the ultra-short takeoff and landing EL9 aircraft) and Lockheed Martin Skunk Works ($LMT) are teaming up.

Hanwha teams up with Northrop Grumman for next-gen air defense

Hanwha Systems has partnered with Northrop Grumman, a US-headquartered aerospace and defense technology powerhouse, to join forces in developing next-generation integrated air and missile defense, or IAMD, systems, the Korean company said Monday.

What Big Tech's Band of Execs Will Do in the Army

Meta CTO Andrew "Boz" Bosworth and leaders from OpenAI and Palantir have joined a detachment intended to make the US Armed Forces "leaner, smarter, and more lethal."

Anduril and Rheinmetall Team Up

Another day, another huge piece of news for European defense tech. This morning, Anduril announced a strategic partnership with German defense prime Rheinmetall to co-produce a suite of autonomous air systems and propulsion capabilities for militaries on the continent.

An early look into Estonia’s plan to deploy a ‘drone wall’ by 2027

Members of Estonia’s Police and Border Guard Board briefed DefenseScoop on their plans for the fortification.