Tuesday, November 11, 2025
Three companies will partner with the Defense Innovation Unit and the Air Force to leverage private-sector practices and capital to rapidly fund and deploy resilient energy solutions at U.S. military installations, DIU announced yesterday.
The Defense Department's credit office is issuing its first direct loan -- worth $150 million -- to MP Materials, owner and operator of a U.S. rare earths mine, DOD announced Sunday.
The Defense Department awarded Nebraska-based Elk Creek Resources Corp. (ECRC) $10 million to develop the first U.S. polymetallic deposit targeting near-term production for critical minerals including scandium, niobium and titanium, DOD announced today.
The Defense Department's independent testing office could see a major overhaul if President Trump's pick to lead it is confirmed by the Senate.
Lawmakers on the Senate Armed Services Committee questioned the nominee picked to lead the Pentagon's independent weapons testing office today on how the fallout from planned personnel cuts could impact her ability to do the job.
The Pentagon's innovation engine is granting Pratt Miller a contract to prototype its containerized solution to make, store and distribute hydrogen aboard ships and ashore, the Defense Innovation Unit announced yesterday.
A new government watchdog report reveals the Defense Department is aware of immediate steps to identify and address threats from foreign influence in critical defense supply chains but has yet to implement or strategize on them.
Lawmakers want the Pentagon to develop guidance for its wide array of data and AI initiatives, per a Senate panel report released Sunday.
The Pentagon's innovation engine yesterday selected 10 companies to move forward in its competition to put low-cost sensing solutions to counter small drones in the hands of warfighters at breakneck speed, in line with the Defense Department's Replicator-2 initiative.
The Pentagon's innovation arm shared updates Wednesday on its efforts to accelerate and scale compliance evaluations for U.S.-made uncrewed aerial systems and components, in line with top-level directives released in the past month to establish domestic drone dominance.
The Senate version of the fiscal year 2026 defense policy bill included calls for the Pentagon to add a new assistant secretary to its acquisition and sustainment office and absorb a role at the personnel division into an existing assistant secretary position at the policy directorate.
The Army is granting Epirus $43.5 million to deliver two new, counter-drone systems that will be "completely different" from their predecessors, despite accomplishing the same goal, CEO Andy Lowery told reporters last week.
The Pentagon's rapid prototyping and experimentation office is helping nontraditional tech vendors break through acquisition barriers and quickly test their innovations, the Defense Department's chief technology officer said today.
Anthropic, Google and xAI are set to receive awards worth up to $200 million from the Pentagon's leading data and artificial intelligence office and partner with the agency to develop AI-enabled systems designed to perform complex tasks with minimal human supervision, the Defense Department announced today.
Policymakers on the House and Senate Armed Services committees are preparing to allow the Pentagon's credit office to collect fees from loan and loan guarantee borrowers following a late June legislative proposal from the Defense Department asking lawmakers to grant the office additional authorities.
A new order from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth includes several directives aimed at facilitating "rapid proliferation” of small uncrewed aerial systems across every military unit.
The House Armed Services Committee's fiscal year 2026 defense policy bill includes provisions from bicameral legislation introduced earlier this year aimed at expanding the United States' defense partnership with Israel, according to an early draft of the bill obtained by Inside Defense.
The office of the under secretary of defense for research and engineering has sent Congress an unfunded priorities list totaling $24.6 million for what it deems to be the Pentagon's most critical Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer projects in fiscal year 2026, according to documents obtained by Inside Defense.
President Trump last week sent nominations for the officials he hopes will fill two roles under Pentagon Chief Technology Officer Emil Michael's research and engineering office -- one a familiar face and another who could be the first Senate-confirmed person to hold the title.
The Pentagon is terminating funding for its rapid experimentation and prototyping initiative in fiscal year 2026, transitioning the program's key elements to the military services, according to recently released budget documents.