SECRET//NO BORING kickass intel on military tech happenings--from insiders for insiders. NEWSLETTER | PODCAST
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Tethered drones: the value in staying put themerge.co/p/tethered-droneβ¦
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The Merge πΊπ² retweeted
Castelion Blackbeard hypersonic weapons mounted on an F/A-18F Super Hornet
πΈPAE Aviation
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The Merge πΊπ² retweeted
FEVER21 F-22 test flight out of Edwards AFB carrying Stealth IRST pods and an unusually colored underside (9/2026).
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The Merge πΊπ² retweeted
π Ray-Bans' tagline is "Genuine Since 1937."
Here's the story, the name, and the defense tech connection.
themerge.co/p/ray-bans
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Is Drone Dominance creating industry whiplash? π
themerge.co/p/gauntlet-whiplβ¦
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The Merge πΊπ² retweeted
My suggestion:
Northrop Grumman CEO Kathy Warden at Laguna conference says B-21 program increase should be briefed to Congress by the end of the year.
The potential increase is linked to the B-21 being a "multifunctional" aircraft, doing missions other than the nuclear bomber role
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The Merge πΊπ² retweeted
Great question! Seagliders use a "blown wing" to takeoff at low speeds.
The high-speed prop wash is concentrated on the wing so the wing sees fast air and generates high lift, even while the seaglider is moving slowly.
We trick the wing into thinking it is flying faster than it is.
For takeoff, allows us to takeoff directly from the hydrofoils (no one has been able to do that before).
For landing, lets us land slower so we can land in higher wave states.
You want the blown wing to focus all the propeller energy on the wing. Bigger props would waste energy above and below!
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"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" - @elonmusk
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Today marks the start of the Seaglider era - WE FLEW!!
Our 15,000 lb, human-crewed Viceroy Seaglider prototype took flight today. Years of hard work culminating in this moment.
Flight was smooth and exactly as planned.
So proud of this team.
More details to come!
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The Merge πΊπ² retweeted
Test is the gate between a good idea and a fielded capability.
Jenn Wilson, who leads Nominal's government team, joined Mike Benitez on the @MergeNewsletter. As programs shift toward CCA, Golden Dome, and a wider supplier base, the old model built around one prime per program stops holding.
piped.video/watch?v=7xI3wU5Sβ¦
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Software is helping hardware get through test to get to the warfighter.
Test is the gate between a good idea and a fielded capability.
Jenn Wilson, who leads Nominal's government team, joined Mike Benitez on the @MergeNewsletter. As programs shift toward CCA, Golden Dome, and a wider supplier base, the old model built around one prime per program stops holding.
piped.video/watch?v=7xI3wU5Sβ¦
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The Pentagon is pushing for fixed price contracts, much to the celebration of startups.
But there is a storm brewing over price transparency to track company's profits.
themerge.co/p/profit-peeking
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They are not low cost alternatives.
They are low cost augmentation.
We need both.
π Why spend 22.9 billion USD on a legacy cruise missile when low-cost alternatives are available en masse? That question came up after the U.S. Navy's 17 August contract with Raytheon to produce, recertify, and modernize more than 7,000 Tomahawks.
The answer depends on what each class of missile actually buys, and for whom.
My latest Missile Matters post breaks modern strike arsenals into three tiers, from multi-million-dollar systems down to 30,000 USD long-range drones, and assesses which high-low mixes will appeal to which states: from the missile great powers to mid-sized and smaller states across Europe, the Middle East, and the Indo-Pacific.
The full analysis is available here: missilematters.substack.com/β¦
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The Merge πΊπ² retweeted
a good name for an all-you-can-eat-buffet in DC would be "Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity"
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Everyone, meet the AIM-424 Malice:
NEW: The US Navy has a new long-range air-to-air missile.
The AIM-424 Malice has a range that far exceeds current missiles and is being tested on F/A-18s and F-35s.
Of course, specifics are classified
aviationweek.com/defense/misβ¦
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BREAKING: Avidrone Aerospace has secured 1st place in the DARPA Lift Challenge.
Avidrone achieved a 3.84:1 payload-to-aircraft-weight ratio using a 29.3-pound drone. DARPA set the goal at a 4:1 ratio: a drone carrying four times its own weight, a level DARPA described as unprecedented.
Founded in 2007, Avidrone Aerospace is based in Ontario, Canada, with a U.S. presence in Columbia, Maryland. The company develops cargo drones for contested defense logistics and commercial applications including offshore oil and gas.
Second Place: MTech Operations, an MIT team, achieved a 3.64:1 ratio using a 32.1-pound drone.
Third Place: Xtreme Aerial Concepts achieved a 3.45:1 ratio using a 54.9-pound drone.
More than 120 teams were selected to compete in the heavy-lift drone challenge, with $6.5M in prize money.
Video Source: DARPA
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