Today's Defense Pulse
U.S. Treasury expands sanctions on Iran-linked shipping network
The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced a new sanctions round targeting a global network of shipping firms, tanker operators and intermediaries tied to Iran’s petroleum and petrochemical trades. Entities in Hong Kong, the UAE, India, Qatar, Singapore, China, Liberia and the Marshall Islands were added to the Specially Designated Nationals list.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Disciplined Growth Acquisition Corp raises $150M in IPO
Cohere Teams up with Swedish Defence Firm Saab on AI for Surveillance Jets
Cohere, a Toronto‑based large language model developer, signed a memorandum of understanding with Swedish defence contractor Saab to embed its generative‑AI technology into the company’s GlobalEye surveillance aircraft. The collaboration will focus on data‑driven mission support, predictive maintenance tools, and rapid information processing for complex aerospace environments. Saab hopes the AI enhancements will strengthen its bid for Canadian procurement of the GlobalEye platform and other air systems. The deal expands Cohere’s growing portfolio of defence partnerships, which already includes German and South Korean naval firms.
Wyoming National Guard Grows HIMARS Force Through Transition Course
The Wyoming National Guard is expanding its field artillery capability by running a 13M HIMARS transition course at Camp Guernsey on March 20, 2026. The program converts experienced soldiers from other MOSs into qualified HIMARS crew members, blending classroom instruction with realistic...
Germany Is Increasing Its Presence in the North Atlantic
Germany is expanding its naval footprint in the North Atlantic as part of a broader NATO response to heightened tensions in the Middle East. The frigate Sachsen has taken command of Standing NATO Maritime Group 1, with the frigate Brandenburg joining...
U.S. Rare‑Earth Stocks Surge as Government Funding Fuels Investor Interest
USA Rare Earth secured $1.6 bn in U.S. government funding and $1.5 bn from private investors, while MP Materials received a 15% government stake and a $110/kg price floor from the Department of Defense. The twin capital moves have lifted both stocks...
Shield AI Starts Combat Drone Production, Targeting Lockheed and Boeing
Shield AI, a defense‑technology startup, announced it will start manufacturing its next‑generation combat drone, positioning itself against industry giants Lockheed Martin and Boeing. The move underscores a broader shift toward AI‑driven unmanned systems and could accelerate procurement cycles that have...
Israel, Interrupted
The blog “Israel, Interrupted” describes how relentless air‑raid sirens, missile strikes and successive wars have turned daily life in Israel into a series of forced pauses. It traces the origins of these disruptions from COVID‑19 through the 2022 judicial reform...
Silver Fox Cyber Campaigns Show Shift Toward Dual Espionage
Silver Fox, a cyber intrusion group, shifted its tactics from 2025 to early 2026, blending espionage with financially motivated crime. The campaigns targeted finance staff across Taiwan, Japan, and eight South Asian nations using tax‑authority phishing lures. Attack vectors progressed...
Strategic Stockpiles
The Philippines faces a looming crisis as the Strait of Hormuz disruption threatens oil‑derived fertilizer supplies, driving urea prices to roughly P1,500 (about $27) per bag. With no strategic fertilizer reserves and a rice supply gap of nearly four million...
RSAC 2026 Conference Announcements Summary (Day 1)
The RSAC 2026 conference showcased a wave of AI‑focused security launches, from Acalvio’s 360 Deception framework to Arctic Wolf’s Aurora Superintelligence Platform and Broadcom’s Symantec CBX XDR solution. Vendors emphasized agentic capabilities—AI agent discovery, policy enforcement, and runtime governance—to counter increasingly automated threats. Several...
Google Brings AI-Powered Dark Web Analysis to Enterprise Security Teams
Google Cloud announced at RSA 2026 an AI‑driven agent called “Triage and Investigation” within its Security Operations platform, automating alert review and reducing false positives for SOC analysts. The same rollout includes an AI‑powered dark‑web analysis tool that sifts through...
Ceasefire Talk Likely Theater, Not Real Resolution
Carlyle's Stavridis sees a US-Iran ceasefire "within weeks" A pause with BS talks? Maybe. Trump needs an outcome he can sell as strength Iran has no reason to give him that unless it gets something real in return. The most likely outcome is theater. #Iran...
