Cal Biesecker

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded Voyager Technologies [VOYG] and RTX's [RTX] Raytheon business contracts to further

The Pentagon's Drone Dominance Program (DDP) on Tuesday said it has selected 49 vendors who will supply 79 “unique drones” compete in a second phase qualifier for a chance to win production orders worth a combined $300 million. The Phase 2 qualifier will take place at Camp Grayling, Mich., where the vendors' drones will be used in one, or two mission areas, long range strike and tactical assault in close quarters. Following the qualifier event, the top performers will be…

Less than three months after the first flight of the Quarterhorse Mk 2.1 unmanned aircraft, Hermeus on Tuesday said the jet-powered aircraft achieved supersonic speeds in its second flight, a first in aviation history. The F-16-scale Mk 2.1 remotely piloted aircraft was powered by an RTX [RTX] Pratt & Whitney F100 engine. The aircraft reached a top speed of Mach 1.21, which is nearly 930 miles per hour. The Mk 2.1 will continue flight testing while Hermeus continues building and…

A draft defense bill released by the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) on Tuesday says the panel is “concerned” with the Defense Department's $1 billion equity investment this year in an L3Harris Technologies [LHX] business that makes solid rocket motors (SRMs), suggesting the funds come at the expense of establishing additional second source suppliers of the motors for various weapon systems. The committee repeats previous directives Congress has made for DoD to add new SRM suppliers and to leverage…

A draft defense policy bill released this week says the Army is fielding counter-drone capabilities for defense of fixed sites and maneuver forces but suggests that troops at the lowest echelons remain exposed to threats from small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). The House Armed Services Committee's (HASC) fiscal year 2027 draft National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is “concerned that capability gaps remain at the squad and tactical level” and wants to hear from the Army on its plan to address…

Hermeus on Thursday said it has received a $159 million contract modification from the Pentagon's Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) to demonstrate high-Mach flight and high-speed payload carry and release to aid the development of future military capabilities. DIU in November 2023 awarded Hermeus a contract to mature its hypersonic aircraft technologies with a goal of flight testing its prototype Quarterhorse unmanned aircraft. The contract modification brings to $219 million the value of Hermeus' work with DIU. Hermeus in May 2025…

The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) on Thursday posted a solicitation seeking solutions for autonomous unmanned surface vessels capable of ferrying containerized cargo over long distances in the Indo-Pacific theater. The Autonomous Resupply Vessel (ARV-S) should be able to carry at least two 20-foot equivalent containers to forward deployed units as part of a round trip of at least 1,600 nautical miles in sea state 4, and be able to conduct routine operations in sea state 5, and survive up to…

Annual federal obligations to venture capital and private equity-backed national security companies increased 22 percent to $4.3 billion in fiscal year 2025, according to a report this week. Silicon Valley Defense Group's annual National Security 100 ranking includes government contracting data for the first time. The contracting data for the 2026 report released on May 26 was pulled from Pryzm, a startup software firm that uses contracting data to help industry and the federal government (Defense Daily, Dec. 9, 2025).…

A NATO defense innovation accelerator on Friday said it has awarded small contracts to five vendors, including two U.S. companies, to prototype their solutions for operational readiness ahead of potential adoption. The awardees are Norway's Fieldmade, Britain's JET Connectivity, Massachusetts-based Mesodyne, Texas-based SkyFi and Estonia's Spacedrip. NATO's Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) plans to award up to 10 more contracts for the Mission Track that aims to move innovative capabilities into operational use. Each of the companies…

Saronic on May 28 entered the water to begin trials shortly of its first medium unmanned surface vessels (MUSV), going from initial design to in the water in less than a year, a feat the startup said on Friday validates its approach to development and production. The 180-foot Marauder autonomous surface vessel is a competitor for the Navy's MUSV program. The Texas-based startup says the vessel has a top speed of more than 25 knots, a range up to 5,400…