Know What's Happening in Defense
Know What's Happening in Defense
Project Maven expands into AI‑assisted targeting and battlefield management
The Pentagon’s Project Maven, launched in 2017, has grown from a drone‑footage analysis tool into a system that fuses satellite imagery, sensor data and troop intelligence to accelerate the kill chain, letting commanders choose strike options in seconds. Palantir now serves as the primary technology contractor for the program.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Kraken Robotics acquires Colvya Group for $615M
Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced more than $26 million in grants from the Texas Military Preparedness Commission’s Defense Economic Adjustment Assistance Grant program, bringing total DEAAG funding to over $172 million since 2015. The money will support infrastructure upgrades at the state’s 15 major military installations, focusing on water resilience, energy efficiency, and airfield modernization. Texas, home to over 1.7 million military personnel, ranks second nationwide in active‑duty forces, underscoring its strategic importance. The grants also aim to mitigate potential job losses from future Base Realignment and Closure decisions.
AI safety has entered the cybersecurity era. @IrenaCronin and I write this newsletter every week. AI safety is becoming a cybersecurity issue because advanced AI can now help both defenders and attackers, making the risks more immediate and practical. As AI systems...
Hegseth, speaking March 2 on the potential length of the Iran war: "President Trump has all the latitude in the world to talk about how long it may or may not take four weeks, two weeks, six weeks. It could move...
A federal judge has dismissed the remaining 18 protests against the Veterans Affairs Department’s T4NG2 IT modernization vehicle, clearing the way for the $60 billion contract to move forward. The ruling follows a series of delays and a July 14 deadline that...
Italy refused a U.S. military aircraft request to land at Sicily’s Sigonella base while en route to the Middle East. The request arrived after the jets had already taken off, leaving no time for parliamentary approval required for non‑routine flights....
The U.S. Air Force has issued a Request for Information seeking automated, expeditionary counter‑drone solutions that can be rapidly deployed to protect airbases and forward operating sites. The AFRL‑led RFI, due 7 April, targets integrated systems capable of 24/7 point‑defense against...
china and pakistan release five point peace plan for ending iran war. no mention of us and israel call to restore full passage of strait of hormuz (no iran ability to disrupt/charge tolls). initiative should be welcomed by pretty much everybody.
The Philippines announced an executive order to rename more than 100 island features in the Spratly archipelago, aiming to reinforce its sovereignty against China’s expansive claims. The renaming, ordered by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., will apply to all government agencies,...
A new Hallgarten note warns that Europe’s critical‑minerals strategy is misaligned, focusing on lithium and ESG while overlooking the war‑driven metals tungsten, antimony, tin, rare earths and helium. The report highlights substantial domestic resources in Spain, Portugal, Scandinavia, Cornwall and...
Zelensky: Russia says Ukraine has two months to withdraw from Donbas, otherwise there will be ‘different peace terms.’ And what exactly happens if it doesn’t? The Russians will keep rolling their eyes in fury, posturing, beating their chests, acting like maniacs,...
The UK and Belgium have signed a memorandum of understanding for Belgium to develop a sovereign mission‑data capability, with UK firm QinetiQ leading a five‑year programme. Belgium will invest over five years, leveraging QinetiQ’s expertise and UK SMEs to establish...
SPARC AI Inc. appointed an on‑ground referral agent in Ukraine to speed the deployment of its Overwatch platform, which provides AI‑driven navigation and targeting in GPS‑denied environments. The agent’s established relationships with active defense personnel give the company direct access...
GomSpace received an Authorization to Proceed from French RF‑maritime intelligence firm Unseenlabs, valued at €815,000 (about $890,000) or 8.8 MSEK (≈ $828,000). The ATP lets GomSpace start buying long‑lead components for Unseenlabs’ next microsatellite batch, keeping the 2026‑27 launch cadence on...
Noting for clarity: It was suggested today in a question during the Pentagon press conference that "there's been lots of media coverage that suggested a ground invasion is imminent." Our Washington Post story on Saturday night drove some of that, and...
More here. Hegseth, speaking to concerns about the war in Iran from some of Trump's political base: "As far as President Trump and boots on the ground, I don't understand why the base, which they have already, they understand wouldn't have...
