Weapons and Tactics. U.S. Air Force’s Air Combat Command (ACC) recently hosted this year’s Weapons and Tactics Conference (WEPTAC) at Nellis AFB, Nev., to test out airmen-developed concepts and systems for countering high-tech potential adversaries. This year’s conference resulted in the creation of the WEPTAC executive plan to guide the Air Force over the next year in changes to tactics, doctrine, and training. At last year’s WEPTAC, “squadron level tacticians developed a tactics improvement proposal, or TIP, to establish tactics for low-cost, high-inventory weapons capability and effectiveness for cruise missiles and counter-UASs,” according to ACC. “Ranked as the Air Force’s number two TIP, the tactic was later tested by the 96th Test Wing and the 53rd Wing at the Eglin Test and Training Range [Fla.]. Combatant commands rapidly integrated the tactic into current operations to include Operation Midnight Hammer.” The latter, in June last year, involved strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.
Industrial Base Resilience. The Pentagon is planning for additional consortium-hosted “convening events” or industry days “in the very near future” to discuss ongoing industrial base resilience efforts, a lead official has said. Jeff Frankston, acting deputy assistant secretary of defense for industrial base resilience, said the events will include one focused on critical minerals work. “We want to be as broad [and as] open as possible, because while we have some great tools, we don’t know what we don’t know. And so there may be some world-winning capability and capacity out there that we’re just waiting to hear about,” Frankston said during a discussion on Jan. 28 at the Apex Defense event in Washington, D.C.
U.S. Space Command Move. Space Force Gen. Stephen Whiting, the head of U.S. Space Command (USSPACECOM), said that Maj. Gen. Terry Grisham, an Alabama native, is be the command’s transition team director, as USSPACECOM moves from Peterson Space Force Base, Colo., to Redstone Arsenal, Ala. “The first members of USSPACECOM’s headquarters staff are already on the ground at Redstone Arsenal, forming a dedicated project management office focused on military construction and infrastructure,” the command said. Last September, President Donald Trump reversed the Biden administration’s decision to keep USSPACECOM in Colorado Springs.
Small Biz Platform. The Pentagon’s Office of Small Business Programs on Jan. 30 launched the new LYNX digital platform intended to help new defense industry entrants and small businesses “navigate the complex government contracting landscape with greater confidence and precision.” “LYNX is built for new entrants, small businesses, non-traditional suppliers and growing defense contractors that have strong technical capabilities but face challenges navigating defense requirements, readiness expectations and partner discovery. For many companies, the barrier to entry is not innovation or expertise, it is understanding how to move from capability to credible participation in mission-aligned opportunities,” the Defense Department said. Businesses create a profile on the platform, and then conduct an initial assessment to “establish a readiness baseline” for their offerings or services. “Through LYNX, companies can present their capabilities with confidence, assess readiness across key dimensions, and receive Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML)-informed roadmaps that help focus investment on actions most likely to advance defense participation,” the department said.
ASC Homeporting. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Kevin Lunday on Jan. 29 told a Senate panel that he told his team to develop options for the new medium Arctic Security Cutters (ASC) that includes homeporting up to four of the icebreakers in Alaska. In response to questions from Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation’s subcommittee on Coast Guard, Maritime, and Fisheries, the commandant said he expects to make a decision on ASC homeports in 2026. The first vessels are scheduled to be ready and reach their homeports in 2028.
Indian V-BATs. India has selected Shield AI’s V-BAT unmanned aircraft system (UAS) for use by the Indian Army. The UAS will include the company’s Hivemind autonomy software, which Shield AI says “enables defense systems to sense, decide, and act, allowing autonomous platforms to adapt to dynamic environments, avoid threats, and complete missions without human intervention.” Indian conglomerate JSW has invested $90 million in Shield AI and is building a facility in Hyderabad for large-scale production of V-BATs to meet the needs of the armed forces and to be a global production hub.
Utah Expansion. BAE Systems said that it has opened a new office in Utah north of Salt Lake City to serve as a company hub for ICBM sustainment and modernization. Early last year, the company received a $1.2 billion award from the U.S. Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center’s ICBM directorate at Hill AFB, Utah, to extend the company’s work on the Integrated Support Contract 2.0 (ISC 2.0) through July next year. In 2022, BAE won an up to $12 billion ISC 2.0 award to support the Minuteman III and the future LGM-35A Sentinel ICBM by Northrop Grumman.
DRS Space Payload. Leonardo DRS has received a subcontract to provide infrared mission payloads to a customer in support of the Space Development Agency’s Tranche 3 Tracking Layer missile warning and tracking satellite program. SDA in December awarded contracts to L3Harris Technologies, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Rocket Lab to each produce 18 satellites for the Tranche 3 Tracking Layer (Defense Daily, Dec. 19, 2025). The infrared payloads will detect and track enemy ballistic and hypersonic missiles early in the launch phase through interception and provide “precision fire-control sensing data for missile interceptors,” Leonardo DRS said.
