Ursa Major's $2.3B SPAC 🚀, Castelion's $90M order 💥, Emerald AI $150M 💡

Ursa Major to go public in a $2.3B SPAC merger

Colorado propulsion startup Ursa Major will go public through a $2.3 billion merger with Bleichroeder Acquisition Corp., a SPAC backed by Inflection Point Asset Management. The eleven-year-old maker of hypersonic and solid rocket motor propulsion has raised more than $380 million privately, and the deal should close in the first quarter of 2027. A SPAC exit at that price says public markets will now fund solid rocket motor capacity that the primes have rationed for years.

Emerald AI raises $150M Series A at a $1.05B valuation

Emerald AI closed an oversubscribed $150 million Series A at a $1.05 billion valuation, co-led by Energize Capital and DCVC, lifting total funding past $220 million. The Washington company's software flexes data-center power draw in response to grid conditions, which it says could free more than 100 gigawatts on the existing US grid. Power, not silicon, is the binding constraint on defense-relevant compute, and grid flexibility is now a venture-scale market.

Efficient Computer discloses $93.1M toward a $103M raise

Pittsburgh chipmaker Efficient Computer reported $93.1 million raised from 28 investors in a Form D filing, part of a $103 million offering that opened August 7. The Carnegie Mellon spinout closed a $60 million Series A in February and pitches its Electron E1 processor as roughly 100 times more power-efficient than comparable parts. It names national defense and space among target sectors, making this a supply-side bet on edge compute in power-starved platforms.

Castelion takes a $90M Navy order to field Blackbeard

Castelion won a $90 million firm-fixed-price Navy order under SBIR Phase III to push its Blackbeard hypersonic weapon to early operational capability. The award funds 50 weapons, exportability design changes to speed foreign sales, and transition to a Navy program of record, running in Torrance through August 2028. It lands less than a week after Castelion's $1 billion Series C at a $13 billion valuation — the government validating a private mark in real time.

Navy opens market research for the Silent Anvil glide torpedo

Naval Air Systems Command issued an RFI Tuesday for the Silent Anvil Air-Launched Torpedo, a standoff anti-submarine weapon released as high as 60,000 feet. It would glide quietly toward the target area before entering the water, in a GBU-39-class form factor on the BRU-61/A rack carried by manned and unmanned aircraft. A rapid-prototyping ASW weapon sized like a small-diameter bomb is an opening for new entrants rather than the torpedo incumbents.

Griffon Aerospace wins a $133M Army Outlaw ceiling

Griffon Aerospace, a small business in Madison, Alabama, won a $133 million Army indefinite-delivery contract for Griffon Outlaw systems, support equipment and field service representatives. One bid was solicited and one received, with work locations and funding set at the order level and an estimated completion date of December 31. Outlaw is Griffon's low-cost target and ISR aircraft, and an uncontested nine-figure ceiling is how a small drone maker becomes a program dependency.

Auriga Space fires its Hermes electromagnetic launcher outdoors

Auriga Space unveiled Hermes, a containerized electromagnetic launcher for drone interception, and completed its first open-air firings in California's Mojave Desert at speeds above Mach 1. CEO Winnie Lai says over 1,000 launches have been run at its Southern California facility, and the desert shots proved the container works standalone in the field. Auriga also holds a three-year Army DEVCOM CRADA, and swapping rocket motors for electricity attacks interceptor cost and propellant supply at the root.

Ukraine's Magura MV11 turns a drone boat into a counter-drone battery

Ukraine unveiled the Magura MV11, the largest member of its combat-proven uncrewed surface vessel family, built for open-ocean missions lasting up to a week with a 4,850-pound payload. The first configuration carries 18 vertically launched Sting interceptors, effectively making the boat a floating counter-drone battery. Sea-based magazine depth on an unmanned hull is a template US programs will copy long before a comparable American vessel is fielded.

UK clears MBDA to hand Ukraine classified SCALP blueprints

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham approved releasing classified blueprints for British components of the SCALP long-range cruise missile to Ukraine, announcing it on a visit to Kyiv. The clearance lets missile-maker MBDA hand over the data as Kyiv and Paris prepare local SCALP assembly lines inside Ukraine. Releasing classified missile IP to a wartime partner is a sharper industrial-policy tool than another aid tranche, and a precedent allied suppliers will now be asked about.

Treasury sanctions five Iranians over critical-infrastructure hacking

The Treasury Department sanctioned five Iranian citizens on Monday over cyberattacks and theft aimed at US critical infrastructure, government offices and digital assets. Four are accused of running intrusions directed by Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security, stealing data since late 2023 from energy companies, defense contractors, technology and financial firms. The designations landed inside a wider package Secretary Scott Bessent called an economic D-Day, and named defense-contractor breaches are what move critical-infrastructure cyber budgets.

Mara raised a $7M pre-seed led by Khosla Ventures for Spike, a portable counter-drone interceptor system.

Raytheon took a $603M ceiling to produce and sustain the B-52's new AN/APQ-188 radar.

AEVEX Aerospace won a $77.8M Army IDIQ for Casper 1 and 3 systems, with three bids received.

The Dutch navy picked Destinus Hornet B2 interceptor drones to protect its warships, with initial capability targeted for 2027.

A National Space Transportation Policy signed August 20 targets over 1,000 US launches and reentries a year by 2030.

Senior officers urged Hegseth to keep the Pentagon's civilian-protection program; he axed it anyway.