The Insider

Quantum tech company IonQ is partnering with hydrogen-powered drone manufacturer Heven AeroTech to integrate its quantum capabilities with Heven's uncrewed platforms, the former announced today.

IonQ says the agreement will allow Heven’s uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) to operate with more resilience in contested environments.

“By integrating IonQ’s world-leading quantum technologies, Heven AeroTech will deliver a new class of unparalleled UAS capabilities,” Niccolo de Masi, IonQ chair and CEO, said. “This partnership positions Heven’s drones to tackle missions no other player can with unmatched precision, resilience and security.”

The quantum technologies IonQ aims to integrate with Heven platforms include:

• Quantum sensing -- using quantum sensors for alternative position, navigation and timing (PNT) capabilities.
• Quantum networking and security -- using quantum communications to enhance security and reliability for links between drones.
• Quantum computing -- using quantum systems to enhance routing and fuse imagery provided by drones and satellites in real time.

A spokesperson for IonQ confirmed the company will also be making a capital investment in Heven but told Inside Defense terms are not being disclosed.

IonQ said Jordan Shapiro, president and general manager of the company’s quantum networking, sensing and security division, will join Heven’s board per the agreement, as well.

The news comes less than two weeks after Heven became the first company to put a hydrogen-powered UAS on the Defense Innovation Unit’s roster of drones pre-approved for purchase by the Defense Department.

This Friday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on a space-based, midcourse defense interceptor, Army Apache helicopter modernization and more.

On Nov. 20, the Space Force's Space Systems Command Program Executive Office for Space Combat Power (SSC/SCP) issued a notice announcing plans to release a request for prototype proposals on Dec. 7 for a kinetic midcourse interceptor, with awards expected in February:

DOD eyes midcourse defense Space-Based Interceptor, reaching for 'low-hanging' fruit

The Defense Department is preparing to solicit industry proposals for a prototype space-based interceptor, taking a concrete step toward what experts say is the most achievable slice of an otherwise costly and technically daunting vision for a space-based missile defense layer: midcourse kinetic intercept.

The Army Transformation Initiative, rolled out in May, calls for the divestiture of the older AH-64D model Apache attack helicopters, along with several other legacy aircraft:

Boeing seeks to pivot Apache operation as Army modernizes

MESA, AZ -- At Boeing's production center for attack helicopters here on the outskirts of Phoenix, company executives are strategizing how they will adapt the Apache helicopter for the Army's future modernization needs, 50 years after the helicopter flew for the first time.

In an effort to meet the needs of warfighters in a time where technology is advancing faster than ever, the Space Force is looking at training an acquisition workforce with a depth of expertise, writing requirements that are as clear and simplistic as possible, formalizing its approach to force design, giving more authority and flexibility to program portfolio managers and streamlining testing structures:

Saltzman lays out acquisition modernization focus

To improve its acquisition process and speed capability fielding, the Space Force needs to look at reshaping the "full lifecycle" of programs, from requirements to delivery to sustainment, according to Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman.

Gallium and scandium are of particular concern for DOD with gallium being one of three minerals with a wide array of military applications:

Pentagon awarding ElementUSA nearly $30M for domestic gallium, scandium supply

The Defense Department announced today it is awarding a Texas-based company $29.9 million in Defense Production Act funds for the development of a Louisiana facility to recover gallium and scandium from industrial waste.

A commercial adoption bootcamp for the acquisition workforce is in the works and an impending announcement on the Navy's relationship with private capital could be a substantial change for the service:

Ex-DOGE employee promises new Navy initiatives to attract private capital and address underperformance

Historically, the Navy has not been a good partner to venture capital and private equity, a Navy official said this week. This could soon change, with the rollout of new initiatives that coincide with the Pentagon's wide-ranging overhaul of its defense acquisition system.

The White House nominated a new leader for Army Materiel Command this week, but the job will come without a higher rank as the headquarters shrinks to align with new service priorities, a spokesperson told Inside Defense today.

“Consistent with the Army Transformation Initiative, the Army is implementing a comprehensive transformation strategy to prioritize fighting formations to directly contribute to lethality,” Cynthia Smith, an Army spokesperson, wrote in an email. “This resulted in the downgrade of [commanding general], AMC.”

Lt. Gen. Chris Mohan will take the reins of the once four-star command at Redstone Arsenal, AL, after serving as acting commanding general following the rare firing of his predecessor, Gen. Charles Hamilton.

Before the new assignment, Mohan’s official title was deputy commanding general and chief of staff at AMC, according to the Nov. 17 announcement -- but his new job will come without a higher rank.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s April 30 memo kicking off the Army Transformation Initiative called for downsizing and consolidating certain headquarters, resulting in the merger of Army Futures Command and Training and Doctrine Command into Transformation and Training Command (T2COM), along with combining U.S. Army North and U.S. Army South into one command.