Autonomous Teaming. Palladyne AI last week said it has received a contract from the Air Force Research Laboratory to leverage the company’s SwarmOS artificial intelligence drone piloting software to enable autonomous systems in different domains work together. The Hierarchical Adaptive Networked Game-Theoretic Integration of Multiple Echelons contract will integrate satellites and unmanned air and ground systems to speed decision-making. “By connecting satellite, aerial and ground systems using the patented SwarmOS embodied AI platform as a foundational technology, we’re helping the warfighter make better decisions in real-time and stay one step ahead on the battlefield,” Ben Wolff, Palladyne’s president and CEO, said in a statement.
Epirus and DSTA. Epirus has signed a memorandum of understanding with Singapore’s Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) to examine and test the U.S.-based company’s high-power microwave (HPM) technology for potential use against various drone threats by the country’s armed forces. Epirus and DSTA last week said they will conduct trials of the HPM technology against threats posed by single and swarm threats.
National Guard Costs. In the last seven months of 2025 it cost at least $496 million to deploy National Guard troops to U.S. cities, excluding a deployment to New Orleans late in the year, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reported last week. If the Trump administration were to continue those deployments, it would cost $93 million per month, CBO estimates. “More generally, deploying 1,000 National Guard personnel to a U.S. city in 2026 would cost $18 million to $21 million per month, depending mainly on the city’s cost of living,” CBO said in response to a request by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.).
RTX Ventures Investments. RTX’s venture unit, RTX Ventures, spent $85 million in 2025 on 19 companies, Chris Calio, RTX chairman and CEO, said last week. The investments were in areas such as autonomy, advanced manufacturing, space and propulsion, he said on the company’s fourth quarter earnings call. The DeepStrike autonomous mobile launcher demonstration last year at the Army’s Project Convergence was done with “multiple RTX Ventures portfolio companies,” he said. RTX last March announced the successful DeepStrike demonstration, saying it included self-driving technology from Forterra and rocket motors provided by Ursa Major.
Northwood Raise. Startup Northwood, which is developing and building end-to-end ground infrastructure to support space operations, last week said it raised $100 million in a Series B round to increase production of its multi-beam phased array antennas to communicate with satellites in multiple orbits. Northwood said by the end of 2026 it will have the capacity to produce over a dozen arrays per month. The company plans to deploy more than 82 beams for operations this year across 18 ground sites globally. The funding round was co-led by Washington Harbour Partners and Andreessen Horowitz.
More TOW Missiles. The Army on Jan. 27 awarded RTX a $193.7 million order for more tube-launched, optically-tracked, wireless-guided (TOW) missiles. Work on the latest production deal is expected to be completed by the end of September 2028. A total of $49.6 million in Army funds were at the time of award, according to the Pentagon.
UAS Charging. The Army has issued a Request for Information (RFI) seeking industry’s input on currently available batteries and charging solutions for drones. “The proliferation of Unmanned Aerial Systems across the Department of Defense has introduced a significant logistical burden due to the wide variety of proprietary batteries, chargers and power interfaces. The lack of a common standard impedes interoperability, increasing the physical and cognitive load on the warfighter,” the Army writes in the RFI, published on Jan. 28. “The data gathered from this effort will be used to inform the development of a common battery/charging interface.”
MIDS JTRS. The Navy awarded Data Link Solutions, a joint venture between BAE Systems and RTX’s Collins Aerospace, a $248 million production contract to deliver hundreds of Multifunctional Information Distribution System Joint Tactical Radio System (MIDS JTRS) terminals for U.S. and its allies, BAE announced on Jan. 28. This four-channel software-defined radio is designed to provide situational awareness and enables a jam-resistant Link 16 connectivity with line-of-sight voice, video, and data communications for sea, ground, and air platforms. While the companies did not disclose the specific number of terminals, director of Data Link Solutions Brian Shadiack said they will be integrated with more than 45 U.S. and allies platform types, including manned aerial vehicles and armored C2 ground vehicles. The Defense Department is already fielding MIDS JTRS on the F-15, F-16, F/A-18 and F-22 aircraft as well as various maritime vessels and ground-based command and control systems.
Polar Star’s Golden Jubilee. The Coast Guard’s lone heavy polar icebreaker, the Polar Star, marked its 50th year of commissioned service on Jan. 17 as it began icebreaking operations in the Southern Ocean and freeing an Australian-owned cruise ship that had been trapped in a pack of ice. The Polar Star is supporting the annual Operation Deep Freeze mission to break ice in support of resupplying the U.S. science operation at McMurdo Station in Antarctica.
Aussie C-sUAS Panel. The Australian Ministry of Defence last week created an industry panel to advise it and other government agencies on counter-small uncrewed aircraft services (C-sUAS). The initial 28 panel members include U.S.-based companies with business units in Australia, among them Anduril Industries, Axon, Cubic Defense, Leidos, L3Harris Technologies and Raytheon.
