This Week in Dual-Use
NEWS
In autonomous maritime news, a Ukrainian maritime drone shot down a Russian Su-30 fighter jet. It is the first time a fast jet has been shot down by an uncrewed vessel.
This news has rightly been met with jubilation and excitement in the West. It is a huge achievement for Ukraine, which no longer has a navy in the conventional sense, but is leading the world in autonomous maritime technology.
It is important not to draw the wrong conclusions from this. While admirable, it will not be easy to repeat. The Russian jet was sent to interdict a flotilla of Ukrainian Unmanned Surface Vessels (USVs), which was threatening the main naval base at Novorossiysk. There were a huge number of USVs, armed with cannon, and the Russian jet took significant risk by flying too low. They probably won’t make the same mistake again.
What is clear is that the Russians don’t yet have an answer to this asymmetric maritime threat. Their remaining naval assets are confined to port (precisely because of the USV threat) so sending an Su-30 to deal with a swarm of USVs probably seemed like a good idea.
Although difficult to repeat, this is another sign of the decoupling between traditional platform hierarchies and the new physics of software-defined war.
In procurement news, the UK MOD is aiming to cut procurement timelines for major military platforms from six years to two, as part of reforms under the Integrated Procurement Model.
It reflects a broader trend among Western defence ministries: a growing awareness that Cold War-era procurement cycles, with their specification creep and risk aversion, are increasingly incompatible with with the speed of defence technology innovation.
This is also about regaining industrial and technological tempo. The war in Ukraine is showing what happens when you fuse state urgency with iterative development and field testing. If the West can’t adapt to that rhythm, it risks becoming strategically irrelevant. Not because it lacks capability, but because it can't deploy it fast enough.
In drone news, the first RAF StormShroud, an unmanned aerial system, entered into service, with a ‘family’ of others planned for future delivery. The new StormShroud aircraft combines the UK-Portuguese Tekever 3 tactical platform with Leonardo’s BriteStorm stand-in jammer, effectively enabling it to suppress enemy air defence capabilities and work in tandem with RAF fighter jets.
Last month the US announced the entry into service of its own unmanned fighters (General Atomic’s YFQ-42 and Anduril’s YFQ-44). The UK is following suit.
Just like maritime autonomy, the shape of airpower is evolving. StormShroud represents a move towards modular, distributed systems. In traditional doctrine, jamming was the domain of large, expensive platforms, so it’s interesting to see it mounted on a tactical UAS to deploy forward with minimal risk.
Geopolitically, it also reflects a shift in alliance dynamics. The integration of a UK-Portuguese platform with Italian electronics into the RAF order of battle speaks to a more networked European defence ecosystem.
FUNDRAISING
True Anomaly, a US-based developer of autonomous spacecraft and a space-based operating system, raised a $260m Series C round led by Accel.
Apex, US-based developer of customizable satellite buses for space missions, raised a $200m Series C round co-led by Point72 Ventures and 8VC.
Quantum Systems, a Germany-based developer of AI-powered drones for defence and commercial applications, raised a €160m Series A round led by Balderton.
Northwood, a US-based developer of ground stations which communicate with satellites to download and process data, raised a $30m Series A round co-led by Alpine Space Ventures andAndreessen Horowitz.
ARX Robotics, a Germany-based developer of scalable unmanned ground vehicles and military-grade AI operating systems, raised a €31m Series A round led by HV Capital.
Near Space Labs, a US-based developer of high-resolution imagery of Earth from the stratosphere, raised a $20m Series B round led by Bold Capital Partners.
EdgeRunner AI, a US-based developer of on-device, domain-specific AI agents that help military personnel make operational decisions without an internet connection, raised a $12m Series A round led by Madrona.
Arondite, a UK-based developer of artificial intelligence software to help defence agencies and governments make faster, safer decisions, raised a £9m seed round led by Index Ventures.
MirSense, a France-based developer of laser-based sensors that detect gases in real time, raised a €7m Series A round led by Safran Corporate Ventures.
Isembard, a UK-based developer of an AI-powered precision machine tool to help companies in critical industries produce parts locally, raised a £7m seed round led by Notion Capital.