Open‑source AI orchestration framework CrewAI disclosed four interrelated vulnerabilities. The flaws—CVE‑2026‑2275, ‑2285, ‑2286, and ‑2287—stem from the Code Interpreter tool’s fallback to an insecure sandbox and improper configuration checks. Exploited together, they enable remote code execution, SSRF, and arbitrary file...
Italy denied US military aircraft permission to land at Sicily’s Sigonella base, underscoring a diplomatic rift. India’s diesel exports to Southeast Asia jumped to a seven‑year high, shipping roughly 1 million tonnes—about half to Singapore and 90% by Reliance Industries. The...
Iran has resurrected the state‑backed Pay2Key ransomware operation, enlisting Russian cybercriminal affiliates to target high‑impact U.S. and Israeli entities. The campaign employs “pseudo‑ransomware,” encrypting data while delivering destructive wiper payloads to obscure motives. Affiliate rewards have been boosted to 80%...
The United States launched a massive strike on Iran’s Isfahan ammunition depot, using 2,000‑pound bunker‑buster bombs that caused secondary explosions. Pentagon Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed that China and Russia are providing varying levels of support to Tehran’s war effort, though...
Dino and his team scaled @saronic faster than any defense company to date. He’s delivered hundreds of autonomous vessels to the US Navy, redefining naval autonomy, and the fastest-built big ships since WWII. Now, we’re scaling. I’m proud to have helped them...
The Department of Defense announced an expansion of its internal software factories—including the Air Force’s Kessel Run, the Army Software Factory and the Marine Corps Software Factory—aimed at embedding DevOps pipelines, automation and rapid delivery across all services. The move...
U.S. President Donald Trump warned that the United States will no longer assist the United Kingdom after the UK declined to join American air operations against Iran. The remark was posted on social media while U.S. forces expanded a long‑range...
Japan has made its upgraded Type‑12 land‑to‑ship missile operational at Camp Kengun, giving it a 1,000‑km strike capability that can reach mainland China. The move, driven by Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, marks a shift toward offensive deterrence as Tokyo expands...
Spain’s Defence Minister Margarita Robles announced the closure of Spanish airspace to US military aircraft participating in operations against Iran. The move forces US bombers and tankers to reroute via the UK, sparking a diplomatic clash with Washington and raising questions...
Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act will expire on April 20, 2026 unless Congress renews it, threatening a key intelligence tool for counter‑terrorism and cyber threat detection. The author disputes the Brennan Center’s claim that USP identifiers used...
This could be the offramp the world needs. You can think of it as the best outcome for everyone, under the circumstances. (1) From MAGA’s perspective, if Trump declares victory here and moves on, the US won’t waste yet more blood...
Japan’s ground Self‑Defense Force deployed two longer‑range missile systems on March 31, formally naming them Type 25 Surface‑to‑Ship Guided Missile (25SSM) and Type 25 Hyper‑Velocity Gliding Projectile (25HGP). The 25SSM extends the legacy Type 12’s reach to about 1,000 km, enabling strikes against naval and...
![Defense & Aerospace Daily Podcast [Mar 31, 2026] IISS’ Ben Barry](/cdn-cgi/image/width=1200,quality=75,format=auto,fit=cover/https://hixhlmpcokxhartfkpyi.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/images/articles/cb42432ddd18d746930ebd636b6f23e7.webp)
Ben Barry, retired British Army brigadier and IISS land‑warfare director, discusses his new book “The Rise and Fall of the British Army: 1975‑2025” on the Defense & Aerospace Daily Podcast. He examines the pivotal role of ground forces in a...
CRP USA will exhibit its Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) solutions using Windform high‑performance composite materials at RAPID + TCT 2026 in Boston from April 14‑16. The showcase, located in Booth 2443‑3 within the America Makes Pavilion, targets aerospace, defense, and...
Well, I for one am sad to see the end to a global alliance underpinned by a shared belief that democracy is worth defending. Which country do you expect will take the place of our special relationship with the UK? Hungary Russia N....
Chinese sellers on Alibaba are advertising functional copies of Iran’s Shahed‑136 loitering munition, disguising them as model planes, pesticide sprayers or survey drones. Despite China’s UAV export controls that began on September 1 2025 and Alibaba’s ban on military hardware, four listings...