Japan’s Election Win Is a Warning for Europe’s Comfort Zone
Japan’s newly elected prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, signals a tougher strategic turn that underscores the need for optionality over dependence. The win highlights Europe’s ongoing debate over strategic autonomy and the urgency to move from rhetoric to concrete actions. Existing...
US Troops Are Being Told to ‘Get Ready’ to Invade Iran
In this episode, Prem Tucker talks with Mike Preissner, Executive Director of the Center on Conscience and War, about the surge of anxiety and dissent within the U.S. military as troops are rapidly prepared for a potential invasion of Iran....
Trump’s Threat to ‘Obliterate’ Iran’s Power Stations Could Constitute a War Crime, Rights Experts Say
President Trump warned he would "obliterate" Iran's power stations within 48 hours unless the Strait of Hormuz was fully opened, extending the deadline to Friday. Human‑rights experts say deliberately targeting civilian energy infrastructure could constitute a war crime under international...
Kremlin-Hated Hungarian Killing 400 Russian Soldiers to 1 (Ukraine Battlefield Update, Day 1,489)
Ukrainian drone commander Robert Brovdi, nicknamed “Magyar,” leads the Uncrewed Systems Forces that account for roughly a third of Russian infantry casualties. In the past week his units killed or wounded 8,710 Russian soldiers, a rate that translates to about 38,000...
Saudi Leader Is Said to Push Trump to Continue Iran War in Recent Calls
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has been urging President Trump to keep the United States engaged in a military campaign against Iran, describing the conflict as a historic opportunity to reshape the Middle East. In recent calls, MBS argued that...
Treasury Asks Whether Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Should Bolster Cyber Coverage
The U.S. Treasury Department has opened a public comment period to consider expanding the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program (TRIP) to cover cyber‑related losses stemming from acts of terrorism. The agency will incorporate feedback into a mandatory report to Congress due...
ZeroEyes Launches ZeroLink to Deliver AI Gun Detection and Situational Awareness Anytime, Anywhere
ZeroEyes announced ZeroLink, an off‑network AI gun‑detection solution that can be installed on any digital camera, from light poles to vehicles. The system leverages Lanner’s Edge AI inference computers to analyze video locally and transmit alerts through the ZeroEyes Operations...
UK Warns Iran Has Launched 3,500 Missiles and Drones
The United Kingdom has markedly expanded its military footprint in the Middle East as Iran’s missile and drone campaign escalates, with over 3,500 attacks recorded across 12 countries. Defence Secretary John Healey outlined a defensive, coordinated, and legally grounded approach,...
![Defense & Aerospace Daily Podcast [Mar 24, 2026] Echodyne’s Eben Frankenberg on Affordable Electronically Scanned Radars](https://hixhlmpcokxhartfkpyi.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/images/articles/ea4795a2e7f3889106a3062fc4470474.webp)
Defense & Aerospace Daily Podcast [Mar 24, 2026] Echodyne’s Eben Frankenberg on Affordable Electronically Scanned Radars
Echodyne CEO Eben Frankenberg explained how the company leveraged breakthrough meta‑material technology to create small, affordable electronically scanned radars for both military and commercial use. Founded in 2014 within Nathan Myhrvold’s Intellectual Ventures, the firm secured $135 million in 2022 funding...
Cheap DIY Drones Undermine US Defense, AI Threat Looms
Cheap drones, using mobile phone components, commercial off-the-shelf electronics, guidance sensors and a cheap 550cc two-stroke petrol engine, have literally defeated the entire might of US defence spending. When cheap cameras, and more autonomous scalable AI capabilities emerge, we're in real...
Czech Police Arrest 3 over Arson at Drone Warehouse Supplying Ukraine
Czech police arrested three suspects, including Czech and U.S. nationals, after a fire destroyed LPP Holding's warehouse that supplied autonomous drones to Ukraine. The blaze, deemed suspected arson and linked to terrorism, caused no injuries but razed the facility in...
India, China, and How Not to Save the Brahmaputra
China is rapidly expanding its upstream hydraulic infrastructure on the Yarlung Tsangpo, highlighted by the 60 GW Great Bend project, while withholding hydrological data from India. New Delhi has responded not with multilateral diplomacy but with a “dam‑for‑dam” strategy, exemplified by the 20,000 MW...
