UK space strategy puts £7.8bn behind defence, satellites and ESA to 2030
UK space strategy puts £7.8bn behind defence, satellites and ESA to 2030

The UK government has published a new space strategy, backed by £7.8bn to 2030. It brings the government’s civil and military space spending under one plan. The government’s announcement on 8 September named national security and defence as its key pil…

Germany is evaluating 30 AI tools for its military with a prototype due in 2027
Germany is evaluating 30 AI tools for its military with a prototype due in 2027

The Bundeswehr is assessing 30 artificial intelligence tools that could help speed up battlefield decision-making by processing data from drones and satellites. A prototype is expected in the second quarter of 2027, with full deployment planned for 202…

Covenant leaves stealth with Anthem and factories in three countries
Covenant leaves stealth with Anthem and factories in three countries

A defence company nobody had heard of on Tuesday opened a 105,000 square foot missile factory in Texas on Wednesday. Covenant came out of stealth this morning. It announced Anthem, a long-range weapon system it says is designed for production in the th…

Kawasaki signed an AI chip deal with a startup the Pentagon backs
Kawasaki signed an AI chip deal with a startup the Pentagon backs

Kawasaki Heavy Industries has signed an agreement to put a startup’s AI chips into Japanese aerial defence platforms. The chip company is the interesting part. EdgeCortix, a fabless semiconductor firm based in Kanagawa, announced the deal last week, a …

Satellogic hires the former head of US spy-satellite intelligence as president
Satellogic hires the former head of US spy-satellite intelligence as president

Satellogic has appointed Frank D. “Trey” Whitworth as president, giving the day-to-day running of a commercial Earth-imaging company to the man who directed America’s spy-satellite intelligence agency until 10 months ago. The appointment was announced …

Musk ally’s Valor to lead $500m Uforce round at $5bn, Bloomberg reports
Musk ally’s Valor to lead $500m Uforce round at $5bn, Bloomberg reports

Uforce, the London-based drone company built from Ukrainian battlefield manufacturers, is in talks to raise about $500m at a valuation of around $5bn, Bloomberg reported on Monday. Valor Equity Partners, the firm run by SpaceX board member Antonio Grac…

Berlin fears France’s Palantir rival is a new dependency, Politico reports
Berlin fears France’s Palantir rival is a new dependency, Politico reports

France and Germany spent the summer agreeing that Europe needs its own battlefield AI. They have not agreed on whose it should be. Internal German government notes seen by Politico Europe show Berlin is wary of Arcadia, the French-built Palantir rival….

The US Army used a laser weapon on American soil, then bought it
The US Army used a laser weapon on American soil, then bought it

In late August the US Army fired a high-energy laser at three drones near the Mexican border. All three came down. A week later the Army signed the contract to buy the production version. AeroVironment announced on Wednesday that it has won a $464.8m a…

Castelion raises $1bn at $13bn to scale hypersonic weapon production
Castelion raises $1bn at $13bn to scale hypersonic weapon production

Castelion has raised $1bn at a $13bn valuation. Three SpaceX executives founded the company in 2022 to build missiles. Its first product is Blackbeard, a hypersonic strike weapon designed for quantity rather than craft. The structure repays a close rea…

White House tech strategy leaves open-weight AI off its critical list
White House tech strategy leaves open-weight AI off its critical list

The White House has published a new National Security Science and Technology strategy. It names 15 critical technology areas the United States intends to lead. Artificial intelligence and autonomy is one of them, with 12 subfields listed underneath. Op…