This Week in Dual-Use

I spent last week at SOF Week in Tampa. The conference draws around 20,000 attendees each year, but this year felt different. The exhibition floor had spilled out of the Convention Center entirely, with live drone demonstrations at the local airport to accommodate the demand for hardware showcases. The mood reflected a defence industry that has found its moment.

In years gone by, it used to be a conference about special operations, with technology as something of a sideline. This year I felt it was more of a technology conference that is attended by operators. The common themes were: autonomy, counter-drone, and the push to compress acquisition timelines.

NEWS

Gulf states turn to Turkey for arms

Iranian long-range drones have destroyed several radar systems across Kuwait, the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia since the Iran conflict began. Meanwhile, American suppliers are running years-long backlogs on Patriot and THAAD deliveries. The combination has created a procurement vacuum, and Turkey is the beneficiary.

Kuwait's Defence Minister signed a government-to-government sales protocol with five Turkish companies. Saudi Arabia and Qatar signed contracts for the Korkut 100/25 anti-drone system, a 25mm smart ammunition platform designed specifically for FPV and tethered drone threats. Saudi Arabia has also signalled interest in newly laser-guided anti-drone systems that can be mounted on light trucks.

Turkey is not a perfect substitute for American hardware. Ankara has no credible ballistic missile interceptor it can deliver today. The Siper long-range system, for example, likely needs another four or five years of development before it could handle that threat.

But American systems come with the same multi-year wait, plus no option for localisation or joint development. And Gulf states increasingly anxious about supply chain dependence after watching their radar systems burn.

The Iran war could be reshuffling the global arms market before us. The US is backlogged. Israel is occupied. Russia is sanctioned. China is distrusted. Turkey and Ukraine are stepping up.

UK puts low-cost missiles on Typhoon jets to take down drones

The RAF has deployed the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) on Typhoon jets in the Middle East. APKWS takes an existing unguided rocket and adds a laser seeker to the front, turning a dumb projectile into a precision weapon.

The MoD moved the system from ground testing to operational deployment in under two months, which is an impressive timeline for defence procurement standards.

What is interesting is that this is fifty-year old technology, repurposed in the same way that Russia has been repurposing T-80 tanks. Adding a laser seeker to it is not new. What is new is the threat environment that has made air-to-air employment of this novel rocket necessary. However it feels like an odd role for the coveted Typhoon.

FUNDRAISING

DEFENCE

Anduril, an American neo-prime, raised a $5B Series H at a $61B valuation, co-led by returning investors Thrive Capital and Andreessen Horowitz.

Amca, an American defence manufacturing company, raised a $300M Series B at a valuation of over $1B, led by Caffeinated Capital.

Armada, an American builder of edge-deployed compute and AI solutions, raised a $230M Series B at a $2B valuation, co-led by Overmatch, BlackRock, and 8090 Industries.

Quartermaster, an American developer of maritime sensing and analytics, raised a $43M Series A co-led by First Round Capital and Quiet Capital.

Rowden, a British developer of defence communications systems, raised £25M from the UK’s National Wealth Fund.

Arkeus, an Australian developer of AI-powered sensing systems for drones and autonomous platforms, raised an $18M Series A led by QIC Ventures.

RevEng.AI, a British company using AI to analyze compiled software binaries and detect vulnerabilities, raised a $15M Series A led by NATO Innovation Fund.

Twin Prime, a Greek/American developer of AI models that analyse and reason military sensor data to support battlefield and operational decision-making, raised a $10M pre-seed round led by Expeditions.

Furientis, an American developer of low-cost ship-based interceptor missiles, raised a $5M pre-seed round led by Silent Ventures.

SPACE

Star Catcher, an American company building an orbital power grid to beam solar energy to satellites in space, raised a $65M Series A led by B Capital.

QUANTUM

Alice & Bob, a French developer of quantum computing architecture based on cat qubits, raised an extension to its €100M Series B from NVentures, NVIDIA’s venture capital arm.

Nord Quantique, a Canadian developer of superconducting quantum computers, raised $30M from Fidelity at a $1.4B valuation.

Quanscient, a Finnish developer of cloud-based multiphysics simulation technology and quantum algorithms, raised a €10M Series A co-led by 55 North and B&C Group.

Quantum Bridge Technologies, a Canadian developer of quantum-safe cryptographic infrastructure, raised an $8M Series A led by Primo Capital.

Pramatra Space, an Indian developer of quantum-secure satellite and terrestrial communications technology, raised an undisclosed pre-seed round led by Seafund Ventures.

GOING PUBLIC

SpaceX, an American space company, filed its S-1 registration statement. It is seeking to raise ~$2B in an IPO that would value the company at ~$2T.

Quantinuum, an American builder of trapped-ion quantum computers and advanced quantum software, is seeking to raise ~$1.05B in an IPO that would value the company at ~$12.7B.