It also tasked the service with “consolidating and realigning headquarters and units” within Army Materiel Command, according to the memo.

Part of that will involve integrating Joint Munitions Command and Army Sustainment Command “to optimize operational efficiency and streamline support capabilities,” according to the memo.

The Defense Innovation Unit added two new drones to its roster of policy-compliant uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) last week -- one of which is the first hydrogen-powered UAS to secure a spot on DIU's Blue UAS Cleared List.

The Z1 from Zepher Flight Labs -- a subsidiary of UAS production company Heven AeroTech -- is a small drone powered by a hydrogen fuel cell, with reliable vertical-takeoff-and-landing capabilities, per the company’s website. DIU added the platform to the pre-approval list last week and tagged it a Blue UAS Select system.

Blue UAS Select is the premium tier of the Blue UAS clearance list, so to speak -- signaling systems with the designation have -- in addition to passing basic policy compliance and cybersecurity evaluations -- already undergone a competitive process in response to a Defense Department component need. Platforms designated as Blue UAS Select have also undergone further assessments for performance and cybersecurity and possess an “Authority to Operate.”

DIU also signaled that vetting for the first-person view (FPV) drone winners of its inaugural Project G.I. prize challenge wrapped up last week, with the addition of Nokturnal AI’s Nightmare FPV to the list.

The other FPV platforms -- Auterion’s SLM-10, ModalAI’s Seeker Vision and Neros Technologies’ Archer -- had already been named to the list when Nightmare was added.

The update came nearly two months after DIU named the winners and announced each system would undergo cybersecurity and policy compliance review for addition to the roster of pre-approved drones.

The Office of Naval Research is seeking information on technology related to counter-unmanned systems swarm, containerized payloads for unmanned surface vehicles and decision superiority for maritime operations centers in preparation for a Technology Operational Experimentation Event '26 campaign in the next year.

TOEEs are meant to inform future science and technology investments by executing live experimentation in operationally relevant scenarios and environments, according to a Tuesday notice. Past events have focused on expeditionary sustainment, subsea and seabed warfare, maritime reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance.

The Office of Naval Research Global, Experimentation and Analysis worked with naval operational forces, the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, and the Office of Naval Research to develop the operational topics TOEE 26 will address.

ONRG E&A is interested in technologies with a technology readiness level of five through seven that can conduct live experimentation in fiscal years 2026 and 2027.

Naval Surface Warfare Center, Panama City Division, will hold a virtual industry day with ONRG Dec. 4. The entire experimentation series will be initiated with a technology demonstration, and successful technologies will be invited to join limited objective experiments, which could begin by March to July 2026, according to the request for information. Sufficient technologies will then move onto the Advanced Capability Experiment, tentatively scheduled for August to December 2026.

Submissions to this RFI are due Dec. 19.

The Air Force is asking industry how it could add Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System technologies to its fleet of counter small-unmanned aircraft systems to better combat small- to medium-sized enemy drones.

Such APKWS capabilities would provide pinpoint accuracy and minimal collateral damage in battle against Groups one, two and three drones -- the nomenclature used by the Pentagon to describe sUAS between zero and 1,320 lbs. which can travel up to 250 knots, according to a request for information issued today by Air Force Materiel Command.

The service “is looking for all systems capable of taking track data/queues from sensors to laze targets and launch guided Hydra 70 APKWS rockets. Native target detection/sensing and C2 capabilities are not required on system,” per the notice.

Additionally, the Air Force indicated it would likely only consider “Technology Readiness Level 6” options from companies, or those that are already fully prototyped and technically demonstrated in a relevant environment.

Vendors have until Dec. 31 to respond to several questions about the system’s hardware configuration and capabilities, including its ability to engage with multiple sUAS swarm in a short period of time, whether the system needs to be stationary or if it can be mounted onto a vehicle and the number of times the system can be fired before it needs to be reloaded.

Other questions regard the option’s software, intellectual property assertions, pricing, support and sustainment.

SAIC and HavocAI will partner to integrate multidomain communication and the ability to deploy and manage autonomous systems, the companies announced today.

HavocAI’s collaborative autonomy stack -- a modular system consisting of three software products that help execute multidomain autonomous fleet operations -- will be paired with SAIC’s Joint Range Extension system, which extends the range of Link 16, or TADIL-J, a data link used to exchange information between command, control, communications, computers and intelligence (C4I) systems.

The addition of autonomous maritime systems to Link 16 will allow for the easy connection of large, heterogeneous fleets of sensors, platforms and command and control systems to military infrastructure, according to the announcement.

"This is a significant leap forward in expanding the capability of large-scale collaborative autonomy," HavocAI CEO and co-founder Paul Lwin said. "By integrating with SAIC's proven JRE infrastructure, we're not just connecting our autonomous vessels to existing systems -- we're fundamentally enhancing how autonomous maritime systems receive and provide real-time tactical data within joint and coalition C2 systems.”