LPD-18 Fire. A fire aboard the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship USS New Orleans (LPD-18) while in Japan was finally declared extinguished around 4:00 a.m. Aug. 21. The U.S. 7th Fleet said the fire ended after burning for about 12 hours after it began at 4p.m on Aug. 20. while the ship was anchored near White Beach Naval Facility, Okinawa, Japan. Two sailors were taken to medical facilities aboard the ship to treat minor injuries. The fleet said firefighting efforts aboard the ship were aided by the crew of the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship USS San Diego (LPD-22), moored at White Beach Naval Facility, as well as Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force; Japan Coast Guard; and U.S. Navy commands from across Commander, Fleet Activities Okinawa. The Navy said the ship’s crew will remain aboard the ship and the cause of the fire is under investigation.
Super Hornet Crash. On the morning of Aug. 20, an F/A-18E Super Hornet pilot assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 83 ejected from the aircraft off the coast of Virginia during a routine training flight. The Navy said the pilot was rescued about 90 minutes after the ejection and transported to a hospital for medical evaluation after search and rescue assets arrived. The F/A-18E remains in the water and the mishap is now under investigation.
Northern Edge. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) started the joint U.S. and Canadian Northern Edge 2025 exercise around Alaska on Aug. 17. This event includes over 6,400 service members, 100 aircraft and seven U.S. and Canadian vessels. The Navy said this serves as a platform for joint, multi-domain operations to deliver high-end warfighter training, strengthen joint interoperability, and sharpen the air and sea-based combat readiness of U.S. and participating forces. Air Force Brig. Gen. Rick Goodman, the NE25 exercise director, underscored one of the main objectives of this is cross-combatant command coordination between INDOPACOM and U.S. Northern Command. Participants include the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72), which will participate in the exercise alongside other elements of Carrier Strike Group 3 such as the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS O’Kane (DDG-77), Michael Murphy (DDG-112), and Frank E. Petersen Jr. (DDG-121), and the nine squadrons of 4th and 5th generation aircraft of Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 9. This year’s exercise also coincides with Arctic Edge 2025, an annual NORAD and Northern Command exercise.
Ursa Orders. After one year at the helm of startup Ursa Major, Chairman and CEO Dan Jablonsky last week lauded the company’s and its employees’ accomplishments in advancing propulsion technology for rockets, missiles, and spacecraft. Through the first half of 2025, Ursa Major has garnered more than $100 million in bookings, he said. The company is focused on “hypersonics, space-based rapid mobility and interception, and solving solid rocket motor shortfalls,” Jablonsky wrote on the company’s website. During the next year, Ursa Major will fly its storable, reusable Draper liquid engine, begin production and qualification testing of solid rocket motors for missiles, and “strengthen our financial position,” he said, adding “In the next few years, we’ll double, triple, even quadruple in size.”
People News. Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz has hired Anne Neuberger as a senior adviser, advising its American Dynamism practice that invests in companies that support the national interest, artificial intelligence, and cyber. Neuberger served in the Biden administration as deputy national security advisor for cyber and emerging technology. QinetiQ US has named Donna Wilson as chief financial officer (CFO). She most recently was CFO for 13 months at Top Aces Corp., a provider of adversary air services. Startup Mach Industries has hired Gary Hobart as CFO. Hobart previously was CFO and chief transformation officer at Terran Orbital. Mach is developing cruise missiles, a transonic glider, and a high-altitude platform balloon.
…Coast Guard PEOs. The Coast Guard in July stood up its first program executive offices (PEOs) that will be in charge of the entire lifecycle of acquisition efforts in five areas. The PEOs will be overseen by Rear Adm. Mike Campbell as chief acquisition officer and director of systems acquisition (Defense Daily, Aug. 20.). The program executive officers in charge of each PEO include Campbell as the acting PEO for Air, Rear Adm. Russell Dash lead PEO C5I, Anthony Antognoli leads Robotics and Autonomous Systems, Michael Haycock is in charge of PEO Shore, and Amber Stein heads PEO Surface. The PEO structure is part of the Coast Guard’s Force Design 2028 aimed at reorganizing and transforming the service.
