Venture Capital and Valuations

• STARK raised €500 million at a €3.2 billion valuation months after hitting unicorn status, led by Sequoia Capital and Founders Fund
• Helsing raised $1.8 billion at an $18 billion valuation as Europe shifts from pilots to real programs of record
• Lakestar closed its Resilience I fund at €262.2 million, Europe's largest venture fund dedicated solely to defense and dual-use
• Anduril, Shield AI and Saronic reached $61 billion, $12.7 billion and $9.25 billion valuations respectively, all built on early SBIR, DIU and AFWERX contracts

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Government and EU Funding Programs

• The EU-Ukraine Defence Industry Forum unlocked nearly €300 million for Ukrainian production capacity and BraveTech EU startups
• The European Innovation Council opened up to €2.5 million in grants and €30 million in equity to dual-use firms, plus a new €100 million STEP Defence Scale Up call
• FelixClark launched the Dual-Use Readiness Index to score defense startups on evidence, risk and capital fit before investment

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Drone, Interceptor and Ground Systems

• Neros Technologies is developing a low-cost autonomous interceptor drone, framing counter-drone warfare as a cost battle at scale
• The Pentagon plans to buy 200,000 lethal drones by 2027 without publishing who will fly them, while Ukraine fields only 20,000 operators for 2.3 million contracted drones
• AdlerAerospace built its TALOS-J jet interceptor in two and a half years, reaching a Shahed drone at 150 kilometers in 12 minutes
• ARX Robotics and Roboneers formed ARX Industries to mass-produce the Rys Pro ground vehicle, backing Ukraine's goal of 50,000 UGVs in 2026
• The European Commission named 18 founding members of the EU-Ukraine Drone Alliance, including Quantum Systems, Destinus, Indra Group and nine Ukrainian manufacturers

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Counter-Drone and Air Defense Systems

• Airbus is accelerating its Bird of Prey counter-drone system, moving from concept to first flight in nine months with live trials through 2026
• Israeli startup Skapion emerged from stealth with $36 million in seed funding for a counter-swarm system built from scratch for swarms
• NATO committed more than $40 billion to counter-drone capabilities over five years and is launching a dedicated counter-drone marketplace

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Naval and Undersea Systems

• The U.S. Navy used naval drones in combat for the first time, sending three Corsair unmanned surface vessels against Iran's Bandar Abbas Naval Base
• The Royal Navy air-dropped Kraken's K3 Scout autonomous surface vessel from an A400M under Project Beehive, at a unit cost of £250,000 to £600,000
• Lockheed Martin agreed to acquire Ultra Maritime, adding sonar and undersea mission systems to its anti-submarine warfare portfolio
• Anduril unveiled its extra-large autonomous underwater vehicle line, Dive-XL, and is hiring for production in Quonset, Rhode Island
• Latvia's SUBmerge Baltic signed a cooperation memorandum with France's Naval Group to integrate its underwater drones into future shipbuilding programs
• Lockheed Martin is integrating combat-proven defense payloads onto Saildrone's autonomous surface vessels for the U.S. Navy
• Germany plans to deliver four Type 212CD submarines to Canada by 2036, a year behind Hanwha Ocean's rival offer, despite TKMS's history of late and defect-prone submarine programs

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Industrial Base and Manufacturing Expansion

• Lockheed Martin is doubling its Archbald, Pennsylvania facility, adding roughly 700 jobs for munitions production
• Saronic plans a $3.2 billion shipyard at the Port of Brownsville, Texas, targeting operations by 2028
• The UAE's EDGE Group, founded six years ago, now carries a $20 billion order backlog and 19,000 employees
• Anduril and Poland's PGZ are partnering to mass-produce Barracuda-500M cruise missiles on NATO's eastern flank

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Defense Spending and Policy

• EU defense spending is projected to rise from €349 billion in 2024 to €454 billion in 2026, moving from 1.8% to 2.4% of GDP
• Norway spent more per capita on defense than any other NATO ally in 2025, per Atlantic Council analysis
• The European Defence Agency delivered its 2026 CARD Aggregated Analysis, mapping capability gaps across EU member states
• The UK's Strategic Defence Review and Defence Investment Plan reposition its industrial base as a strategic national asset

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Thanks to Mayuresh Raut, Francis Karuri, Adam Bombicino, Aviv Bar Zohar, Kristin Cooper, Mingi Hyun, Emeka A., Ariel Perets, Kate McKenna, Mark K., Oded Napchi, Eva Sula, Sir Stuart Atha, and everyone else who contributed insights to this edition. Find the full list of posts and voices on LinkedIn: