Drones and Counter Drone

• Swarm operators now command scores of drones, with networks aiming past 500
• Quantum Systems' Apex Recordhunter reportedly hit 699 km/h in level flight
• Impact Drones built its SABLE interceptor prototype in two weeks, targeting 750 km/h
• The Pentagon's cuas.mil marketplace went live for an estimated $75 billion market
• Raytheon's reusable Coyote Block 3 NK downs drone swarms with microwave pulses
• DroneShield's 1H 2026 revenue hit $125.8 million, up 74 percent year on year
• Critics say current point defense systems miss fast, low altitude Shahed threats

‍

Ukraine Defense Ecosystem

• BRAVE1 connects roughly 2,500 companies and over 5,000 products
• Brave International now spans five country programmes, including Germany and France
• One founder's team has built 15,000 plus drones for Ukraine since 2022
• Ukraine held an August 24 parade of unmanned ground, air and maritime systems
• Russian strikes hit Ukrainian logistics hubs including Intertop and Toyota's warehouse
• The Ukrainian Startup Fund added a new venture-side board member this summer
• A Leipzig drone reached a Ukrainian Antonov, with US intelligence citing Russia's GRU

‍

Primes and Major Programs

• BAE Systems hosted the UK's Defense Investment Plan announcement and a PM visit
• NATO's F-35 fleet is set to exceed 700 aircraft across 12 nations by the mid-2030s
• Airbus Defense and Space closed acquisitions of Ultra I&C and Quarkslab
• Lockheed Martin's NetSense system tracked drones in a July Miami demonstration
• Kongsberg's Zone 5 Technologies won a $65 million US Navy missile OTA
• Raytheon UK unveiled Red Kite, its first sovereign precision guided weapon
• The US Army budgeted $246 million for its Affordable High Speed Strike missile

‍

Capital and Investment

• JPMorgan's $1.5 trillion Security and Resilience Initiative backs defense tech deals
• Europe launched 8 rockets last year against 165 in the United States
• IRIS2 satellites reportedly cost roughly 6.8 million euros each
• Anduril alumni companies have collectively raised more than $5 billion
• Anduril itself is reportedly in talks at a $100 billion valuation
• Hypersonic startup Castelion raised a $1 billion Series C at a $13 billion valuation
• A tracker counted 17 new venture funds investing in defense tech this year

‍

Policy and Geopolitics

• The White House's new strategy ranks undersea, space and AI as top priorities
• The UN and ICRC jointly appealed for a binding treaty on autonomous weapons
• University drone costs rose from roughly $5,700 to $37,000 under the ASD Act
• Russian actors reportedly switched Siemens PLCs to stop a Polish power plant
• Greece signed a 3 billion euro air defense deal with Israel despite opposition
• Ireland requires an Irish officer to authorize foreign warships' use of force

‍

Thanks to Caitlin Hayden, Victor Sabaldashov, Glenn McCartan, Aviv Bar Zohar, Jasper Lortije, Ariel Perets, Pascal M., Angus Bean, Colin Carroll, Nazarii Hrechanyk, David H. Petraeus, Chad McCoy, Martin Jõesaar, Christoph Schumm, Darren Cochran, Prash Sharma, Sarah Bedsaul Hiza, Eirik Lie, Lydia Morris, Patrick Malcor, Derek Chollet, Swarnajyoti Mukherjee, Marc C L., Elana Gold, Matthew Bernard, Ivelina Dineva, Prescott Paulin, Elke Schwarz, James Schnable, Dr. Jeanine Johnson, Ahmed Shihab-Eldin and Andy K. for the insights that shaped this edition.

‍

Find the full list of posts and voices on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/best-linkedin-cw-34-35-defense-tech-thomas-allgeyer-wylxf/?trackingId=cwdeg1TUh2iXJugv5XxPPA%3D%3D