Science
fromThe Cipher Brief
2 hours agoA Wartime Budget Without an Innovation Strategy
Collaboration between the NSF and defense sectors is essential for national security and innovation, despite proposed budget cuts to NSF funding.
"Together we will integrate physical AI into manned and unmanned shipbuilding and further accelerate the industrial revitalization already underway," Eric Chewning stated.
CEO Chris Calio emphasized the urgency of delivering critical products for national security, stating, 'We understand that our products are critical to national security. And I can tell you across the organization, we absolutely feel the responsibility and urgency to deliver more and to deliver it faster.'
"To accelerate current weapons development timelines, DARPA is considering an alternative development paradigm to increase the nation's magazine depth and breadth."
The Boeing E-4B 'Nightwatch,' also known as the 'Doomsday plane,' made several loops above the Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska on Monday. The massive jet serves as a flying command post for top officials, including the president, vice president and Secretary of War, during crises.
The Space Force's formal acceptance of the ground system from RTX last year marked a turning point for OCX after years of blunders. The handover allowed military teams to validate the new control software and upgraded ground facilities before declaring the system ready for operational service.
The modern battlefield is increasingly defined by software. To maintain our advantage, we must be able to acquire and deploy software capabilities with speed and efficiency. Enterprise contracts are a key part of our modernization strategy, allowing us to consolidate software agreements, eliminate redundancies, and accelerate the delivery of critical tools.
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.
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'.
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.
China accounts for roughly 90% of global NdPr production, yet even there, most of that output comes from just 2 hard rock mines and refineries. Outside China, only Mountain Pass and Australia's Mount Weld operate at meaningful scale. That structural scarcity is MP's most durable competitive advantage.
We've got no shortage of munitions. Our stockpiles of defensive and offensive weapons allow us to sustain this campaign as long as we need. Iran is hoping that we cannot sustain this, which is a really bad miscalculation.
Small British defence companies are set to gain easier access to Ministry of Defence contracts after the government launched a dedicated unit to simplify procurement and boost spending with smaller suppliers. The Ministry of Defence has unveiled the Defence Office for Small Business Growth, a new service designed to cut through what ministers describe as labyrinthine procurement processes that have historically shut small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) out of the defence market.
For some weapons, the hardest fight wasn't against the enemy, in fact it was more so against wear and time. Advanced technology has delivered decisive advantages but in some cases has imposed relentless upkeep on crews and logistics chains. Here, 24/7 Wall St. is taking a closer look at how these systems became a maintenance nightmare for the U.S. Military.
According to the Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth's memorandum on the Strategy, this AI-first status is to be achieved through four broad aims: Incentivizing internal DOD experimentation with AI models. Identifying and eliminating bureaucratic obstacles in the way of model integration. Focusing the U.S.'s military investment to shore up the U.S.'s "asymmetric advantages" in areas including AI computing, model innovation, entrepreneurial dynamism, capital markets, and operational data.