J.P. Morgan eyeing both defense startups and legacy firms for $10B investment push: Execs
Under the bank's new Security and Resilience Initiative, executives told Breaking Defense one key priority is funding nuclear submarine construction.
Army launches VC-style model FUZE program to invest early in promising military tech
The Army Innovation Program is "shifting to this more deliberate, spiralized approach, where we can have rapid tech upgrades and tech refreshes throughout the life cycle,” the program's director said.
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Answering the demand signal to move faster, field sooner, iterate continuously
As threats rapidly evolve, digital engineering, manufacturing capacity and robust supply chains are critical to meeting challenges.
Army secretary says it will be ‘success’ if prime contractor dies on his watch
“My best guess is that they will start to realize in the coming days, weeks and months, that they are going to have to adapt and change or die. We are not going to come to bail them out again as a nation," said Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll.
It’s a time to buy: M&A for the national interest
This op-ed argues that now is the time for venture capitalists in the defense industry to build, buy and create.
With Navy exercise, unmanned surface vessel firm Saronic sees ‘next step’
“We are in active conversations with many of the stakeholders who are relevant to things like Replicator and we’re excited to collaborate with the government when the time is right,” Saronic exec Rob Lehman told Breaking Defense.
Avoiding Rashomon with defense venture funding: DoD, VCs need to tell same story
Masao Dahlgren in this op-ed offers reasons why venture capitalists and the Pentagon aren't yet on the same page, and calls for them to work together so that both can reap the benefits.
Modernizing defense enterprise IT without disrupting the mission
Government can’t stop to update systems, so modernization has to happen without interruptions.
Palmer Luckey on Anduril’s growth plans, a future IPO and how ChatGPT has impacted AI
"I can't really imagine a world where something like a Joint Strike Fighter program goes to a privately traded company," Luckey told Breaking Defense. "I can't imagine that ever happening."
In race with China, SOCOM must leverage private equity, say experts and VCs
“We are witnessing a cultural shift. Engineers want to work on problems for the DoD. We’re going to have an explosion of defense technology. Capital is following the engineers and following DoD opening of the aperture who want innovation,” said Alex Moore, partner at 8VC.
It’s time for new incentives for defense primes to invest in startups
"If we are to meet the innovation goals of the NDS, we must incentivize the primes to move beyond the short-term partnership model and encourage them to form more holistic relationships with promising early-stage companies, including investment into operating businesses," writes Chip Walter.
Raytheon’s venture capital arm makes big bet on commercial hypersonic plane startup
An investment into a startup like Hermeus that is looking at commercial hypersonic tech could lead to leap-ahead approaches that benefit defense applications.
Breaking Defense announces Breaking Defense Europe, a new, distinct, European edition
Breaking Defense Europe will launch May 4 with Tim Martin and Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo as co-editors.
US space industry ‘tactically strong’ but lacks long-term investment, study finds
Despite investments of nearly $200 billion in commercial space since 2012, the US will lose what the authors paint as a vital race with China without more strategic vision, study sponsored by DoD's Defense Innovation Unit says.
Aerospace Industrial Base Can’t Handle The Future: Mitchell Institute
The F-35 aside, the report recommends that the Air Force "resist future participation in any joint aircraft procurement or development programs."
Eye On JADC2, Lockheed Explores Unique 5G-SATCOM Network
It's sort of like we're exclusively dating. We agreed to not see other people right now but we haven't committed to anything else yet," explained one Lockheed Martin official.
Lockheed Martin Ventures Scouts Next-Gen AI/ML Tech
"There's a massive scramble for autonomy engineers, software -- you name it," says Chris Moran, Lockheed Martin executive director.