🤖 Bullfrog AI-Enabled Weapon System Moves Into Maritime Drone Fight

📬 In Today’s Defense Brief

🛰️ Space Force Creates New Intel ‘Production’ Unit Read More

🚀 Taiwan Unveils Seven-Tube Rocket Vehicle Targeting Drones, Hostile Boats Read More

☀️ Skydweller Pushes Solar Drone to Nonstop 3-Day Flight With 800-Pound Payload Read More

🤖 Bullfrog AI-Enabled Weapon System Moves Into Maritime Drone Fight Read More

✈️ Lockheed, Pentagon Finalize Deal for 296 F-35s Read More

🎱 Plus 12 other news stories you may like

📰 Full Breakdown

🛰️ Space Force Creates New Intel ‘Production’ Unit Read More

• The Space Force stood up the Space Intelligence Production Center (SIPC) at Springfield-Beckley ANGB, merging Delta 7’s 76th ISRS with the NSIC’s 4th IAS to speed threat intel to operators and inform strategic decision-makers. Leaders say the new construct streamlines foundational/technical intelligence into day-to-day military space operations and longer-range planning through a single, purpose-built hub.

• Cmdr. Lt. Col. Stefan Katz called the construct a “symbiosis”: the 76th focuses on today’s tasking and mission execution while the 4th looks longer-term at implications. The unit will exploit multi-discipline inputs—GEOINT, SIGINT, MASINT, OSINT—with uniformed and civilian Guardians fusing data “from all over the place” through a space-domain lens for joint users.

• Beyond current ops, SIPC will shape future force design by feeding acquisition with sensor performance truth data: which sensors deliver, which underperform, and how to automate/optimize forthcoming systems. Manning starts at ~140 with plans to grow to a 150+ person ops floor spanning about six organizations, scaling capacity as missions expand.

🚀 Taiwan Unveils Seven-Tube Rocket Vehicle Targeting Drones, Hostile Boats Read More

• Taiwan’s National Chung-Shan Institute unveiled a truck-mounted Rocket Turret Vehicle for coastal defense: a seven-tube 70 mm launcher coupled to EO/IR, radar cueing, and a laser rangefinder for fast target detection and engagement in cluttered littorals. Traditionally air-launched rockets are adapted for ground fires to counter drones and small craft near ports and straits.

• A modular warhead family (HE, steel-ball frag, acoustic/flash) tailors effects to threat and environment, while the move-stop-fire concept enables concealed repositioning after salvos. Integrated fire-control generates ballistic solutions once EO/IR locks, with external radar designation available to boost accuracy and reduce waste.

• By pairing radar tracking with visual ID, the system aims to reduce misidentification and conserve ammo—an economical complement to missile networks. Debuting at TADTE 2025, the launcher is slated for Coast Guard fielding amid rising cross-strait pressure, enhancing asymmetric defenses with road-mobile survivability and rapid reloads.

☀️ Skydweller Pushes Solar Drone to Nonstop 3-Day Flight With 800-Pound Payload Read More

• In partnership with the U.S. Navy, Skydweller’s solar-powered UAV completed a continuous three-day autonomous flight over the Gulf of Mexico while carrying an 800-lb payload, routing around storms and streaming basin-wide data. The monitored, uncrewed sortie demonstrates sustained power/energy margins for multi-day missions without refuel or recovery.

• Built from carbon fiber with a wingspan akin to a Boeing 747, the aircraft targets “perpetual flight” of 90+ days up to 45,000 ft, providing low-cost persistence for ISR, comms relay, and maritime monitoring. A prior Navy test logged 222 hours over 22 days, stepping toward month-long endurance in real operations, not just models.

• DoD’s Operational Energy office called the demo a key step toward Indo-Pacific-scale missions. Officials tout regional surveillance, illegal fishing patrols, and search-and-rescue as immediate use cases, with “non-terrestrial communications” and other modular payloads enabling scalable effects at a fraction of satellite costs.

🤖 Bullfrog AI-Enabled Weapon System Moves Into Maritime Drone Fight Read More

• Allen Control Systems secured a deal with ManTech to integrate Bullfrog onto maritime platforms for SOF at sea, shifting from land-centric trials to littoral defense. The 400-lb turret fuses AI, computer vision, and proprietary control software to turn legacy weapons into precision counter-UAS solutions against Class 1–3 drones.

• A standard fit mounts a 7.62 mm M240, with options for M2, M230, M134 and non-kinetic dazzlers. Its passive detection suite reportedly keeps false negatives under 2%, while low power needs and NATO-standard mounts ease integration on boats and vehicles for mobile perimeter defense.

• In Camp Atterbury live-fire events, Bullfrog consistently defeated single and multi-drone raids, underscoring a lower-cost kinetic alternative where interceptors/EW are pricey or constrained. ACS says autonomy at the edge reduces operator burden and scales to swarms—addressing real-world airport/base disruptions and battlefield incursions.

✈️ Lockheed, Pentagon Finalize Deal for 296 F-35s Read More

• The Pentagon and Lockheed closed a $24.3B agreement for 296 F-35s across Lots 18–19 (148 each), covering airframes for U.S. and foreign customers with deliveries starting 2026. Engines remain separate: the JPO issued a $2.9B Lot 18 UCA to Pratt & Whitney as government-furnished equipment, with final pricing to set flyaway clarity.

• Lockheed said per-jet increases in Lots 18–19 were below inflation, with JPO noting inflation/raw-material pressure but costs consistent (inflation-adjusted) with Lots 15–17. The two-year negotiation wrap stabilizes supplier workloads and sets the stage for upcoming tech refreshes and incremental capability upgrades.

• Demand stays high amid global tensions, even as Block 4 modernization pushes to 2031 with a narrowed scope. Program officials frame the new lots as anchoring production while modernization and sustainment improvements work to lift availability across the joint/partner fleets.

🌏 Other Important News

✈️ Air

• UK won’t suspend F-35 parts to Israel despite Gaza criticism Read More

• Trump suggests bombing drug boats, labels traffickers “terrorists” Read More

• Sierra Space completes CDR for SDA Tranche 2 missile-tracking satellites Read More

• LT Bharat unveils new Indian fighter jet concept Read More

• Report: USAF studying B-21 bomber for potential air-to-air role Read More

🛰️ Space

• Space Force creates new intel “production” unit (SIPC) Read More

🛡️ Land

• BAE Systems and Forterra team on autonomous AMPV prototype Read More

⚓ Sea

• Pentagon funds upgrade of Philippine naval base near South China Sea Read More

• L3Harris demonstrates DiSCO EW system for distributed detection Read More

🏭 Industry & Contracts

• Pentagon awards $5.04B for Raytheon’s Coyote counter-drone system Read More

• General Dynamics Electric Boat wins $642M for Virginia-class submarine work Read More

• Pentagon, Sikorsky sign ~$10B deal for CH-53K heavy-lift helos Read More

Thanks for reading today’s Defense Brief. If you found it useful, consider forwarding it to a friend or colleague who'd appreciate staying sharp on defense tech and military news.