Monday, September 14, 2026
Swarmer buys Ratel 🤖, DoD drops Anthropic 🚫, Antares = $161M ☢️
Funding & Deals
Swarmer agrees to buy Ratel Robotics for up to $224M
2 min readNasdaq-listed Swarmer, chaired by Erik Prince, agreed to acquire Ukrainian ground-robot maker Ratel Robotics in a cash-and-stock deal worth up to $224 million. Ratel booked $86 million in contracts this year and took roughly 37% of Ukraine's UGV procurement spend from January to April. A 500-person combined company pairing combat-proven autonomy with a battle-tested ground platform is the first real rollup of Ukraine's wartime industrial base.
Positron AI raises $875M at a $5B valuation for inference silicon
2 min readReno-based Positron AI closed $875 million at a $5 billion post-money valuation, split into a $375 million Series C and a Series C-1 of up to $500 million. NEA, Atreides, Valor Equity, Andra Capital and SemiAnalysis Capital co-led, with Netscape founder Jim Clark joining NEA to lead the second tranche. Positron bets commodity LPDDR5X memory beats supply-constrained HBM, and HBM allocation is the real gate on defense AI compute.
Firehawk Aerospace is in talks to raise at a $1.25B valuation
2 min readBloomberg reported Dallas-based Firehawk Aerospace is in talks to raise $100 million to $200 million at a $1.25 billion valuation. Rochefort Asset Management is leading the round and existing backer 1789 Capital is expected to participate, with deliberations ongoing and terms still subject to change. Firehawk builds rocket motors around a 3D-printed propellant across seven sites, and motor capacity is the binding constraint on every missile program being funded now.
Contracts & Programs
Antares wins a $161M DoD award for space nuclear power
2 min readAntares won a $161 million Strategic Breakthrough award from the Air Force's space acquisition office to ground-demonstrate its R1-S heat-pipe microreactor and integrate it for flight certification. The startup brought a reactor to criticality in June, closed a $470 million Series C in July, and calls this the largest current DoD space nuclear award. Always-on orbital power is what directed energy and on-orbit compute need, and no solar array delivers it.
Boeing takes a $13.4B ceiling increase for foreign military sales
2 min readThe Air Force added a $13.4 billion ceiling modification to Boeing contract FA8609-19-D-0007, lifting the total ceiling to $19.1 billion from $5.7 billion. The added scope covers sales to Japan and Israel plus future partner countries, with work in Seattle through April 2035 and no funds obligated at award. Allied demand, not US procurement, is what just tripled this line's ceiling.
Tech & Launches
Havoc puts its autonomy software on Taiwanese-built drone boats
2 min readHavoc signed an open-ended deal at its Providence headquarters with Taiwanese shipbuilder CSBC to put its collaborative autonomy software on CSBC-built unmanned surface vessels. CSBC manufactures the hulls and Havoc supplies the software, starting with small USVs and extending to the 28-foot Endeavor Manta. Section 1266 of the FY26 NDAA told the Pentagon to treat Taiwan as a co-production partner, and this is the template deal.
Ukraine claims the first drone boat kill of another drone boat
2 min readUkraine's Navy said its Sargan 3000 USV, fitted with a Kongsberg Protector 12.7mm remote weapon station, destroyed an unarmed Russian drone boat in the Black Sea. The 22.6-foot Sargan 3000 runs to a 994-mile radius on waterjets, carries 992 pounds, and navigates inertially and optically through GPS jamming. USVs are now hunting USVs, which turns every drone boat program into a counter-USV requirement.
Policy & Budget
Pentagon is 90% done moving classified AI workloads off Anthropic
2 min readResearch and engineering chief Emil Michael said about 90% of the military's classified Anthropic workloads have moved to other frontier vendors, with completion due by month's end. The migration follows a breakdown over terms: Anthropic sought limits on mass surveillance and fully autonomous lethal use, and DOD insisted software be available for all lawful purposes. DOD designated the company a supply chain risk, the dispute sits with the D.C. Circuit, and single-model dependency is the lesson buyers are drawing.
Canada and Ukraine sign a 100-year defense production pact
2 min readPrime Minister Mark Carney announced government-to-government co-production of uncrewed systems, counter-drone tech and priority munitions during Zelensky's Calgary visit. Canada pledged roughly $350 million for air defense interceptors through JUMPSTART and launched a Brave1-style drone marketplace, awarding up to $50 million to six domestic suppliers. Zelensky said 30% of the production transfers to Ukraine, so allied money now buys Ukrainian industrial capacity rather than just Ukrainian inventory.
Pentagon wants to expand its US-Mexico border tech testbed
2 min readAssistant Secretary Mark Ditlevson said the department is watching the Rio Grande with 10 Lightfish unmanned surface vessels and wants to push USVs into the Gulf of Mexico. Expanded Section 130i authorities under the Safer Skies Act in the FY26 NDAA cut the red tape that blocked high-energy laser counter-drone testing on US soil. A domestic testbed with live threats and relaxed rules is the fastest operational reference a counter-UAS vendor can get.