AeroVironment is developing a new directed energy weapon variant specifically configured to defeat Iran's Shahed-136 loitering munitions, the attrition threat that has defined Operation Epic Fury in the air.

The cost case is stark: each Shahed runs as little as $20,000 to build, while each Patriot interceptor costs $3-5 million per shot. AeroVironment's LOCUST laser already brings that per-engagement figure down to roughly $3- $10, with no magazine limit as long as power is sustained.

AeroVironment is already planning a fourfold increase in Titan C-UAS manufacturing capacity in 2026 and carries a funded backlog of $1.1 billion. Whether DoD can field at scale before demand outpaces supply is the central question in the industry.

General Dynamics Land Systems, Eprius, and Kodiak AI unveiled the Leonidas Autonomous Ground Vehicle at AUSA Global Force 2026: a commercial Ford F600 truck fitted with Eprius' Leonidas high-power microwave counter-UAS platform and Kodiak's autonomous driving software, with GDLS serving as lead systems integrator.

The team is targeting both the Army and JIATF 401, the DoD's joint counter-drone homeland defense task force. Eprius' second-generation HPM system completed Army testing in February; the microwave approach neutralizes drones without collateral damage or missile costs, and Kodiak's autonomy stack is already under contract with the Marine Corps for the ROGUE-Fires JLTV program.

The prototype has not yet been tested shooting down drones while navigating autonomously, and the team is awaiting a signal from the Army before pursuing live JIATF 401 testing this year. The platform is also being pitched for airports, air bases, and critical infrastructure, making it as much a homeland defense play as a battlefield one.

The Army is evaluating body-worn sensors capable of monitoring soldiers' brain activity in real time, building on existing efforts to establish cognitive baselines for all incoming recruits, with the goal of reaching the full force by fall 2026 and periodically re-screening soldiers to catch undiagnosed traumatic brain injuries early.

Researchers envision real-time neurofeedback giving commanders visibility into cognitive degradation before it affects field decisions, an operational data layer that does not yet exist for the brain, the way GPS and biometrics already exist for the body.

This represents an emerging procurement lane in wearable biosensors, AI-enabled signal processing, and edge computing. Persistent neural data is also an exceptionally high-value intelligence target, and any fielded system will need to address the security and ethical-consent frameworks that the military is still actively developing.

President Trump announced Monday that the U.S. and Iran have been in what he called "very good and productive conversations," claiming Iranian negotiators have agreed to a 15-point framework covering nuclear weapons and the Strait of Hormuz, and calling off a 48-hour ultimatum to bomb Iranian energy infrastructure in favor of a five-day negotiating window.

Iran flatly denied it. The speaker of Iran's parliament called Trump's claims "fake news" designed to manipulate oil and financial markets; Iran's Foreign Ministry issued a matching denial. Trump's social media post briefly pushed Brent crude below $100 a barrel after his Saturday threat to strike Iranian energy infrastructure had spiked prices, underscoring how tightly the conflict is coupled to global energy markets.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu confirmed speaking with Trump and said the president sees an opportunity to convert military gains into a negotiated agreement, while noting Israeli strikes against Iran's missile program, nuclear sites, and Hezbollah are continuing in parallel. The five-day pause on strikes against Iranian power infrastructure is the most operationally significant signal for industry: if it holds, procurement urgency shifts; if it collapses, Epic Fury accelerates.

The Senate confirmed Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) as Homeland Security Secretary in a 54-45 vote Monday, replacing Kristi Noem after bipartisan criticism of her immigration enforcement management. Mullin inherits a department shut down since its funding lapsed last month, with more than 100,000 employees reporting to work without immediate pay.

Mullin has committed to reversing Noem's policy requiring secretarial approval for any DHS spending over $100,000, which is widely blamed for slowing disaster response; he also pledged not to interfere with the inspector general and said FEMA should be restructured rather than eliminated, as Noem had proposed.

The underlying political impasse remains unresolved. Congressional Democrats are withholding DHS funding until the White House agrees to reforms at ICE and CBP, and Republicans have blocked every attempt to fund non-immigration DHS components, such as TSA, separately. DHS is now simultaneously managing homeland drone threats, border enforcement, and the operational security demands of the Iran war without a funded baseline.

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