Military Air Taxis? South Korea Wants to Make Them Real; Ex-Military Entrepreneurs Set to Cash In on Defense Tech Boom

INNOVATION

Ex-Military Entrepreneurs Are Set To Cash In On Defense Tech Boom

Ex-military entrepreneurs are leveraging 21st-century technology to build better, smarter weapons. This AI-powered defense tech revolution is backed by a record $32 billion in venture funding since 2022 and will create generational fortunes—and forever change how we wage war.

Taiwan’s Tech Hurdles Threaten Military Capability and Potential Coalition Defense

Taiwan produces the world’s most advanced semiconductors, yet the island’s own military is only in the opening stages of adopting artificial intelligence systems. This mismatch bears directly on Taiwan’s ability to deter Chinese aggression.

Military Air Taxis? South Korea Wants to Make Them Real

The Midnight electric aircraft enables military transport through vertical takeoff and landing capabilities.

AI

The trillion-dollar stack: Defense tech is hiring on every floor

AI may cut thousands of jobs, but defense tech can’t hire fast enough

As AI models break free, White House works with firms on secret safety measures

Lawmakers blast administration's "ad-hoc" AI strategy; tech giants pitch ideas to keep federal contracts flowing.

Lockheed Sends New AI-Enabled Submarine Hunter Into Live Sea Trials

SensorMAX tests showed the AI-enabled sonar system could analyze data, manage up to eight feeds, and retrain new detection models.

TECHNOLOGY

Lockheed Martin completes burst test of NGI’s second-stage motor case

During the test, the motor case withstood required loads before failure, confirming its strength for launch.

EUROPE

Starlink Knocked Out? Ukraine’s Lynx Robots Can Now Reconnect Over Wi-Fi

Ukrainian robotics company ROBONEERS has upgraded its Lynx PRO and Lynx+ unmanned ground vehicles with a combined LTE and Wi-Fi antenna that can restore control when Starlink goes down, according to a company press release shared with UNITED24 Media on August 6.

STARTUPS

UK-based OLIX raises $312 million Series B to build better AI infrastructure

The funding will go towards delivering the OLIX Decode Accelerator 1 (DX-1), a custom silicon solution that assists in AI inference. The company plans to expand manufacturing and supply chain systems that their hardware and software solutions will require.

DRONES

Aeon Enters Drone Dominance With a New Fuze Line

The Austin-based software-defined missile startup built its own fuzes and electronic safe and arm devices (ESADs)—the things that control whether, when, and under what conditions a bomb goes boom—for its flagship Zeus missile to save on cost, but they’re now set to supply almost half of the one-way attack drones in the second phase of the Drone Dominance Program with a scaled-down version, the company exclusively told Tectonic.

CHINA

Beijing’s Next Play for the South China Sea

How China Is Normalizing Its Control

RESEARCH

As AI hits software sector, defense-tech flourishes

GotFriends found that defense-tech startups are expanding recruitment and raising salaries as other technology companies cut staff and restructure around AI.

MARITIME

HII’s sea drone business is growing, but revenue is ‘modest,’ CEO says

The company recently booked a yearlong production contract extension for its underwater drone, Lionfish.

ARMY

US Army Backs Development of Tiberius' 150-km Ramjet Artillery Projectile

The US Army has signed an agreement with Tiberius Aerospace to advance development of its liquid-ramjet-powered Sceptre artillery projectile, capable of engaging targets up to 150 kilometers (93 miles) away.

STRATEGY

America Has a South China Sea Problem

On July 20, a China Coast Guard team in a small boat closed on Philippine sailors near Second Thomas Shoal and repeatedly struck one of them on the head with a wooden baton, leaving him injured and requiring his removal for medical treatment.

Manila says China struck first.