#defense-technology-policy

#defense-technology-policy

The U.S. has discovered that air superiority and missile defense systems designed to counter tens/hundreds of aircraft and missiles is insufficient against asymmetric attacks of thousands of drones.

"As long as that aggressive investment continues by hyperscalers and service providers..., that will provide a certain level of resilience and will cushion some of the impact of any slowdown," Minton said.

The economics are hard to ignore. Shooting down a drone with AeroVironment's LOCUST laser system costs less than $10, using just two to five seconds of laser energy. Compare that to the interceptor missiles currently used against Iranian drone swarms, which cost orders of magnitude more and are in short supply across allied arsenals.

CEO Chris Calio emphasized the urgency of delivering critical products for national security, stating, 'We understand that our products are critical to national security. And I can tell you across the organization, we absolutely feel the responsibility and urgency to deliver more and to deliver it faster.'

When I brought up the drones that Ukraine has used so effectively against Russian tanks, the company's chairman and CEO, Armin Papperger, was withering in his dismissal. 'This is how to play with Legos,' he told me.

The Iranian choke hold on the Strait of Hormuz evidently had a lot to do with it. By cutting off roughly one-fifth of the world's oil supply over the past five weeks, Iran's blockade of that narrow waterway caused an energy crisis and fears of a global recession that the White House could not abide for long.

Ondas announced a definitive merger agreement with Mistral, a Bethesda, Md.-based defense prime contractor, valued at $175 million, which includes $122.5 million in common stock paid upfront and in installments.

The Boeing E-4B 'Nightwatch,' also known as the 'Doomsday plane,' made several loops above the Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska on Monday. The massive jet serves as a flying command post for top officials, including the president, vice president and Secretary of War, during crises.

Hegseth's financial broker inquired about a multimillion-dollar investment in BlackRock's Defense Industrials Active ETF, which invests in global defense and security-related companies.

The White House is seeking a 10 percent cut to nondefense spending, proposing a reduction of $73 billion from federal programs outside the military, targeting environmental initiatives.

Hegseth's actions reflect a broader agenda to reshape the military's leadership, prioritizing loyalty to his political beliefs over military experience and competence.

The president should have a lot of leeway in which he determines whether or not the nation's going to respond kinetically. This flexibility is crucial in the evolving landscape of cyber warfare.

The U.S. military has fired more than 850 Tomahawk cruise missiles in four weeks of war with Iran, burning through the precision weapons at a rate that has alarmed some Pentagon officials.

I have been working in Ukraine since 2019, first as an active Green Beret advising in an official capacity, then after leaving that service, directing special operations on the ground and more recently carrying hard-won lessons back to NATO before they are forgotten or overtaken by the next news cycle.

Our war fighters are leveraging a variety of advanced AI tools. These systems help us sift through vast amounts of data in seconds so our leaders can cut through the noise and make smarter decisions faster than the enemy can react. Humans will always make final decisions on what to shoot and what not to shoot and when to shoot, but advanced AI tools can turn processes that used to take hours and sometimes even days into seconds.