PolicyTech

Anduril UK to Send Drones to Ukraine

Anduril just keeps ‘em coming.  The UK government awarded the British branch of the defense tech company a £30M ($38.6M) contract to provide loitering munitions to Ukraine, the company announced today. The Altius 600M and 700M drones will counter Russian aggression in the Black Sea, according to a UK government statement, and the deal was […]

Tech

Exclusive: Allen Control Systems to Demo Bullfrog for the JCO

For as long as there have been swarms of drones on the battlefield, defense companies have been trying to figure out quick, effective ways of jamming or shooting them down.  Allen Control Systems (ACS) is one of them. Today, the company announced that it has been tapped to demo its tech at the Joint Counter-Small […]

InvestmentTech

Epirus Raises $250M to Build Out Production Capacity

Big week for C-UAS systems.  Yesterday, directed energy weapons company Epirus announced a $250M Series D, led by 8VC and Washington Harbour Partners LP. CEO Andy Lowery told Tectonic that the funding will be used to ramp up production of the company’s Leonidas™ system and build a facility in Oklahoma that would enable the company […]

Tech

Mach Industries Lands AAL Contract to Develop Viper VTO

Remember that Mach Industries article in Forbes last summer? Yeah, that one. In case you missed it, wunderkind and 19-year-old MIT dropout Ethan Thornton founded a new-age defense company, raised $85M from some of the biggest investors in the game to build hydrogen-powered weapons, then shelved the project when they couldn’t figure out a cost-effective […]

PentagonTech

A Big Day for Anduril

Well, Anduril has had quite the 24 hours.  Pairing up: Last night, Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. David Alvin announced the mission design designation for the company’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA), YFQ-44A. This makes Anduril’s drone, along with the YFQ-42A prototype by General Atomics, the first-ever unmanned aircraft to be given a […]

PolicyTech

Three Years of War

In case anyone thought the war in Ukraine was over, well, it’s not. Yesterday, on the eve of the third anniversary of the war, Russia launched 267 attack drones towards the country in its largest attack to date. Ukraine managed to down or jam most of them, according to Kyiv, but damage was reported in […]

InvestmentTech

Saronic Raises $600M at $4B Valuation

Let’s play a game. What company is less than three years old, builds unmanned vessels, and is worth $4B? Saronic, as it turns out. The Texas-based USV company announced today that it has raised a $600M Series C, quadrupling its valuation from last summer.  The round was led by Elad Gil, with participation from General […]

Tech

Zephr Wins $1.47M SBIR Grant

What if we told you you were walking around, every day, with a critical piece of battlefield tech in your pocket? Well, according to Zephr, you are.  The Colorado-based company has developed software that transforms mobile phones into Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) jamming detectors, capable of geolocating sources of electronic warfare (EW). Today, it […]

Tech

From Paris, With Love

This morning, European defense company Helsing announced a twofer from the AI action summit in Paris: Not bad for a Monday. Drones for democracy: Helsing was founded in Germany in 2021 by Gundbert Scherf, Niklas Köhler, and Torsten Reil, as AI and nontraditional defense companies across the pond were on the rise. The AI software company […]

InvestmentTech

Anduril’s Winning Streak

Palmer Luckey just can’t stop winning. Over the weekend, CNBC reported that Anduril is reportedly in talks to raise up to $2.5B at a $28B pre-money valuation. Sources familiar with the deal told Tectonic that the round was led by Peter Thiel’s Founder’s Fund, which coughed up a $1B check. The term sheet was reportedly signed on […]