Nullspace Seed Round. Nullspace, a startup developing electromagnetic simulation for radio frequency and quantum systems, has raised $2.5 million in a seed round to be put toward adding engineers, accelerating product development, and expanding its go-to-market efforts. The Huntsville, Ala.-based company is targeting “growing demand across aerospace, defense, quantum computing, and AI-enabled hardware markets,” Masha Petrova, Nullspace co-founder and CEO, said in a statement. Nullspace says its RF simulation tools have military and commercial applications. The seed round was led by Fathom Fund, with participation from Golden Seeds LLC and angel investors.
USV Detection. The Navy this week will evaluate an artificial intelligence-based man overboard detection platform developed by Zelim to detect uncrewed surface vessels operating near critical infrastructure at BlueTIDE 2025 demonstrations in Narragansett Bay, R.I., the United Kingdom-based company said last Friday. Zelim’s ZOE MOB system is used by the cruise industry and offshore industry to detect, alert, and track persons in the water after a man overboard incident. The software is also used in a new product, ZOE SHIELD, which is being developed for maritime situational awareness by automatically detecting and classifying small surface craft operating without a transponder.
Eighth Mission. Late Thursday night, a SpaceX Falcon 9 launched the U.S. Space Force (USSF)-36 National Security Space Launch mission, carrying the eighth X-37B space plane mission from Kennedy Space Center, Fla., for the Space Force and the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office, Air Force Research Laboratory, and the Defense Innovation Unit. Boeing builds the X-37B, which first flew in 2010. Col. Ryan Hiserote, Space Force Space Systems Command’s senior materiel leader of launch execution, said that SSC has “more missions queued for launch over the next 12 months than in any prior 12-month period in the history of the NSSL program.”
AFRL Contract. The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) site in Rome, N.Y., has awarded California’s Trust Automation, Inc., an up to $490 million five-year/cost-plus contract “for rapid research, development, prototyping, demonstration, evaluation, production, and transition of unmanned aircraft system and counter-unmanned aircraft systems [UAS] capabilities.” Trust Automation says that its inventory includes drone propulsion systems, drone jammers and passive radio frequency detection of Group 1 drones.
Space Based Interceptors. Space Systems Command last Thursday said it expects to release a draft Request for Prototype Proposals (RPP) on Aug. 25 related to Space Based Interceptors (SBI). The RPP is set for release on Sept. 5 and multiple fixed-price Other Transaction Agreements are planned for award in October, the command said in an Aug. 21 pre-solicitation on the government’s Sam.gov site. Space Systems Command seeks feedback on the draft RPP, which will be available to eligible companies in a bidder’s library. The Trump administration wants SBI capabilities as part of a future homeland missile defense shield it is calling Golden Dome.
Australia FMS. The State Department said on Aug. 19 it has approved a potential $97.3 million foreign military sale with Australia for Javelin missile launchers. The deal for 161 Javelin Lightweight Command Launch Units, built by RTX and Lockheed Martin, will be added to a previously approved $6.3 million FMS case with Australia that covered life cycle support for Javelin missiles. The new FMS case also includes missile simulation rounds and spare parts. “The proposed sale will enhance Australia’s capability to meet current and future threats by improving its advanced surface-fired munitions capabilities and increasing its capability to deter adversaries. This enhanced capability will protect Australia and local allied land forces and will significantly improve Australia’s contribution to coalition anti-armor capability,” the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a statement.
Saudi Arabia/Amentum. The state-owned Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI) said on Aug. 21 it has selected Amentum to help support efforts to develop the public investment firm’s maintenance, repair, overhaul and upgrade capabilities for land combat systems within Saudi Arabia. “Our partnership with Amentum is a strategic step towards enhancing knowledge transfer and localizing technologies, which supports our ambitious vision to become the leading national provider of MROU solutions for land systems in the Kingdom,” Mohammed bin Saud Alhodaib, executive vice president of SAMI Land, said in a statement.
UAS Distribution Center. The first Army-owned supply, storage and distribution operations center opened on Aug. 20 at Letterkenny Army Depot (LEAD) in Pennsylvania. The Army said the purpose of the new UAS fulfillment center “is to leverage standard Army systems, eliminate unsecured third-party software and use modern technology to provide full visibility and comprehensive freight management,” with an aim to achieve “100 percent auditable accountability.” “This partnership [with LEAD] aligns perfectly with the Secretary of Defense’s guidance on unleashing U.S. military drone dominance and positions us to lead the charge in ensuring our warfighters are equipped to fight and win decisively,” Mike Pollut, the Army’s UAS logistics division chief, said in a statement.
