Department of Defense
Every UASFeed story on Department of Defense — across defense, counter-UAS, industry, commercial, policy, and tech, newest first.
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Industry & Contracts
Heaviside Unveils Tyr, a Sub-15-Pound Loitering Munition Aimed at Tanks, With Nammo Warheads and a Price Well Under $100,000
At AUSA, US-Norwegian startup Heaviside debuted Tyr, a man-portable fixed-wing loitering munition with Nammo warheads, a 150-mph top speed and comms-denied behaviors. It marks the company's jump from drone-detecting RF sensors to a lethal anti-tank weapon.
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Industry & Contracts
Textron and Merlin Unveil an Uncrewed SkyCourier for Contested Logistics
Textron Aviation and Merlin revealed the SkyCourier UX, an uncrewed cargo variant of the Cessna SkyCourier built for autonomous short-field delivery in contested military logistics.
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Industry & Contracts
Amprius's $75M Pentagon Drone-Battery Grant: Only About $22M Is Funded, and the Line Belongs to a Korean Partner
Amprius's Pentagon agreement is worth up to $75M, but its SEC filing shows only about $22M obligated so far, and the production line to be converted is run by an unnamed South Korean manufacturer.
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Industry & Contracts
The Army Has Fielded 40,000 Attack Drones. FAA Data Shows Why It's Short on Pilots
The Army says it has fielded or is fielding 40,000 small attack drones ahead of a Sept. 30 deadline, but FAA registration data shows the hobbyist pipeline it has leaned on for pilots is shrinking fast.
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Industry & Contracts
Mobix Labs' $15M All-Stock Deal for Montana Drone Maker Vision Aerial Detailed in New SEC Filing
An SEC 8-K filed August 31 lays out Mobix Labs' roughly $15 million all-stock acquisition of Vision Aerial, the Bozeman, Montana maker of the NDAA-compliant Vulcan drone family flying for the Navy, L3Harris and the Forest Service.
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Industry & Contracts
Army Opens Five Test Ranges to Private Drone and Counter-Drone Makers
The Army is throwing open five proving grounds — four stateside, one in Morocco — to any drone or counter-drone company, promising range access within 30 days and no federal contract required.
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Industry & Contracts
Neros Triples to $2.5B Valuation in $250M Series C, Adds Bandit Interceptor to Product Line
Los Angeles drone maker Neros raised a $250 million Series C at a $2.5 billion valuation on August 11, 2026, funding a new Bandit counter-UAS interceptor alongside its Archer AI strike drone as it chases 1 million units/year of production by 2028.
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Industry & Contracts
First Production Laser: AeroVironment's $400M Locust Deal Moves Directed Energy From Prototype to Product Line
Bloomberg reports the Army will buy at least $400M of AeroVironment's Locust counter-drone lasers — the Pentagon's first production contract for a directed-energy system beyond the prototype phase — sending AVAV up ~8-9% and turning the E-HEL program of record from negotiation into recurring revenue.
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Industry & Contracts
Pentagon's Counter-Drone Marketplace Expands as Kaizen's $15M Platform Crosses $21M in Sales
JIATF-401's vetted C-UAS Marketplace, built by startup Kaizen under a $15M contract, has processed $21M in purchases and added the UK and Romania as allied buyers while linking to the Foreign Military Sales Fast Lane.
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Industry & Contracts
19 Drone Makers, One Fort Carson Proving Ground: Inside the Pentagon's $300M Gauntlet II Shootout
Nineteen finalists are trucking 120 attack drones apiece to Fort Carson this August, the live-fire elimination round of a $1.1B Pentagon program racing toward a 200,000-drone fleet by 2027.
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Industry & Contracts
Pentagon Commits Up to $820M to Performance Drone Works to Build Domestic Drone Component Supply Chain
The Department of War's Office of Strategic Capital signed a conditional loan of up to $820 million with Performance Drone Works on July 31, 2026, to mass-produce propulsion, power/control, and vision-system components for Group 1/2 drones industry-wide.
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Industry & Contracts
XTEND and JFB Construction Close In on $1.5B Merger to Form Nasdaq-Listed XTEND AI Robotics
SEC filings show Israeli drone-robotics firm XTEND and Nasdaq-listed JFB Construction advancing toward a $1.5B all-stock reverse merger that would list XTEND AI Robotics as XTND, as XTEND also closes its Atlas acquisition and lands a spot in a $1B Pentagon drone program.
