The Army's FY2026 budget request for the Infantry Squad Vehicle is its largest single-year ask yet — and it is running into significant resistance from House appropriators even as Senate authorizers want to spend more. The divergence between the authorization and appropriations tracks illustrates how congressional budget oversight can complicate even a program performing well … [Read more...] about The ISV’s $308 Million Budget Request — and Why Congress Is Pushing Back
From Prototype to Full-Rate Production: The ISV’s Development Timeline
The Infantry Squad Vehicle went from an acquisition strategy to full-rate production in roughly five years — a relatively fast timeline for a U.S. Army program. The development path involved a competitive prototype phase, a production contract to GM Defense, operational testing that identified real reliability concerns, and a follow-up evaluation that confirmed those concerns … [Read more...] about From Prototype to Full-Rate Production: The ISV’s Development Timeline
ISV Specs and Deployment: How the Army Gets This Vehicle Into a Fight
The Infantry Squad Vehicle's physical specifications reflect a deliberate design philosophy: prioritize transportability and mobility at the cost of protection and payload. Understanding the vehicle's dimensions, capacity, and deployment options explains why the Army chose this platform for its most mobile formations. Physical Specifications The ISV measures approximately 17 … [Read more...] about ISV Specs and Deployment: How the Army Gets This Vehicle Into a Fight
Meet the ISV: The Army’s Lightweight Vehicle Built for Speed Over Armor
The U.S. Army's Infantry Squad Vehicle (ISV) is a lightweight, unarmored ground transport built to move fast through terrain where heavier vehicles struggle. Developed by GM Defense — based in Detroit, Michigan — the ISV is designed to carry nine soldiers and their equipment rapidly across environments where the Army's heavier tactical vehicles become a liability rather than an … [Read more...] about Meet the ISV: The Army’s Lightweight Vehicle Built for Speed Over Armor
Affordable Mass: DARPA’s Push for Cheap Missiles Signals a Doctrinal Reset in Modern Warfare
There’s a moment—usually buried in procurement language or a throwaway line in a briefing—when you realize something fundamental has shifted. DARPA asking for missiles that can be built in days instead of months is one of those moments. It sounds like an engineering challenge on the surface, but it’s actually a strategic correction to a system that no longer scales. For … [Read more...] about Affordable Mass: DARPA’s Push for Cheap Missiles Signals a Doctrinal Reset in Modern Warfare
Cheap Wins Wars: America’s Late Turn Toward Cost-Asymmetric Weapons
A pattern is starting to emerge that feels almost uncomfortable in its simplicity: the United States, after decades of optimizing for technological superiority at any cost, is being dragged—slowly, unevenly—toward the realization that wars are no longer decided by the most exquisite system, but by the most expendable one. Not better, just more—more drones, more shells, more … [Read more...] about Cheap Wins Wars: America’s Late Turn Toward Cost-Asymmetric Weapons
From Scrap to Supremacy: 6K Additive’s $1.95M Bet on Rebuilding the U.S. Defense Material Base
A $1.95 million contract rarely looks like a strategic turning point at first glance, but this one has a different texture to it—almost granular, you could say. 6K Additive’s Phase II award from the Defense Logistics Agency isn’t about building something entirely new. It’s about reclaiming what already exists, buried in depots, dismantled airframes, and forgotten stockpiles, … [Read more...] about From Scrap to Supremacy: 6K Additive’s $1.95M Bet on Rebuilding the U.S. Defense Material Base
Inside the Signal Chain: Mobix Labs Expands Its Footprint in the F-22 Ecosystem
Mobix Labs is not building jets, not designing airframes, not even producing full avionics suites—and yet, in a way that feels increasingly typical of modern defense supply chains, it is becoming more deeply embedded in one of the most consequential aircraft programs still flying today. The company’s expansion within the F-22 Raptor ecosystem is less about volume and more about … [Read more...] about Inside the Signal Chain: Mobix Labs Expands Its Footprint in the F-22 Ecosystem
Farnborough International Airshow 2026, 20–24 July 2026, Farnborough, United Kingdom
A subtle shift is taking place at Farnborough this year, one that goes beyond aircraft debuts and defense contracts and moves into something a bit more structural. The 2026 edition introduces the Aerospace Global Forum: Finance Summit, a first for the airshow and, honestly, a sign of where the industry is heading. Aerospace and defense aren’t just engineering challenges … [Read more...] about Farnborough International Airshow 2026, 20–24 July 2026, Farnborough, United Kingdom
Artemis II is in the air: The Moon is not the destination — but the race for it absolutely is
On April 1, 2026, NASA's Artemis II mission lifted off from Kennedy Space Center carrying four astronauts on a 10-day free-return trajectory around the Moon. No landing. No surface operations. By the metrics of the Apollo era, this is a modest achievement. By the metrics of 2026 — a moment defined by great-power competition in every domain including cislunar space — it is … [Read more...] about Artemis II is in the air: The Moon is not the destination — but the race for it absolutely is