⚓ Saab Unveils ‘World’s-First’ Fifth-Generation A26 Battle Submarine

📬 In Today’s Defense Brief

⚛️ IonQ & Heven AeroTech Fuse Quantum Tech with Hydrogen Drones for National Security — Read More

🤖 Startup Enabled Intelligence Wins NGA’s $708M AI Data-Labeling Deal for Project Sequoia — Read More

⚓ Saab Unveils ‘World’s-First’ Fifth-Generation A26 Battle Submarine — Read More

📦 AI X-Ray Drone Defense Spots Hidden UAV Threats at Security Checkpoints — Read More

🧨 Navy Axes Final Four Constellation Frigates in ‘Strategic Shift’ Toward New Fleet Design — Read More

🎱 Plus 21 other news stories you may like

📰 Full Breakdown

⚛️ IonQ & Heven AeroTech Fuse Quantum Tech with Hydrogen Drones for National Security — Read More

• IonQ announced a strategic investment and partnership with Heven AeroTech to embed quantum computing, networking, sensing, and security tech into Heven’s long-range, hydrogen-powered UAS. The Heven Z1 can already fly up to 600 miles for more than 10 hours, and the company's pitch for this combo is a way to boost endurance, autonomy, and survivability in GPS-denied and contested environments.

• Joint initiatives include quantum-secure networking links between drones, quantum computing to optimize fleet routing and fuse drone/satellite imagery, and quantum sensors for alternative positioning, navigation, and timing. IonQ frames the effort as extending its “quantum internet” vision from ground networks into airborne platforms, turning drones into quantum-enabled endpoints rather than just traditional ISR nodes.

• The deal also deepens IonQ’s defense posture: its Quantum Networking, Sensing & Security president joins Heven’s board, and the company highlights its earlier acquisitions of Vector Atomic and Capella Space, as well as four ~$100M AFRL contracts, as the backbone of a quantum-secure global communications network. The partners argue that this gives Western defense customers a differentiated, high-end portfolio of uncrewed systems.

🤖 Startup Enabled Intelligence Wins NGA’s $708M AI Data-Labeling Deal for Project Sequoia — Read More

• The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency awarded Virginia-based startup Enabled Intelligence a contract worth up to $708 million over seven years under the Sequoia program. The work centers on large-scale data labeling to train AI-driven computer vision models that scan massive collections of satellite and airborne imagery for targets of interest, supporting GEOINT users across the U.S. government.

• NGA officials characterize Sequoia as the largest U.S. government AI data-labeling project to date and a foundational enabler for the agency’s broader Maven portfolio, which the NGA took over from DoD in 2022. Labeled datasets will help AI/ML systems discriminate among objects and enhance the capabilities of ISR sensors and platforms, tightening the find-and-classify loop for commanders.

• Enabled Intelligence, founded in 2020 and focused on classified AI data-labeling, will partner with firms including BAE Systems, Vantor (formerly Maxar Intelligence), and Whiteboard Federal. The contract spans multiple NGA programs and directorates, as well as other elements of the Department of War and the Intelligence Community, underscoring how central high-quality training data has become to operationalizing military AI at scale.

⚓ Saab Unveils ‘World’s-First’ Fifth-Generation A26 Battle Submarine — Read More

• Saab is pitching its Blekinge-class A26 as the world’s first “fifth-generation” battle submarine, with the design described as packing advanced stealth, the ability to deploy deep-diving unmanned underwater vehicles, electronic disruption tools, and long-range precision weapons into a single multi-domain undersea platform.

• The concept goes beyond traditional diesel-electric attack boats, framing the A26 as an undersea hub for UUV operations and electronic warfare rather than just a torpedo-and-missile shooter. Saab emphasizes that a combination of covert maneuvering, off-board unmanned payloads, and digital disruption capabilities is the defining feature of the “fifth-generation” label.

• By integrating stealth shaping, UUV launch capacity, electronic disruption, and long-range precision strike, Saab positions the A26 as a flexible tool for future navies facing crowded, sensor-rich seas. The article presents it as a multi-domain battle submarine intended to operate effectively across reconnaissance, strike, and undersea support roles within a single hull.

