Hacker News with Generative AI: Defense

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.

Robotics, Defense, Startups, Funding, Autonomous Vehicles

8 points by smcin 1 day ago | 6 comments

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.

Space Exploration, China, Asteroids, Defense

6 points by bookofjoe 6 days ago | 1 comments

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.

Politics, Finance, Stock Market, Defense

6 points by ckardat123 9 days ago | 1 comments

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.

Augmented Reality, Military Technology, Software, Defense

3 points by transpute 10 days ago | 0 comments

Anduril to take over Microsoft's U.S. Army $22B headset program (cnbc.com)

Defense, Technology, Contracts, Army, Microsoft

53 points by jonbaer 10 days ago | 17 comments

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.

Defense, Innovation, War, Technology, Ukraine

13 points by whoisstan 12 days ago | 2 comments

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.

Cybersecurity, Defense, Government, Research, Artificial Intelligence

52 points by Jimmc414 16 days ago | 73 comments

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.

Military Technology, Lasers, Drones, Defense

4 points by zfg 17 days ago | 1 comments

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.

Boeing, Defense, Finance, Business, Aerospace

13 points by belter 28 days ago | 2 comments

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.

Artificial Intelligence, Defense, Autonomous Systems

5 points by jdmark 29 days ago | 0 comments

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.

Robotics, Manufacturing, Defense, Artificial Intelligence, Ohio

15 points by rntn 36 days ago | 15 comments

China's 6th Generation Fighter Jet Maiden Flight [video] (youtube.com)

China, Military, Aviation, Technology, Defense

6 points by tw1984 57 days ago | 1 comments

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.

Denmark, Greenland, Politics, International Relations, Defense

14 points by subvertify 59 days ago | 8 comments

Palantir and Anduril join forces with tech groups to bid for Pentagon contracts (ft.com)

Defense, Technology, Government Contracts, Artificial Intelligence, Business

13 points by nsoonhui 60 days ago | 5 comments

Palantir and Anduril are building a tech consortium to bid on defense contracts (techcrunch.com)
Two big defense tech players, Palantir and Anduril, are talking to tech companies including SpaceX, OpenAI, Saronic, and Scale AI about forming a consortium to bid on Pentagon contracts, according to a report in the Financial Times.

Defense, Tech Companies, AI, Consortiums

20 points by impish9208 61 days ago | 7 comments

Ukraine says it has a laser that can shoot down aircraft a mile away (cnn.com)

Ukraine, Military Technology, Defense, Warfare, Lasers

10 points by peutetre 65 days ago | 0 comments

South Korea deploys Skylight laser weapon to protect Seoul capital from drones (armyrecognition.com)
As reported by Mason on December 8, 2024, South Korea has initiated the deployment of the Laser-Based Anti-Aircraft Weapon Block-I, a stationary 20kW-class fiber laser system capable of neutralizing drones within a range of 2–3 kilometers, to frontline units and selected urban locations, including Seoul.

Military Technology, South Korea, Drones, Defense

5 points by danboarder 66 days ago | 0 comments

Why Europe Is Unprepared to Defend Itself (bloomberg.com)
For decades, European nations curbed defense spending to fund other priorities, leaving them overwhelmingly reliant on the US. Now, with war raging on NATO’s doorstep and Donald Trump returning to the White House, that looks like a big mistake.

Europe, Defense, Military, Politics, International Relations

9 points by belter 92 days ago | 14 comments

Drone-zapping laser weapons now effective (and cheap) reality (theconversation.com)
A single burst of light is precisely aimed at a tiny drone flying at breakneck speed far in the distance. Instants later, the deactivated drone crashes into the sea. Not a sound made, no human casualties, no messy explosions. A lethal, multimillion-dollar drone cleanly taken out by a shot that cost less than a good bottle of wine.

Military Technology, Drones, Defense, Technology, Innovation

7 points by peutetre 96 days ago | 7 comments

Sweden nixed new wind farms for fear of missing Russian missiles (defensenews.com)
BERLIN — Sweden’s government this month blocked the construction of 13 offshore wind farms over concerns that they would shorten the country’s early-warning window for a Russian missile attack.

Sweden, Military, Defense, Energy, Russia

3 points by toss1 101 days ago | 3 comments

Anthropic teams up with Palantir and AWS to sell AI to defense customers (techcrunch.com)
Anthropic on Thursday said it is teaming up with data analytics firm Palantir and Amazon Web Services (AWS) to provide U.S. intelligence and defense agencies access to Anthropic’s Claude family of AI models.

Artificial Intelligence, Defense, Cloud Computing, Partnerships

84 points by handfuloflight 106 days ago | 92 comments

Britain buys semiconductor factory for defence purposes (ukdefencejournal.org.uk)
The UK government has acquired a semiconductor factory in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, in a move to strengthen the defence supply chain and support the Armed Forces.

Defense, Semiconductor, Government, Supply Chain, UK

220 points by incognitojam 146 days ago | 116 comments

Supacat MUV: Affordable military vehicle based on Toyota Hilux pick-up truck (thedefensepost.com)
British vehicle manufacturer Supacat has introduced its newest innovation: a low-cost medium utility vehicle (MUV) with a 3.5-ton payload capacity.

Military Vehicles, Toyota, Innovation, Defense

24 points by teleforce 148 days ago | 9 comments

India-made ammunition enters Ukraine, irks defence partner Russia (thehindu.com)
Artillery shells sold by Indian arms makers have been diverted by European customers to Ukraine and New Delhi has not intervened to stop the trade despite protests from Moscow, according to eleven Indian and European government and defence industry officials, as well as a Reuters analysis of commercially available customs data.

International Relations, Russia-Ukraine Conflict, Arms Trade, India, Defense

6 points by unmole 155 days ago | 0 comments

Microsoft Teams with Startup Anduril on Army Combat Goggle System (bloomberg.com)
Defense technology startup Anduril Industries Inc. is teaming up with Microsoft Corp. to improve the performance of new combat goggles for the US Army, Anduril said Thursday, in a project that may generate as much as $21.9 billion from the service over a decade.

Defense, Military Technology, Partnerships, Startups, Government Contracts

13 points by sharpshadow 155 days ago | 25 comments

DragonFire Laser Weapon Will Equip Royal Navy Warships from 2027 (theaviationist.com)
The UK Ministry of Defence announced that the new, cutting-edge DragonFire laser will be installed on Royal Navy warships for the first time from 2027.

Military Technology, Royal Navy, Lasers, Defense

7 points by peutetre 159 days ago | 0 comments

A Major U.S. Defense Investor Has Links to Sanctioned Russian Oligarchs (forbes.com)
Venture capital firm 8VC, which has invested in U.S. defense contractors like Palantir and Anduril, employs two children of sanctioned Russian oligarchs, Forbes has learned, at a time when the U.S. government is increasingly concerned about the proximity of foreign adversaries to Silicon Valley.

Venture Capital, Russia, Defense, Oligarchs, United States

4 points by JumpCrisscross 160 days ago | 0 comments

Anduril Unveils Barracuda-M Family of Cruise Missiles (twz.com)
Defense contractor Anduril has unveiled Barracuda, a new family of what it is calling “expandable autonomous air vehicles” that are scalable, highly modular, and already being flight-tested.

Defense, Military Technology, Robotics, Autonomous Vehicles

9 points by camidon 163 days ago | 0 comments

'AI gold mine': NGA aims to exploit archive of satellite images, expert analysis (breakingdefense.com)