Hacker News with Generative AI: Defense

'Boggles the mind': US defence department slashes research on emerging threats (nature.com)
‘Boggles the mind’: US defence department slashes research on emerging threats
The Warship That Shows Why the U.S. Navy Is Falling Behind China (wsj.com)
When a Wisconsin shipyard won the contract to build a new class of Navy frigate in 2020, the project was meant to address an embarrassing reality: The U.S. is now the global laggard in building warships.
EU slams the door on US in defense plan (politico.eu)
BRUSSELS — United States arms-makers are being frozen out of the European Union’s massive new defense spending plan, which aims to splash the cash for EU and allied countries, according to defense spending plans released Wednesday.
Missile maker MBDA takes more calls from EU militaries seeking non-US weapons (ft.com)
Missile maker MBDA takes more calls from EU militaries seeking non-US weapons
Canada joins Portugal in weighing alternatives to the US-made F-35 fighter jet (businessinsider.com)
Canada is reviewing its contract with Lockheed Martin for F-35 fighter jets, the country's Defense Minister said.
A New Triumvirate in American Defense with Archer Aviation, Anduril, & Palantir (fool.com)
An unprecedented alliance is reshaping America's defense industry. This new triumvirate, consisting of Archer Aviation (ACHR 8.97%), Anduril, and Palantir Technologies (PLTR 8.31%), unites breakthrough innovations in three domains: advanced aerial mobility, autonomous defense systems, and data intelligence.
Portugal rules out buying F-35s because of Trump (politico.eu)
Portugal ruled out replacing its U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets with more modern F-35s because of Donald Trump — in one of the first examples of the U.S. president killing a potential lucrative arms deal.
Portugal Drops Plans for F-35 Citing U.S. Political Uncertainty (theaviationist.com)
In an interview with Portuguese media outlet Público published on Mar. 13, 2025, Portuguese Defense Minister Nuno Melo dismissed the possibility of ordering the fifth-generation fighter, aligning with other European nations reconsidering their defense procurement strategies.
Sweden's military exports set record highs (bloomberg.com)
Sweden’s exports of military equipment reached the highest level on record last year at 29 billion kronor ($2.9 billion) as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continued to fuel global security fears.
Pentagon to give AI agents a role in decision making, ops planning (theregister.com)
The American military has signed a deal with Scale AI to give artificial intelligence, as far as we can tell, its most prominent role in the Western defense sector to date – with AI agents to now be used in planning and operations.
SpaceX teams up with Thiel's Palantir, Anduril on American Golden Dome (msn.com)
Silicon Valley-linked defense companies are seizing on their newfound influence in the Trump administration to address the Pentagon’s shifting focus, pitching their services in fields ranging from autonomous drones to a newly named “Golden Dome” missile-defense shield.
Donald Tusk announces military training plan for all Polish men (bbc.com)
Work is under way to make all men in Poland undergo military training, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.
Lockheed out of Navy's F/A-XX future fighter competition (breakingdefense.com)
A source with knowledge of the program told Breaking Defense that Lockheed submitted a bid for the next-gen fighter effort, but the proposal did not satisfy the Navy’s criteria, leaving Boeing and Northrop Grumman as the remaining competitors.
Thunderforge: Microsoft and Anduril AI Agents for American Defense (scale.com)
The first nation to fully incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) into military decision-making will shape the history of the 21st century. That’s why it’s critical for the United States to lead on AI, and integrate it into large-scale military applications under careful human supervision.
How Ukraine's new tech foils Russian aerial attacks: acoustic detection (economist.com)
Ask HN: Will there be software roles in the coming European defense sector? (ycombinator.com)
I'm guessing Europe will begin investing in defense capabilities. Any thoughts on if software roles will materialize and how one would even go about applying for them?
Britain advised by US insiders to reduce UK reliance on US military equipment (thetimes.com)
Saronic raises $600M in Series C to mass-produce autonomous warships (techcrunch.com)
Austin-based defense startup Saronic has raised a $600 million Series C to build an autonomous ship factory called “Port Alpha,” it announced yesterday, quadrupling its valuation to $4 billion from its last round.
China recruiting 'planetary defence force' amid fears of asteroid hitting Earth (theguardian.com)
China has begun recruiting for a planetary defence force after risk assessments determined that an asteroid could conceivably hit Earth in 2032.
Congress Trade: Multiple Politicians Buy Palantir Stock (quiverquant.com)
Multiple politicians just disclosed purchases of Palantir stock for the first time this morning. This is the first time we have ever seen a member of Congress buy stock in the defense intelligence company.
Augmented Reality – Turning Soldiers into Superheroes (palmerluckey.com)
As of today, Anduril Industries is taking the reins of the largest project of its kind in history: the United States Army’s Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) program.
Anduril to take over Microsoft's U.S. Army $22B headset program (cnbc.com)
Rebooting The Pentagon (nybooks.com)
Bringing Silicon Valley’s drive for innovation to defense contracting has been a slow process, but the war in Ukraine has led tech firms to plunge into the war business.
DARPA solicitation for the Active Social Engineering Defense program (2017) (highergov.com)
On 9/8/17 Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency issued Presolicitation HR001117S0050 for Active Social Engineering Defense (ASED) due 11/28/17.
Navy Helios Laser Aboard USS Preble Zaps Drone in Latest Test (twz.com)
The Navy has disclosed that the Arleigh Burke class destroyer USS Preble successfully test-fired its High-Energy Laser with Integrated Optical Dazzler and Surveillance (HELIOS) system to take out an aerial target drone in Fiscal Year 2024.
Boeing to log $1.7B in defense program losses in fourth quarter (breakingdefense.com)
Boeing expects to log a $1.7 billion loss across several defense programs when it announces its fourth quarter 2024 results next Tuesday, the company said, meaning the company will have incurred almost $5 billion in losses on defense programs for the full year.
Saab Awarded Contract by DARPA to Develop AI Benchmarks for Autonomous Systems (saab.com)
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded a contract to a team led by Saab, Inc.’s newly formed accelerator, “Skapa by Saab”, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to contribute to the Autonomy Standards and Ideals with Military Operational Values (ASIMOV) program.
Anduril Building Arsenal-1 Hyperscale Manufacturing Facility in Ohio (anduril.com)
A family of autonomous systems, powered by Lattice, that provides integrated, persistent awareness and security across land, sea and air -- all at the tactical edge.
China's 6th Generation Fighter Jet Maiden Flight [video] (youtube.com)
Denmark boosts Greenland defence after Trump repeats desire for US control (bbc.co.uk)
The Danish government has announced a huge boost in defence spending for Greenland, hours after US President-elect Donald Trump repeated his desire to purchase the Arctic territory.