Your Defense Code Is Already AI-Generated. Now What?

INVESTMENT

Saronic Raises $1.75B Series D

If anyone thought the hype for maritime would fade, what with the whole “potential extended ground war in Iran” thing, think again.

This morning, autonomous maritime giant Saronic announced that it’s raised a $1.75B Series D—yes, billion with a “B”—at a $9.25B post-money valuation. Again, yes, that’s all with a “B”.

AI

Your Defense Code Is Already AI-Generated. Now What?

Somewhere in a defense ministry, someone is drafting a policy on whether to permit AI-assisted software development in defense procurement. The sentiment is understandable, but the policy is unfortunately unenforceable because the code is already there.

TECHNOLOGY

Tech companies leaning hard into the US defense industry

The US’ and Israel’s war with Iran has highlighted the newfound alliance between the tech sector and the US military after decades of strained relations, displaying a synergy that investors see as a gold mine.

The Cost of Hesitation: Why “Finishing the Mission” is Imperative in Iran

The view from a C-130 during a combat mission in the Middle East provides clarity that is often lost in the sanitized briefing rooms of Washington. As an Air Force medical crew director, I have looked into the eyes of young servicemembers being medevacked out of theater, and I lived through what decades of strategic inconsistency asks of our warfighters. As a board-certified psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, I am equally attuned to a different kind of trauma: the deep-seated moral injury that occurs when those sacrifices are rendered all for naught by a leadership that lacks the resolve to finish the mission.

POLICY

Former Trump advisor joins board of Ukraine-focused drone tech company Powerus

Donald Trump’s former special envoy to Russia and Ukraine, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, will join the advisory board of Powerus, a Florida-based startup seeking to build relationships with and acquire technology from Ukrainian drone makers to sell to the U.S. military, the company said in a statement Tuesday.

The news signals warming commercial and financial activity between U.S. investors and Ukrainian defense technology entrepreneurs, even as U.S.-led diplomatic talks on ending Russia’s war appear stalled.

The U.S. Military Risks Letting Contractors Define How It Sees the Battlefield

In the 1964 black comedy Dr. Strangelove, an emergency war plan called “Plan R” allows an unhinged U.S. Air Force commander, Jack Ripper, to launch a nuclear strike without presidential authorization. Once the president, the joint chiefs, and the Soviet ambassador convene in the war room, the bombers are already airborne.

Only Ripper knows the three-letter prefix needed to recall them, until his aide, Lionel Mandrake, reconstructs it from Ripper’s notes. Although nearly all planes are turned back, one damaged B-52 cannot receive the recall message and successfully drops its bomb, triggering the Soviets’ secret doomsday machine and bringing about global destruction.

EUROPE

Defense startups pursue deals with Gulf states amid Iran war

European defense tech startups are ramping up commercial discussions with Middle East governments since the Iran war, company execs told CNBC. Another CEO said interest from Gulf states was “skyrocketing” as they race to bolster measures to counter drone and missile attacks.

The UK is on the precipice of geopolitical and military irrelevance

The anonymous author is a defence technology investor with an interest in the UK, Europe, and North America

A BEAM of light for EU sovereignty as Belgium rolls out Matrix-based messaging app for government

The app could support up to 750,000 public sector personnel, but Matrix co-creator Matthew Hodgson says sovereignty depends on funding the underlying open-source systems

Frankenburg Kicks off Partnership with Polish Prime

Look out, world. The Eastern Europeans are (formally) teaming up.

On Friday, Estonian interceptor hotshot Frankenburg Technologies announced that it’s officially inked a production partnership with Poland’s state-owned defense company—Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa (PGZ)—to produce its air defense systems in Poland.

Ukraine’s Defense Tech Sector Gets $5M Boost From New Investment Fund

The Ukrainian accelerator Defense Builder, founded by Sigma Software, KSE, and Buntar Aerospace, has transformed into a comprehensive defense tech ecosystem and established a $5 million venture investment fund.

STARTUPS

Autonomous ship startup Saronic raises $1.75 billion

Autonomous ship startup Saronic said Tuesday that it’s raised $1.75 billion as it ramps up production to meet mounting U.S. military demand for newer and cheaper defense capabilities.

The round, led by Kleiner Perkins, more than doubles Saronic’s valuation to $9.25 billion from the $4 billion it hit after a $600 million raise early last year.