🩸 DARPA funds gene-edited blood cells for soldier endurance

Stoke Space raised $1 billion in a Series E co-led by Point72 Ventures and Spark Capital, bringing total capital raised to $2.3 billion.

Nova Pathfinder targets orbital launch in early 2027 to prove full reuse, carrying 2.5 metric tons to low Earth orbit along with customer payloads.

Block 2 Nova scales to 15 metric tons with first launch targeted for 2029, positioning Stoke to compete for national security lift.

The Pentagon's Chief Digital and AI Office awarded venture studio Red Cell Partners an Other Transaction Authority deal worth up to $100 million in its first year.

Red Cell covers all upfront costs, and its portfolio companies earn revenue only from documented cost reductions they generate for the department.

The model, borrowed from healthcare and energy contracting, gives early-stage firms a faster entry point and could expand if the prototype demonstrates value.

INEOS Automotive unveiled the Enhanced Protection Vehicle, an armored Grenadier 4x4 with a purpose-built cabin reportedly meeting NATO STANAG Level 2 protection.

The protective cabin is integrated into the design rather than bolted on, with imagery showing an enclosed metal body, air-intake snorkel, and recovery winch.

INEOS is positioning the EPV to replace Land Rover and Pinzgauer platforms under the UK Light Mobility Vehicle program, with a DVD 2026 showing September 16.

Smack Technologies detailed Omega, software that ingests intelligence and planning documents, then generates joint fires plans and presents commanders options with tradeoffs.

Co-founder Andy Markoff, a former Marine Raider, said Omega sequences strikes across weeks to degrade an adversary force rather than only ranking individual targets.

Smack holds contracts with three military branches and expects all six by year's end as it transitions from prototyping to production.

Ukrspecsystems publicly revealed the RAM-2X, an X-wing shaped strike drone already tested against more than 450 combat targets.

The UAV reaches targets 180 kilometers away, flies over two hours carrying a 3.5-kilogram warhead, and communicates via Starlink or multiple radio bands.

RAM-2X pairs with the SHARK-M reconnaissance drone acting as a relay, and released footage centers on strikes defeating Russian air defense systems.

DARPA is backing "smart" red blood cell research through a contract worth up to $11.3 million, led by UC San Diego.

Gene editing would let the cells detect physical exertion and produce proteins that improve oxygen delivery, validated in a hollow fiber bioreactor rather than humans.

The three-year effort with MIT, Penn, and Northeastern targets performance in harsh environments, an early signal of biology as a contested capability area.

Poseidon Aerospace closed a $60 million Series A led by TQ Ventures ahead of the first test flight of its uncrewed Egret cargo aircraft.

Egret is a fixed-wing, combustion-powered design with a 50-foot wingspan, skipping vertical takeoff and electric propulsion to drive down cost per delivered ton.

Removing the cockpit targets logistics into degraded or nonexistent infrastructure, with Poseidon also planning to run its own regional commercial cargo operation.

Pixxel closed a $100 million round led by Temasek and Seraphim, taking total funding to $195 million with six hyperspectral satellites in orbit.

The company plans a US satellite manufacturing facility and deeper civil, defense, and intelligence work, following a National Reconnaissance Office award in May.

Next-generation Honeybee satellites add shortwave infrared, synthetic aperture radar, and ultra-high-resolution optical imaging, with the first US-built spacecraft launching in 2027.

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