Industry

New Zealand’s defense minister: Industry is still weathering the COVID-19 storm

Looking forward, both the New Zealand and Australian governments are investing in defense relative to the size of our economies. This means that across our two markets there are significant opportunities for industry.

Latvia’s defense minister: The importance of securing the supply chain

Keep some redundancy in EU defense and dual-use programs to help guarantee a steady supply during crises, argues Artis Pabriks.

Almaz-Antey director: Air and space capabilities will decide tomorrow’s conflicts

One of the main trends in the development of armed conflicts in the 21st century is the expansion of multidomain battle.

India’s defense minister: Sowing the seeds for a new era in defense manufacturing

Following a fundamental transformation, the Indian defense sector jockeys for position on the international market.

Anduril boss: In an era of strategic competition, we need artificially intelligent systems

Artificial intelligence should be the linchpin of our efforts to re-armor ourselves for a new kind of fight.

Shield AI co-founder: Tesla shows us the risks when dominant incumbents fail to be bold

Militarily, China is Tesla: moving at blazingly fast speeds with a sense of purpose and urgency, ruthlessly prioritizing what matters, cutting things that don’t and very much understanding what is at stake. China’s recent hypersonic missile tests serve as perfect examples of a country pushing harder than ever in preparation to win the next war.

Huntington Ingalls CEO: Prepare for the next generation of national defense innovators

Is America’s youth today learning the workforce and technology skills necessary to ensure our nation remains a strong military and technology leader in the 21st century?

Peraton chief: Contractors must think bigger to address today’s threats

Government contractors that invest across the entire portfolio of government security needs — and build purposefully to address those diverse fields — will be more competitive for the growing number of multibillion-dollar contracts because they will be able to provide more comprehensive and integrated solutions.

Rolls-Royce exec: Decarbonization is a warfighting opportunity for industry and its customers

It’s time for us in industry to innovate once again by focusing on sustainability and viewing the decarbonization agenda not as a threat, but as an opportunity.

LIFT Aircraft boss: Progress at the Pentagon from the view of a startup

AFWERX and Agility Prime are shining examples of a new approach to innovation the DoD has undertaken in the past couple of years. The new mantra is “dual use” — identifying promising new tech that could have both commercial and military use, and leaning in to support startups, sometimes even before specific military missions and use cases are identified. Research and development funding is often matched by venture capital, significantly reducing risk.

Edge CEO: Security is no longer defined by only what you can see

Making innovation second nature is likely to become a key determinant between nation-states that progress and thrive into the future and those that face significant challenges in their efforts to self-actualize.

Eurodrone engine candidates tout wares as decision draws near

As Airbus awaits a sign-off on its new European drone, a U.S.-owned Italian firm and a French company are on tenterhooks to discover who has been picked to supply the engine.

Egyptian defense expo highlights homemade tech to counter small drones

The Arab Organization for Industrialization and Benha Electronics each showed off their locally made systems.

Lockheed unveils pared-down F-35 trainer with same software capability but a 90% reduced footprint

Lockheed Martin spent its own money developing this LITE trainer over the last 18 months after hearing signals from F-35 customers that they needed more training capacity for less cost.

Vaccine mandate for federal contractors blocked in 3 states

The preliminary injunction stops the mandate from taking effect in Kentucky, Tennessee and Ohio.

Egypt unveils locally made drones at EDEX 2021

The show was scheduled to take place in 2020 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Contractor vaccine mandate leaves room for companies to maneuver

Huntington Ingalls Industries first raised eyebrows earlier this month when it announced it would no longer require its workers to be vaccinated.

Commentary

It’s time for the defense industrial base to get vaccinated to ensure our security

This critical industrial base is now being tested in a way not experienced in our lifetime — not from an adversary, but from a virus. The industrial base is becoming our own worst adversary by delaying the research and production of systems vital to our national security due to employees delaying or objecting to protecting themselves and their fellow workers from COVID-19, an enemy that has already claimed more than 775,000 American lives.

Turkish, Ukrainian companies team up for Mi-8 helicopter upgrades

Military electronics specialist Aselsan will work with Ukraine’s Motor Sich and Ukroboronprom to perform electro-optical and missile upgrades on the Mi-8s.

Raytheon CTO says merged company is finding new ways to work together

Here's how Raytheon's chief technology officer is looking at solving the Pentagon's toughest problems.

‘No company is immune’: Supply chain woes weigh on defense firms

Supply chain problems have hit all sides of the defense industry in unexpected ways — and small businesses with narrower profit margins are particularly worried about how they can weather this storm.

Pakistan resumes armor modernization as terror threat recedes

With India having ordered advanced T-90MS tanks, built a fleet of T-90As and upgraded most of its T-72M1 fleet, Pakistan is countering with its own acquisition and upgrade programs.

Huntington Ingalls CEO: We’re not enforcing vaccine mandate

Huntington Ingalls Industries says it is not forcing out employees who refuse the coronavirus vaccine.

Israel’s Elbit, Roboteam unveil ‘Rook’ ground robot

The companies say Rook is a multi-payload military vehicle that features “unique design and built-in autonomy suite offering a combination of greater capacity, improved maneuverability and must-have on-field agility that are key for greater mission effectiveness.”

Here’s what stood out at the 2021 Dubai Airshow

While the show is dedicated to both commercial and defense aircraft, this year’s edition seemed to lean heavily toward the former.