Defense Tech Innovation and the Role of Startups; European Defense Tech Funding Surges

INNOVATION

It's "go time" for Anduril after defense-tech hat trick

Anduril Industries is on a hot streak.

Russia is ‘Copying, Adapting, and Scaling’ Ukrainian Battlefield Innovations

Speaking at the Resilience Conference, two frontline officers say Moscow is adapting Kyiv’s best ideas.

F-47’s first flight expected in 2028

That’s a year earlier than Air Force officials have previously said Boeing's sixth-gen combat aircraft might take wing.

SOCOM to get robotic anti-drone turret for maritime platforms

Defense tech startup Allen Control Systems landed a contract for Bullfrog, which can use a variety of common weapons.

INVESTMENT

Defense tech firm Kela buys AI startup to bolster platform for modern battlefield

In its first acquisition, Kela buys Pelanor to expand its OS, which helps militaries integrate commercial technology like artificial intelligence into defense systems

Los Angeles Tech Startups Get Big Cash Infusion as Silicon Valley Pivots to Defense

One weapon being tested can be dropped into the stratosphere thousands of miles from its target and can deliver an explosive with precision even without GPS.

Another is a cruise missile that takes off vertically without a runway so it can deliver a strike from at least 180 miles with the accuracy of a helicopter-launched rocket.

TECHNOLOGY

The Force We Need: Stand-off and Penetrating Airpower

Decades of force cuts and deferred modernization have left the U.S. Air Force unable to simultaneously deter nuclear attacks, defend the U.S. homeland, and defeat Chinese aggression at acceptable levels of risk.

Scale AI Dives Into Physical AI

Like the rest of Silicon Valley, Scale AI has quickly become a big-time defense contractor since, well, AI is all the rage in the Pentagon right now. On Wednesday, the AI training data startup—which Meta took a 49 percent stake in for a cool $15B in June—announced its expanded physical AI data engine platform for autonomy and robotics companies.

Air Force Contemplating B-21-Like Aircraft for Air-to-Air Combat

The Air Force is studying whether a large flying wing-type stealth aircraft armed with dozens of air-to-air missiles could be an element of its future air superiority force, sources told Air & Space Forces Magazine. The aircraft could be based on the Northrop Grumman B-21, but the concept is at an early stage and other contractors could potentially have a shot at the work due to Northrop’s limited B-21 production capacity.

SPACE

South Korea Should Build Out a Reconnaissance Satellite Ecosystem

What happens if, in the opening hours of a crisis on the Korean peninsula, U.S. reconnaissance satellites turned their gaze elsewhere? For South Korea, this is not an abstract question, but a pressing national security vulnerability. Despite being a global technology powerhouse, Seoul remains heavily dependent on U.S. — and, to a lesser extent, Japanese — intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance assets for early warning and strategic awareness

Is space the next frontier for digital infrastructure?

When engineers think about where to place the next generation of data centers, space seems almost tailor-made for the challenge

September 29th 2025