Cal Biesecker

FORT BENNING, Ga.—The task force overseeing the Pentagon's counter-unmanned aircraft system (C-UAS) efforts is demonstrating progress with new software designed to enable expendable Bumblebee drones to autonomously detect, interdict and smash into small adversary drones in the air but further development of the technology is needed before it is ready for production, according to operators and Army officials. Perennial Autonomy, a relatively new entrant in the defense market, is upgrading its Bumblebee drone to become an artificial intelligence-enabled C-UAS weapon…

The initial costs to acquire and deploy counter-small unmanned aircraft system (C-sUAS) defenses at individual Defense Department installations are estimated at between $1.2 million and $73.6 million depending on the selected solution options and up to another $5 million annually to support the deployments, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says in a new report. CBO examines five options for C-UAS deployments based on the size, location, geography and local military units. Those options are applied against a representative military installation…

During this press event at Fort Benning, Ga., on July 8, Lt. Col. Morse discussed evaluations of autonomous targeting software being developed by Perennial Autonomy, which is supplying the Bumblebee Version 2 (BV2) quadcopter drone for low-cost, low-collateral damage intercept of small unmanned aircraft systems.

The Navy, Marine Corps, industry and other partners are working with a large, distributed network of advanced manufacturing cells to 3D print drones and machine components as needed to enhance readiness during the Navy's ongoing RIMPAC 2026 exercise, the FLEETWERX innovation hub said on Friday. The distributed advanced manufacturing network, which will include systems aboard ships and onshore, is the “Largest advanced manufacturing exercise in Department of Defense history,” FLEETWERX said on July 10. The focus on readiness entails trying…

Army Sgt. Maj. Kellen Rowley spoke with reporters at Fort Benning, Ga., on July 8 during the third and final week of an operational assessment of Perennial Autonomy's Bumblebee Version 2 (BV2) quadcopter drone integrated with the company's Automated Target Recognition software to hunt down adversary drones automatically.

The Defense Department on Monday said it awarded ReElement Technologies $25 million to expand processing of recycled rare earth magnets and other materials for use in domestic production of critical materials to strengthen the defense industry supply chain. The investment comes from DoD's Industrial Base Fund. ReElement will use the funds for equipment and working capital to expand production lines for the processing of the magnets and materials to produce “high-purity rare earth oxides, yttrium, gadolinium, germanium and gallium,” DoD…

CACI International [CACI] on Monday said the Defense Department has awarded the company a contract valued at about $100 million to supply its SkyValor

Building on its multi-role Skelmir 6 autonomous unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV), Vatn Systems on Tuesday introduced SIGURD, a modular mine countermeasure system capable of detecting undersea mines at depths up to 100 meters and neutralizing mines through terminal engagement. Prototypes of SIGURD are in the water and in testing, Nelson Mills, co-founder and CEO of Rhode Island-based Vatn, told Defense Daily in an email reply to questions. SIGURD went from concept to its first successful interception in eight weeks, Mills…

Singularity, a startup developing low-cost air defense systems to counter similarly low-cost munitions, has emerged from stealth with an $80 million funding round let by Khosla Ventures and Felicis. The Series A investment will be used to scale the Los Angeles-based company's work, which currently includes multiple flight tests each month using internally-developed hardware and software. Singularity plans a reveal of its product and technology later this year. The Los Angeles-based company said it is prioritizing mass production and deployment…

The Defense Department on Tuesday announced 30 awards totaling $548.1 million for companies to help companies transition their innovative solutions into production, marking the final fiscal year 2026 round of contracts under the Accelerate the Procurement and Fielding of Innovative Technologies (APFIT) program. The new awards, which include the first ever for software solutions under APFIT, bring the value of all contracts under the program to more than $2 billion since launch during the Biden administration. APFIT typically targets small…