The Pentagon has dismissed the report, stating that neither Hegseth nor any of his representatives approached BlackRock about any such investment. Pentagon chief spokesperson Sean Parnell called the report 'entirely false and fabricated,' demanding a retraction from the Financial Times.
Attempting to eke out the remaining oil and gas from the North Sea was not the answer to the challenges facing the UK. It will not bring down the price for consumers, nor will it deliver long-term energy security. The international markets will determine the price and destination; that is not energy independence.
Giulio Douhet proposed a revolution in warfare, stating that victory would come from large-scale aerial bombardments targeting civilians and infrastructure rather than just combatants.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has threatened to strike 18 US technology and defense-related companies operating in the Middle East, including GE, which has contributed to a bearish sentiment among investors.
Asgard will help it realise the ambitions of the government's 2025 Strategic defence review, which promised to 'deliver a tenfold increase in lethality over the next 10 years' via a combination of enhanced 'firepower, surveillance technology, autonomy, digital connectivity and data'.
"To accelerate current weapons development timelines, DARPA is considering an alternative development paradigm to increase the nation's magazine depth and breadth."
Ondas said Q4 revenue landed between $29.1 million and $30.1 million, comfortably above the $27 million to $29 million range it had guided to in January. For the full year, revenue came in at $49.7 million to $50.7 million versus prior guidance of $47.6 million to $49.6 million. Adjusted EBITDA losses narrowed in line with expectations, and the company reiterated its 2026 revenue target of $170 million to $180 million.
Our war fighters are leveraging a variety of advanced AI tools. These systems help us sift through vast amounts of data in seconds so our leaders can cut through the noise and make smarter decisions faster than the enemy can react. Humans will always make final decisions on what to shoot and what not to shoot and when to shoot, but advanced AI tools can turn processes that used to take hours and sometimes even days into seconds.
British forces have shot down multiple drones across the Middle East over the past 24 hours as Iran continues to retaliate against countries across the region in response to US and Israeli strikes. The UK said that the interception of drones above Jordan marks 'the first time an RAF F-35 has destroyed a target on operations.' The fighters were supported by Typhoon jets and a Voyager tanker aircraft.
Leonardo owns Britain's last military helicopter manufacturing site, employing 3,000 workers, and was the only bidder for the contract. It is understood that the chancellor and prime minister chose to intervene to ensure the project would go ahead, in part to protect UK jobs.
We are aware of reports that a US F-35 aircraft conducted an emergency landing at a regional US airbase after flying a combat mission over Iran. The aircraft landed safely, and the pilot is in stable condition. This incident is under investigation.
Ukraine's defense intelligence agency, GUR, has identified over a dozen American and Chinese electronics parts that it says were found in a new Russian jet-powered attack drone. GUR published its new analysis of the drone, dubbed the Geran-5, on Monday, as part of its ongoing directory of key foreign components used in Russia's weapons or defense industry. The intelligence directorate published images of what it said was the drone's wreckage last week,
Five European nations France, Poland, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Italy (the E5 nations) have launched a new programme to develop low-cost air defence systems and autonomous drones. Announced on Friday, the initiative leverages Ukrainian expertise from four years of war against Russia, forming part of wider European efforts to bolster border security, including a proposed "drone wall" to detect and intercept drones violating airspace. Both Moscow and Kyiv possess advanced drone warfare capabilities, with battlefield innovations from the conflict reshaping modern tactics.
I still like European defence as a theme. The rearmament story is yet to really even begin and whilst we have seen a material rerating in several large defence names on the continent and in the UK, a selloff in the autumn on some fuzzy 'Ukraine peace deal hope' trade is overdone and fails to capture the long-term value in the sector.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)'s $170 million Air Force cloud contract signals the massive defense modernization wave reshaping Pentagon technology buying. While Microsoft grabs headlines, the real winners are companies building hardware that protects American interests: fighter jets, missile systems, submarines, and bombers. These aren't software plays - they're steel, titanium, and composite fiber companies with decade-long backlogs and bipartisan budget support. We ranked the top five defense and aerospace stocks based on profitability margins, operational efficiency, balance sheet strength, and positioning in the defense modernization cycle.
The cost for the US and other militaries to keep newer combat aircraft ready to fly is going to soar in the coming years, a new report on sustainment trends argues. A new report from the American consulting firm Oliver Wyman projects global military aircraft spending over the next decade, including an annual sustainment cost growth of 1.1% through 2036. That's a pace roughly 11 times faster than the previous decade.