Press conference at Pentagon just began. Hegseth says he was in the Centcom region for half a day recently -- something not previously disclosed. He has a notably different tone in his opener today, sharing details about what he saw and...
“The markets are unpredictable…We should all hope…that we win this thing and clean up the strait and Iran is no longer a threat to everybody…it is much more important that this be successfully completed than what the markets does.”
Technological advances and rising defense spending have accelerated development of lethal autonomous weapon systems (LAWS), which can select and engage targets without human intervention. The global autonomous weapons market, valued at $14.2 billion in 2024, is projected to more than double...
The U.S. is falling way behind in uncrewed aerial logistics. I can't count how many of these China has in development now.
U.S. Senators Press Taiwan to Raise Military Spending, as China Protests Senators urged Taiwan to break an impasse over a $40 billion budget proposal, highlighting concerns in Washington about the threat from China. $40 billion will not fly.... https://t.co/1V1zb5xbV1
The U.S. Navy spent roughly six months and about $50 million to revive its one‑of‑a‑kind 150 kW solid‑state laser demonstrator, originally mounted on USS Portland in 2019. The restored system was fielded in the Pentagon’s Crimson Dragon exercise, where it successfully engaged four...
“AI on Both Sides: Friend, Foe, and Everything In Between” RSAC 2026 Recap: Chatbots, Deepfakes, and Smart Glasses Highlight a Security World on Edge https://t.co/qHl5CXvVip #RSAC #RSAC26 https://t.co/IgIm5EZ5DI
Europe hardens its stance against Trump’s Iran war in a threat to NATO https://t.co/hlOQqadl5Y via @v_dendrinou @AfPalasciano https://t.co/owGuORGXjO
EnSilica has been selected to join the newly formed CHERI Adoption Collective, a UK‑government‑backed initiative aimed at embedding hardware‑level memory safety into critical systems. The collective brings together infrastructure operators such as BT, National Grid and SSE, along with semiconductor...
There won't be a TACO, writes @TheMichaelEvery Stop second-guessing a plan you're not going to be told. If the U.S. loses, the outcome is chaos—or a China-led order. Any questions? https://t.co/N9Cl7ZXvUB
In Iran's counterattack against the US and Israel, an Iranian drone strike hit a fully loaded Kuwaiti oil tanker near Dubai. Forget the Western propaganda. The Iranians have plenty of firepower. https://t.co/6X12Z8HDBw
Finnish cybersecurity startup Test of Things secured €1.2 million (about $1.3 million) in a pre‑seed round led by Vendep Capital, with participation from Business Finland and several angel investors. The company is developing an AI‑driven platform that automates security testing and regulatory...
“We use the Strait of Hormuz dramatically less than most.” Secretary @PeteHegseth then called out Britain’s weakened navy from the Pentagon podium: “Last I checked there’s supposed to be a big bad Royal Navy prepared to do that as well.“ https://t.co/lwRiXcdYj6
Hormuz now a pay to pass corridor. From being forced to pay a “toll” to a VLCC attacked and on fire, a day in the maritime mess at the Strait of Hormuz. https://t.co/ENyO92nyeS
Cohesity announced native integration of Sophos next‑generation malware scanning into its Data Cloud platform. The feature, included with the Enterprise Edition, detects zero‑day, polymorphic and fileless threats hidden in backup data without requiring a separate Sophos license. Scans run incrementally...
This is something to keep an eye on. Ukraine has been damaging Russian oil export capacity, via drone. The country's seaborne shipments last week were the lowest since 2022, but unclear if it's the start of a longer trend. ...
"The US wont be there to help you anymore." With all the help they've had so far with the war, will they want more?
Rackspace Technology and Rubrik have launched the UK Sovereign Cyber Recovery Cloud, a ransomware‑focused recovery service that keeps all data, hardware and management within UK borders. The offering provides an automated, isolated "clean‑room" environment that can restore public‑sector and regulated...
Why is anyone surprised by this with nearly 30 ship attacks in the Persian Gulf since March 1. Add to that, even US flagged ships feel like they are not getting the attention, let alone protection, they deserve.
