Georgia parts maker wins $76.5M in B-1 bomber wing contracts
Top Flight Aerostructures landed two competitive DLA contracts worth up to $76.5M to build wing components for the B-1 fleet, signaling growing reliance on non-prime suppliers for strategic bomber sustainment.
French startup brings U.S. carbon nanotube production online in 12 months
NAWAH inaugurated a $10M vertically-aligned carbon nanotube factory in Ohio, establishing first U.S. industrial-scale production of a material that reinforces aircraft and defense composites.
HawkEye 360 books $100M in allied SIGINT contracts post-IPO
HawkEye 360 announced $100M+ in international defense contracts across eight allied nations approximately 4.4 weeks after its NYSE IPO, signaling commercial space-based SIGINT is replacing legacy prime vendor timelines.
Pentagon picks Viasat, Intelsat to build military SATCOM swarm
U.S. Space Force awards $437.7M to Viasat and Intelsat for first production mini-GEO satellites, signaling shift from monolithic AEHF constellation to proliferated commercial architecture.
AEVEX books $34M in Air Force contracts as newly public drone maker scales
AEVEX Corp., fresh from April IPO, won $15.6M in Air Force mission-support contracts within weeks of a $18.5M production award, signaling rapid adoption of additive-manufactured autonomous systems over legacy contractors.
Draganfly, F4 Defense win Army Research Lab counter-drone contract
Draganfly and F4 Defense International selected by DEVCOM Army Research Lab to develop integrated counter-UAS platform combining tethered surveillance, AI tracking, and coordinated defeat capabilities.
Kodiak AI, General Dynamics build autonomous counter-UAS truck
Kodiak AI and General Dynamics Land Systems unveiled the Leonidas AGV, a fully autonomous vehicle integrating Epirus microwave counter-UAS tech, targeting U.S. Army procurement while Kodiak raised $100M in new capital.
Havoc AI raises $100M as Navy plans 1,000+ autonomous boats
Havoc AI closed a $100M Series A led by Boardman Bay Capital, doubling down on multi-domain autonomy as the Navy commits to fielding thousands of USVs by 2030.
Army names ACS Bullfrog winner of xTechOverwatch competition
Allen Control Systems wins Army's premier emerging tech competition and $2M SBIR award for Bullfrog, an autonomous weapon system designed to defeat drones at $10 per engagement.
Marines split MARV-EL drone deal between startup and Lockheed
Marine Corps awards separate OTA contracts to Near Earth Autonomy and Sikorsky for autonomous cargo helicopters, signaling a shift toward competitive prototyping over single-vendor logistics programs.
Firestorm Labs wins $30M Pentagon contract for forward drone factories
Firestorm Labs secured a $30M APFIT contract to deploy containerized drone factories and 200+ Tempest drones to the Indo-Pacific, marking the startup's first operational fielding outside the U.S.
Firestorm Labs wins $100M Air Force contract for 3D-printed drones
Firestorm Labs lands $100M USAF contract for Tempest 50 sUAS, gaining Air Force backing for expeditionary additive manufacturing that could compress drone production timelines and costs by 80 percent.
Darkhive wins $49.7M Army contract, closes $30M Series B from RTX Ventures
San Antonio startup Darkhive secures largest-ever APFIT award for tactical edge command software, backed by $30M Series B led by RTX Ventures, signaling mega-prime confidence in commercial autonomy platforms.
Anduril lands $100M Space Force mesh network contract modification
Anduril's IDIQ ceiling for space domain awareness mesh networking doubles to $200M, extending the company's AI-powered infrastructure into orbital layers of next-gen integrated defense.
Space Force awards $3.2B for orbital kill vehicles by 2028
The U.S. Space Force distributed 20 contracts worth up to $3.2 billion across 12 companies to build space-based missile interceptors in low-Earth orbit, aiming for operational capability within two years.
Echodyne radar locked into $490M Air Force counter-drone program
Echodyne's EchoShield radar becomes primary sensor across Trust Automation's SUADS platform under $490M Air Force IDIQ, marking first SOSA-compliant counter-UAS architecture with no prime contractor.
Lockheed Martin doubles venture fund to $1B, signaling pipeline war
Lockheed Martin expanded its venture capital arm from $400M to $1B on April 14, 2026 — the largest increase in the fund's 19-year history — directly competing with pure-play defense VCs and the Pentagon for control of the commercial startup pipeline to programs of record.
USA Rare Earth commissions first U.S. NdFeB magnet line, 600 metric tons by 2026
USA Rare Earth began shipping sintered neodymium magnets from its Stillwater, Oklahoma facility in Q2 2026, the first commercial-scale domestic production line backed by $1.3B+ federal funding — directly confronting China's 90% global supply monopoly.
Artemis II Crew Breaks Apollo 13 Record, Splashes Down Tomorrow
NASA's Artemis II crew surpassed the 1970 Apollo 13 distance record at 248,655 miles on April 6; splashdown off San Diego occurs April 10, marking the first crewed deep-space flight in 54 years and gating readiness for lunar landing.
Hermeus hits $1B valuation on $350M Series C, Quarterhorse Mk 2.1 in flight
Hermeus closed $350M Series C led by Khosla Ventures, reaching unicorn status days after successfully flying Quarterhorse Mk 2.1—a delta-wing hypersonic demonstrator the size of an F-16—positioning the startup to move from prototype to DoD-ready production.