📦 AI X-Ray Drone Defense Spots Hidden UAV Threats at Security Checkpoints — Read More

• Athena Security has developed an AI-driven X-ray system to detect drone threats before they reach the perimeter. The tool uses machine-learning models to detect drone components tucked inside luggage or cargo, identifying both assembled and disassembled parts based on shapes and material signatures while slotting into existing X-ray screening workflows at high-value sites.

• The system was built after cases in which attackers smuggled UAV parts in pieces and reassembled them inside restricted zones. Athena targets airports, energy infrastructure, and military facilities, arguing that traditional perimeter-only drone detection leaves a gap at entry points and that early interdiction of components can be critical as low-cost drones proliferate.

• Athena is trialing the system with federal, state, and local security agencies at real checkpoints and exploring partnerships with counter-drone, electronic warfare, and security integration firms. The company envisions the X-ray feed as one layer in a broader defense network, cueing external sensors and rapid-response tools so that checkpoint screening, perimeter detection, and active counter-UAS measures reinforce one another.

🧨 Navy Axes Final Four Constellation Frigates in ‘Strategic Shift’ Toward New Fleet Design — Read More

• Navy Secretary John Phelan announced the service will terminate the last four ships in the $22 billion Constellation-class frigate program, keeping only the first two hulls, Constellation (FFG-62) and Congress (FFG-63), which are already under construction. He cast the move as a “strategic shift” to only fund programs that clearly strengthen readiness and warfighting advantage.

• The decision follows years of scrutiny from lawmakers and Pentagon leaders over schedule slips and cost growth tied to numerous Navy-driven design changes. A 2024 Navy report found the program 36 months behind schedule. Fincantieri Marinette Marine, which won the original design and build award in 2020, is now expected to pivot toward other vessel types while completing the first two frigates.

• Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker publicly praised canceling the “troubled” program as a tough but necessary call, while Fincantieri said it anticipates new Navy work in areas like amphibious, icebreaking, special-mission ships, and future small surface combatants. The article notes the move is part of wider acquisition shakeups, as the Navy and White House also weigh a new class of heavily armored “battleships” for Indo-Pacific fights.

🌏 Other Important News

✈️ Air

• Boeing & USAF Advance KC-46A Pegasus Tanker Fleet Expansion – Read More

• Air Force Sharpens SEAD Role for F-35s Under ‘Midnight Hammer’ Concept – Read More

• USAF Plan to Fly C-5s and C-17s Even Longer Raises Wear-and-Tear Concerns – Read More

• Boeing Wins Big: New USAF & Army Orders Worth $7 Billion – Read More

• Chinese Researchers Sketch 2,000-Drone Plan to Knock Starlink Offline – Read More

• South Africa’s ‘All-in-One’ Anti-Drone System Lets AI Pick the Perfect Weapon – Read More

• As Drones Menace European Airspace, US Army Tests C-UAS Systems in Germany – Read More

• Army Asks Industry for C-UAS Parts, Eyes Potential Small Drone Interceptor Program – Read More

⚓ Naval

• Poland Selects Sweden’s Saab A26 as Future Submarine – Read More

• Taiwan Unveils $40B Defense Supplemental Focused on Air Defense & Asymmetric Capabilities – Read More

• Coast Guard’s New Cutter Program at Risk of Costly Rework and Delays, GAO Warns – Read More

• U.S. Navy Nixes Constellation Frigate Program After Two Ships Half-Built – Read More

• Russian Research Ship Points Lasers at RAF Patrol Plane Near UK Waters – Read More

• Europe Builds Tools to ‘Stealthify’ Future Underwater Drones – Read More

🛡️ Land

• British Army Forced to Suspend Use of New Ajax Armoured Vehicle – Read More

• U.S. Army Aims to Manufacture 30,000 155mm Cluster Shells Per Year – Read More

• Israel Rolls Out Compact, GNSS-Resilient Border Guard Surveillance System – Read More

🛰️ Space

• “Golden Dome”: Space Force Awards First Space-Based Boost-Phase Interceptor Prototype Contracts – Read More

• NATO Builds Cloud to Host Ukraine’s Classified Battle Data – Read More

• Joint Ukraine-NATO Training & Analysis Team Gets Classified, AI-Enabled Google Cloud – Read More

🏭 Industry

• VTG Acquires Miklos Systems Inc. to Bolster C4ISR & Naval Systems Portfolio – Read More

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