This Week in Dual-Use
NEWS
In manufacturing news, Anduril will open a factory and R&D facility in the UK, as it looks to establish a European presence in the face of rising geopolitical tensions and increased defence spending in the region.
This is a long-awaited moment for the US-based defence-tech company. It has struggled to gain traction in the UK, despite having had an office in London for years. The reciprocal procurement agreement from UK government feels like more of a political move than a defence capability decision. It was announced ahead of the UK Defence Secretary’s visit to Washington, and UK MOD won’t actually get any Anduril products, which are instead heading to Ukraine.
I’d say that the c£30m contract is small beer for Anduril, which just agreed a $642m deal with the US Marine Corps. But the value of the deal is not what’s important here.
Anduril can’t afford to miss out on the European defence spending bonanza which is about to take place. And UK government needs to show its willingness to buy American. A small purchase from a company with strong connections to the Trump administration is a neat way of achieving that.
The question is whether larger British and European contracts will follow, or was this a one-off, politically expedient shaking of hands.
In more manufacturing news, the German Security and Defence Industry (BDSV) last week suggested repurposing its automobile sector for defence manufacturing. VW then followed with the announcement that it wants to produce weapons, and is already halfway there.
I spoke with some Germans about this recently. It cannot be understated how big of a mindset shift this is for the country, and just how quickly geopolitical events are changing the calculus which has been in place since 1945.
For decades, Germany’s industrial base has been optimized for civilian exports, with an almost religious aversion to defence production. But as the Zeitenwende accelerates, the logic is shifting: the country has world-class engineering, precision manufacturing, and scale. That is exactly what modern defence supply chains need.
The question is whether political will can keep up with economic reality.
In undersea news, China has apparently developed a deep-sea cable cutter which could disrupt 95% of world communications. The new deep-sea cable-cutting device can sever lines at depths of up to 4,000 metres and has been designed for China’s advanced crewed and uncrewed submersibles.
We know that Russia has spent a considerable amount of effort investing in capabilities that would allow it to pose a threat to European critical infrastructure, and has viewed this as an imperative since the Soviet era. Its Belgorod submarine is specifically designed for seabed activities.
But this is unchartered territory for China, whose naval doctrine has traditionally focused on surface and near-shore operations. Developing the ability to cut deep-sea cables suggests a shift towards more aggressive power projection far beyond the First Island Chain.
FUNDRAISING
Blackwall, an Estonia-based developer of software which filters harmful traffic and prevents attacks on websites, raised a €45m Series B round. Disclaimer: Blackwall is an Expeditions portfolio company.
Applied Intuition, a US-based developer of software for autonomous vehicles, is reportedly looking to raise a multi-hundred million round at a $15bn valuation.
Flock Safety, a US-based developer of public safety products like automated license plate recognition cameras and a gunshot detection system, raised a $275m round.
iSpace, a China-based commercial launch company has raised a Series D round worth “several hundred million yuan”.
Alloyed, a UK-based developer of advanced metal alloys using 3D printing, raised a £37m Series B round.
Seadronix, a South Korea-based developer of autonomous navigation systems for ships and AI-powered port management tools, raised a $11.3m Series B round.
VulnCheck, a US-based developer of real-time intelligence on software vulnerabilities and potential exploits, raised a $12m Series A round.