Finance news

Hegseth hosts emerging weapons makers for meeting on munitions production: Sources

Invitees to the closely held, publicly unannounced meeting included Anduril, Castelion and Leidos, sources said.

The Pentagon’s research infrastructure is ‘deteriorating,’ study finds

Pentagon research has been hampered by backlogged security clearances, limited funds to build or refurbish labs and a slow and difficult hiring process.

Macron calls Évian a ‘turning point’: Trump signed the joint G7 statement on Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sanctions, and for the first time said Russia, not Ukraine, has to make a deal

The communiqué language is boilerplate. “Unwavering support for Ukraine’s freedom, sovereignty and territorial integrity,” more air defence and interceptors, long-range capability, tougher sanctions on Russian oil and gas. None of that is new. What’s new is whose signature is on it. Trump signed, after months of the US leaning toward a neutral-broker stance. Macron called it an “Évian moment” and “a very profound shift,” pointing specifically to a US “willingness to work with the Europeans in su

In Japan, Canadian defense minister expresses interest in GCAP sixth-gen fighter project

David McGuinty called the Global Combat Air Programme a “promising initiative.”

Trump backs ‘Six Assurances’ to Taiwan but no arms sale timeline, US diplomat says

The top US diplomat for East Asia sought to reassure Taiwan that Washington stood by its “Six Assurances” despite US President Donald Trump’s earlier dismissal of the policy, but offered no timeline for approving a stalled US$14 billion arms package to the self-ruled island. Michael DeSombre, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, told a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on Thursday that US policy on Taiwan had not changed, maintaining Washington’s commitment to..

US defense spending demand leaves Asian allies in limbo

Stopped frigate project: Why suppliers are suffering even more from the end of the F126 than Rheinmetall

The largest German arms company has suffered a serious setback in its growth plans. But others are likely to be much more affected by the end of the F126.

Army Air Assault brigade found AI tools ill-suited to tactical planning

“Large language models don’t really understand three-dimensional space. And so they’re not good for developing course of action,” said Col. Ryan Bell.

House backs $1.55 billion to revive E-7 Wedgetail, spares Navy Hawkeye

The White House budget office wants to raid a Navy radar-plane account and a classified Air Force line to pull the E-7 Wedgetail back from the dead.

Frank Kendall on the trouble with banning autonomous weapons [Book excerpt]

Former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall discusses whether effective arms control can be applied to autonomous systems in this book excerpt.

Lockheed Martin wins over $35 billion contract to quadruple THAAD production

As U.S. lawmakers worry over the munitions stockpile, Lockheed Martin announced a multiyear contract to increase THAAD production from 96 to 400 a year.

UK Energy Secretary Vetoed Plan to Boost Oil Output for Defense Funds

UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has vetoed a plan by the Treasury to boost North Sea oil and gas drilling in order to fund part of Britain’s increased defense funding needs, The Telegraph reported on Thursday, citing a government source. As the UK plans to increase funding for military programs and rearmament amid heightened geopolitical tensions, the Treasury has proposed a plan to boost drilling in the UK North Sea and use the higher tax revenues from said drilling to fund part of the $24 bill

Comment: The disaster surrounding the F126 – why the VW Golf is sometimes enough

After the FCAS fighter jet, the Ministry of Defense is now also stopping the construction of new frigates. The examples show: If you know what you need, armament can sometimes be cheaper.

Philippines deploys US-made Triton naval drones in its western waters to scout for intruders

The transfer comes after the military revealed that China discreetly deployed a 6x6 meter floating platform equipped with an antenna at Scarborough Shoal.

Rheinmetall: How the extent of the Rheinmetall crash can be explained

Rheinmetall loses an order and shortly afterwards the price falls by almost a fifth. A lesson in the rules of a nervous market.

Major Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri exploring nuclear-powered vessels, CEO says

Fincantieri CEO Pierroberto Folgiero also touched on several other topics during a closed-door roundtable, including lessons learned from the war in Ukraine regarding naval drones and the future of a common European patrol corvette.

Europe’s defense build-up depends on getting partnerships right

One pattern is worth watching: Partnership activity is not spreading evenly across the market; it is coalescing around a handful of industrial platforms.

Pentagon review asks Congress to fence off $5B over 5 years to rebuild ‘deteriorating’ labs

The armed services raid lab funding for more urgent needs like barrack repairs, the study says, leaving researchers in aging, outdated labs “that pose documented safety risks.”

White House budget director calls for fifth public shipyard amid push to expand fleet

“From a maintenance standpoint, we’re pushing hard for an additional public shipyard,” the OMB director said.

IPO of a tank manufacturer: France is weakening, Germany is paying – that's how sensitive the KNDS deal is

The KNDS IPO is intended to prove that German-French arms cooperation strengthens Europe's defense. In fact, there is a risk of numerous new relationship problems.

3-year-old found dead in car during France heatwave

A three-year-old has died after finding himself trapped in a car in the Paris region in extreme heat, a prosecutor said on Thursday, the third such fatality this week. The boy had slipped into the family car while his father thought he was napping, then found himself unable to get out with the child lock in the town of Saint-Gratien, the prosecutor said, after a police source and civil defence also reported the death. France on Wednesday recorded the hottest day since measurements began in 1947,

Did the Iran war just prove that China’s ageing DF-15Bs are still big guns?

Lessons from the Iran war suggest that China’s ageing Dongfeng-15B short-range missiles may be more useful in penetrating modern missile defences than previously thought, according to military analysts. The suggestion surfaced this month in an article published by Ordnance Science and Technology which said that missiles with biconic manoeuvring re-entry vehicles (MRVs) could achieve a penetration effect close to that of hypersonic projectiles. The article, written under the byline Ma Lihua,...

Bio-Techne: Merck acquires life science company for $11.3 billion

The Darmstadt-based Merck Group is making another billion-dollar purchase, thereby strengthening its life science business.

Why is Germany taking a big stake in a major tankmaker?

The German government will buy a 40% stake in tankmaker KNDS. The deal is as much about control in the critical defense sector as it is about the Franco-German relationship.

Defense stocks slide again, as Germany’s naval U-turn shakes confidence in Europe’s rearmament boom

Rheinmetall and other European defense stocks fell for a second day, after Germany scrapped the F126 naval program, raising procurement concerns.

Canada calls for 'discipline' with China as it beefs up Japan defense ties

ICEYE to double radar-satellite capacity by late 2027 as demand surges

The company's goal is to ramp up production to two satellites a week as it responds to surging demand from European militaries.

Budget: The federal government is sticking to its debt planning for the current year – 138 billion euros in the summer quarter alone

In order to increase the budget for infrastructure and defense, the federal government wants to borrow a record sum. But the high interest rates on government bonds make the national debt more expensive.

Poland buys V-BAT drones to boost Baltic Sea naval operations

The deal puts Poland in line to become the first country on NATO’s eastern flank to acquire the Shield AI-made drone.

As US wavers, ex-minister says Japan and South Korea ‘only have each other’

Japan and South Korea should build a stronger security alliance to anchor regional stability as US commitment to East Asia becomes less certain, former Japanese foreign and defence minister Taro Kono said on Wednesday. “I think it is indispensable for peace and stability for East Asia that Japan and Korea create a very strong security alliance, not just the economy. Japan and Korea need to sit down and discuss security in the region,” Kono said during the “Asia-Pacific in the age of American...