🌕 Space Force targets cislunar capabilities by fiscal 2029

HD Hyundai and Kiewit Maritime unveiled HD Kiewit Shipbuilding, a joint venture to build a new US shipyard for Navy auxiliary and commercial vessels.
Construction begins in 2027 on an existing industrial site, with full operations targeted for 2029, up to 3,000 jobs, and block and module production for other builders.
The venture is tied to South Korea’s $150B US shipbuilding pledge, though the companies have not yet named the site.

A new Air Force Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) solicitation seeks AI that analyzes aerial refueling from tanker-mounted cameras and delivers post-flight feedback to crews.
The system would track boom and receiver position, velocity, alignment, and closure rate, replacing instructor observation and manual video review with automated metrics.
Applications close Nov. 25, and the Air Force sees the effort as a scalable foundation for AI-enabled aviation performance assessment across the Department of Defense.

The Air Force awarded startup Natilus a $3.5M contract to develop its KONA blended wing body (BWB) aircraft for moving military cargo.
KONA is at least the second BWB design the Air Force has funded, following a $235M investment in JetZero’s full-scale demonstrator in 2023.
The funding helps de-risk key technologies ahead of a first flight targeted for late 2027 or early 2028, with the prototype now being assembled in San Diego.

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China’s carrier Liaoning led a task group into the western Pacific on Oct. 14, its latest in a steady pattern of far-seas training deployments.
Japan tracked fighters operating 250 km south of Ishigaki Island, and analysts said the group launched and recovered aircraft inside Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
Analysts say the aging carrier is validating technology for the newer Shandong and Fujian, with the group now heading toward the South China Sea near the Philippines.

The Space Force plans two requests for information (RFIs) seeking commercial cislunar technology and AI software for autonomous spacecraft operations between Earth and the Moon.
Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy, portfolio acquisition executive for advanced programs, said the Pentagon now treats cislunar space as a high-priority warfighting domain.
The service aims to field cislunar capabilities by the end of fiscal 2029, coordinating infrastructure with NASA rather than building separate systems.

The Army is putting $700M behind Striveworks’ Chariot platform, AI built to help soldiers turn battlefield intelligence into targets faster.
Chariot is a core AI component of Next Generation Command and Control (NGC2), deploying agents that process data and recommend next steps aligned with commander decisions.
The deal extends Chariot to more Army units as NGC2 scales to I Corps at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

Applied Intuition won a $25M Navy contract to deploy its Intelligent Perception System on five Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, with potential expansion across the fleet.
The system fuses sensor feeds for sailors, records data for transmission ashore when bandwidth allows, and accepts over-the-air updates while ships are still at sea.
The production award builds on Applied’s earlier Data Edge Collection Kit prototype, turning warships into continuous data sources for training better AI models.

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