Particle.news
Download on the App Store
23 ARTICLES
·
2d ago

Pentagon Funds Industrial Scale-Up as State Clears Sales and Eases Drone Export Reviews

Concrete awards signal a pivot from prototypes to early production.

Austal USA launched its first LCU 1700-class Landing Craft utility, LCU 1710, on August 22, 2025 at its Mobile, Ala. facility. (Photo: Austal USA)
Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division’s Joint Prototyping and Experimentation Maritime (JPEM) Stiletto vessel underway for an autonomous boat launch and recovery demonstration using Sealartec technology during a June 2, 2025 test. (Photo: U.S. Navy by Travis Troller)
Plume from a Draper engine during a recent hot fire test by Ursa Major. Photo: Ursa Major
Pictured is a May, 2023 aerial view of the Pentagon (DoD Photo)

Overview

  • The Defense Department awarded $39.6 million in Defense Production Act funding to three firms, including $25.2 million to Materials Resources LLC to demonstrate additive manufacturing cells for metallic rocket motor cases in Xenia, Ohio.
  • The State Department approved foreign military sales for Belgium to acquire AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles, Norway to buy GBU-39B Small Diameter Bombs, and Peru to purchase 14 F-16 Block 70 aircraft valued at $3.42 billion.
  • A State Department policy update now subjects military unmanned aircraft export reviews to the same standards used for manned fighter sales, which the department says will open new markets for U.S. systems.
  • Space acquisition steps advanced as Space Systems Command prepared a solicitation for Maneuverable Geosynchronous Orbit commercial satellite services and NGA awarded BlackSky a $24.4 million task order for change-detection analytics.
  • Industrial capacity efforts included Navy-backed installation of an ultra-large metal additive manufacturing system at Nikon’s Long Beach technology center and an Eastern Shipbuilding subcontract to produce outfitted units for HII’s Flight III Arleigh Burke destroyers.