Spain Signs Indra–Hanwha Deal for K9-Based Artillery Systems
Indra Group and South Korea’s Hanwha Aerospace signed a binding agreement to develop a K9‑based family of self‑propelled artillery for the Spanish Armed Forces, delivering 128 tracked guns plus 120 ammunition‑resupply, 11 command‑and‑control and 21 recovery vehicles. The program includes...
Lockheed Fires HELLFIRE From GRIZZLY Containerized Launcher
Lockheed Martin successfully completed the first live‑fire and vertical‑launch test of a Hellfire missile from its new GRIZZLY containerized launcher. The system fits inside a standard 10‑foot Tricon container and was developed in just six months using existing M299 launcher...
Canadian Senator's Advocacy Group Classified as Chinese Communist Party United Front-Linked
A Jamestown Foundation study identified Senator Yuen Pau Woo’s newly formed advocacy group as the 576th Canadian organization linked to the Chinese Communist Party’s United Front Work Department. Woo publicly attacked the study, labeling it disinformation and accusing Canadian officials of enabling...
When Did Lying Stop Mattering?
President Donald Trump used Truth Social to declare an end to the Iran war, prompting stock futures to rebound and oil prices to tumble before Iran’s foreign ministry denied any cease‑fire. Simultaneously, the administration sent ICE agents to thirteen airports,...
Czech Firm TRL Drones Introduces GCS Counter-Drone System
Czech firm TRL Drones has launched a Ground Control Station (GCS) that fuses sensor data, AI analysis and autonomous interceptor drones to provide a kinetic, hard‑kill layer against unmanned aerial threats. The system can shift from electronic jamming to physical...
U.S. Army Awards Anduril $20 Billion AI Battlefield Tech Contract
The U.S. Army awarded Anduril Industries a 10‑year, firm‑fixed‑price IDIQ contract worth up to $20 billion, consolidating more than 120 prior agreements into a single procurement vehicle. The deal centers on Anduril’s open‑architecture Lattice software, which fuses data from drones, radars,...
US Launches $1T Pax Silica Fund to Secure Supply Chains
The New "Pax Silica" Fund The Trump Administration is establishing a Supply Chain Fund. The "Pax Silica" fund will support energy, semiconductor, and critical materials. The US will commit $250M, and partners will include Singapore, the UAE, Qatar, and Sweden. The...
Ford Carrier Looks Like a Star Destroyer
Major Star Destroyer vibes from this incredible shot of the Ford posted by CENTCOM: https://t.co/sGdnHeFYiI
Leonardo DRS Joins ATSP5 Emerging Systems Program
Leonardo DRS was selected as one of 13 firms for the U.S. Department of Defense’s Advanced Technology Support Program V (ATSP5), a 10‑year indefinite‑delivery, indefinite‑quantity contract with a ceiling exceeding $25 billion. The award gives DRS a new vehicle to compete for...
Polymarket Predicts 55% Chance of US Invading Iran
According to @Polymarket, there is a 55% chance US forces enter Iran by the end of April. Forget Trump’s talk of the art of the deal. He takes his orders from Jerusalem. https://t.co/GgrtwQc8kz
Rigetti Computing Develops Qubit-Efficient Algorithm for Combinatorial Optimization
Rigetti Computing secured a DARPA contract to advance quantum algorithms for optimization and unveiled a qubit‑efficient method that maps candidate solutions onto entangled wave functions, dramatically reducing the qubit count needed. The technique extends the quantum approximate optimization ansatz and...
Terrorist Innovation Model and Drone Adoption Explained | GNET Insights
The Global Network on Extremism and Technology (GNET) released a study outlining a Terrorist Innovation Model that explains how groups like ISIS and Al‑Qaeda adopt emerging technologies, especially drones, through adaptation rather than invention. The model separates intrinsic factors—strategic goals,...
Revoking
YES And this is what happens when you pull their pentagon passes and security clearances…. https://t.co/oQFBy98VJw
What Iran Wants From the War
Iran has abandoned its long‑standing strategy of strategic patience, adopting an offensive deterrence doctrine after the 12‑day war with Israel. The new posture relies on rapid, punitive strikes across the Persian Gulf, leveraging control of the Strait of Hormuz and...
