Welcome to today's Defense Business Briefing, your weekly roundup of the latest defense industry news.

Lockheed's venture arm bets on counter-drone technology

Lockheed Martin's venture capital arm, Hanwha Aerospace and AIM13|Crumpton Venture Partners are collectively investing $17.8 million in Fortem Technologies to help the Utah company scale its counter-drone capabilities, a market forecast to grow to $4.7 billion by 2027.

Lockheed Martin could see loss on production contract for classified program, CFO says

Lockheed Martin could see a loss on one of its contracts for a classified program in its Missiles and Fire Control section as the effort goes into production, Chief Financial Officer Jay Malave said at the Cowen Aerospace/Defense and Industrial Conference.

Harnessing start-ups to scale innovation seen as stubborn challenge for DOD

Concern over the Defense Department's inability to scale emerging technology has permeated the Pentagon and Capitol Hill in recent years, with criticism coming from Washington insiders and outsiders on the barriers -- and controversy -- surrounding start-ups in the defense industrial base.

Northrop aims to mitigate potential losses in fixed-price B-21 LRIP contract

Northrop Grumman is working to mitigate cost burdens for the low-rate initial production phase of the B-21 Raider bomber, which is under a fixed-price contract negotiated in 2015 and doesn’t take recent inflation into account, according to Chief Financial Officer Dave Keffer.

The week ahead

Senior defense officials are scheduled to speak at several public events in the Washington area this week.

Army readies IBCS for full-rate production review next month

The Defense Department next month will conduct a full-rate production review of the Army Integrated Air and Missile Defense (AIAMD) program, a final milestone in the program's 14-year development that aims to unlock a planned $2.2 billion production run through 2027 and pave the way for both fielding to U.S. forces as well as potential foreign customer sales.

Washington insiders invited to huddle on Pentagon budget 'reprioritization' -- just don't call it a 'cut'

A group of influential Washington analysts are inviting Pentagon and Capitol Hill insiders to convene at the right-leaning Heritage Foundation next week to discuss ways to "reprioritize" the nation's $858 billion defense budget ahead of what promises to be a bruising congressional debate likely to again pit defense hawks against deficit hawks.