⌚ Smack raises $61M for wrist-worn battlefield AI

American Rheinmetall delivered the first Lynx XM30 prototype to the Army this week, with seven more scheduled to arrive before year's end.
The vehicles fall under a roughly $764 million Engineering and Manufacturing Development contract, and the prototype carries what the company calls a first-of-its-kind hybrid-electric powertrain.
Soldiers will run combat-simulation exercises on additional prototypes while technical testing proceeds in parallel, compressing the schedule to replace the 1980s-era Bradley.

Nearly 24,000 sanctions since 2022 have not stopped American and European parts from reaching Russian missile plants, Ukraine's sanctions commissioner Vladyslav Vlasiuk said.
Guidance and navigation components pulled from Iskander missiles and S-400 rounds traced to seven countries, and a 2024 Ukrainian study put US-origin parts at roughly 70% of the foreign total.
Russia now builds more than 100 ballistic and high-speed missiles monthly against 50 to 60 Patriot interceptors reaching Ukraine, and Kyiv wants targeted EU packages in September and October.

Russian pro-military channels published footage of a container-housed laser said to be downing Ukrainian drones, with no government or military agency confirming it.
The accompanying claims, several hundred drone kills and multiple systems guarding strategic sites in southwestern Russia, have not been independently corroborated.
A second-generation version reportedly aimed at aircraft and cruise missiles is said to be in preparation, though every detail so far rests on a single unverified source.

Smack Technologies raised $61 million in Series B funding to build Alpha, a wrist-worn display feeding field operators data processed through its Omega AI software.
Former Marine Raider and chief executive Andy Markoff is designing the device to encode commander's intent so operators can decide independently when links to higher headquarters fail.
Alpha has been in development roughly four months, with Markoff projecting a working prototype within a year and contracts within two.

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Army Secretary Dan Driscoll resigned, and a source familiar with the matter attributed it primarily to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's removal of generals tied to Driscoll's transformation work.
Driscoll launched the Army Transformation Initiative in May 2025, pushing AI into decision-making, moving equipping authority to lower echelons, and standing up modernized drone formations.
Generals Randy George, David Hodne, James Mingus and Christopher Donahue have all been removed, and a battalion integrating Ukrainian drone lessons was ordered back to traditional infantry duties.

OpenAI's ChatGPT Mil and Starshield AI's Grok for Government are now live on GenAI.mil alongside Google's Gemini, each cleared at Impact Level 5 for sensitive unclassified data.
ChatGPT Mil targets planning, policy, logistics and administration through chat, files, projects and custom GPTs, while Grok adds adaptive reasoning modes, persistent projects and reusable playbooks.
Anthropic's Claude remains off the platform after a contractual dispute over surveillance and autonomous weapons limits, though a federal judge last week ruled the Pentagon's supply-chain-risk designation illegal.

Easy Aerial closed a $20 million Series B with participation from Insight Partners and Entrée Capital to expand manufacturing and international defense programs.
Its tethered drones draw power and communications through a ground link, staying aloft far longer than battery-powered systems for persistent ISR, force protection and perimeter security.
The company has already extended production into Europe and is positioning that footprint as initial contracts move toward larger deployments.

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