New Lumu Defender Capabilities Provide Visibility Beyond the Network
Lumu announced major upgrades to its Lumu Defender NDR platform, extending its Continuous Compromise Assessment beyond the network to endpoints, cloud workloads, and user identities. The enhanced solution now correlates malicious network traffic with specific devices, accounts, and cloud services,...
Epirus, GDLS and Kodiak Develop New Counter-Drone System
Epirus, General Dynamics Land Systems and Kodiak AI unveiled the Leonidas Autonomous Ground Vehicle, a mobile counter‑UAS platform that pairs Epirus’ high‑power microwave weapon with Kodiak’s autonomous driving system on a commercial‑grade truck. The system can operate fully autonomously or...
First Welded 3D-Printed Component Installed on US Navy’s Virginia-Class Sub
Portsmouth Naval Shipyard has inspected, tested, and installed the first welded additively manufactured copper‑nickel flange on the Virginia‑class submarine USS Washington, marking a historic milestone for US Navy maintenance. The component, produced via 3D printing, underwent full weld qualification and...
Optical Surfaces Ltd Targets Aerospace Surveillance with Ritchey-Chrétien Optics
On March 10, 2026 Optical Surfaces Ltd announced its Ritchey‑Chrétien (RC) telescope optics as a high‑precision solution for military and aerospace surveillance. The company manufactures hyperbolic mirrors up to 700 mm diameter with surface accuracy of λ/20 P‑V and sub‑nanometer microroughness,...
Vigil: The First Open-Source AI SOC Built with a LLM-Native Architecture
Vigil, launched at RSA Conference 2026, is the first open‑source AI‑driven Security Operations Center built on a native LLM architecture. It ships under an Apache 2.0 license with 13 specialized AI agents, more than 30 integrations and over 7,200 detection rules...
War on Iran Paradoxically Boosts Its $500M Revenue
This is confounding. We are fighting a WAR against Iran but letting them increase their revenue by over $500 million...
Getac Announces CommandCore: Remote Drone Control Solution for Professionals Operating in Challenging Environments
Getac unveiled CommandCore, a rugged ground control station that unifies drone, surface and ground vehicle operations for defense, public safety and utilities. The solution pairs Getac’s hardened tablets and laptops—such as the ZX80 Android tablet and S510 Windows workstation—with interchangeable...
How a Large Bank Uses AI Digital Twins for Threat Hunting
JPMorgan Chase is deploying an AI‑driven system that creates digital fingerprints and digital twins to monitor employee and AI‑agent behavior across its global workforce. The technology flags anomalous actions, rates their malicious potential, and contextualizes them against external events, aiming...
CyberProof Unveils Reveal360 Hub for Security and Business Outcomes
CyberProof, a UST company, launched CDC Reveal360, a centralized visibility hub that consolidates threat, exposure, defense, and asset data into role‑specific workspaces. The platform delivers continuous insights into security posture, service performance, and operational outcomes for CISOs, security managers, and...
Japan Downgrades China Ties; Beijing Calls It Red‑line Breach
As Japan moves to downgrade status of China ties, Beijing moves to blame Tokyo On Tuesday, China’s foreign ministry said comments by Japanese leader Sanae Takaichi had sparked anger in China and breached a “red line”. https://t.co/hPal9FNVTW
North Korea’s Risky Bet on Military AI
North Korea announced at the Workers’ Party Congress that it will embed artificial intelligence across all branches of the Korean People’s Army, aiming to accelerate decision‑making and improve unmanned systems. The plan faces major hurdles, including severe GPU shortages, limited...
Lebanon's Government Misjudges End to Israeli Invasion
If Lebanon's government thinks this will end Israel's invasion of its territory, it is very mistaken.
British Warship ‘Fights Off’ Attack Drones in Serials
Royal Navy Type 45 destroyer HMS Duncan successfully tracked and neutralised multiple unmanned threats during Exercise Sharpshooter off the Welsh coast. The four‑day QinetiQ‑led drill blended live Banshee Whirlwind drones and Hammerhead surface vessels with synthetic cruise missiles, anti‑ship ballistic missiles and hostile aircraft....