Air Force Weighs Keeping 1970s-Era Missiles Until 2050
The current plan is to remove all 400 Minuteman III ICBMs made by Boeing Co. from silos by 2039. But the Air Force and lead contractor Northrop Grumman Corp. must manage the elaborate process to take out the older missiles, refurbish the silos and then install Sentinels — a missile minuet that must be accomplished without letting down the nation's nuclear guard.
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Business Wire
16 hours ago
- Business Wire
Q-Net Security Secures a SBIR Phase III IDIQ Contract with the U.S. Air Force to Protect Tactical Edge Communications
ST. LOUIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Q-Net Security, who is pioneering the field of silicon-based cybersecurity, has been awarded a contract by the United States Air Force to help develop technologies and requirements aimed at securing communications at the tactical edge — where reliability, speed, and resilience are mission-critical. 'This award shows what the SBIR program was meant to do: take breakthrough technologies and ideas from the lab and make them mission-ready for our warfighters." - John Pyrovolakis Share Q-Net's work under this contract will focus on deploying technologies developed in a SBIR Phase II to refine tactical edge communication capabilities for airborne wide-area networks, wide-band air-to-air links, and mobile ad hoc networks. Deliverables under this contract will enable Tactical Key Management encryption abilities to test real-time trusted communications to the tactical edge in support of our Air Force's Agile Combat Employment (ACE) operations. 'This contract reflects the Air Force's commitment to supporting the American warfighters with next-generation secure communications solutions,' said John Pyrovolakis, CEO of Q-Net Security. 'As threats that disrupt military operations rise — fueled by advances in quantum computing and artificial intelligence — securing military communications has never been more important. We believe our unique, silicon-based approach provides the strength and simplicity our warfighters need — and we're dedicated to getting this resilient solution to them.' About Q-Net Security: Q-Net Security, based in St. Louis, Missouri, delivers silicon-based cybersecurity to secure data in transit for defense, critical infrastructure, and enterprise networks. Its devices operate as finite-state machines in silicon—with no software stack, operating system, or remote reprogramming—removing common attack surfaces while complementing existing protections. Q-Net devices safeguard mission-critical defense applications where reliability and resilience are paramount. Designed as drop-in solutions, they also protect legacy systems across energy, pipelines, rail, and utilities that are otherwise difficult to secure with software-only approaches.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
PureTech Systems and Clear Align Partner to Deliver Advanced Autonomous Security and Command-and-Control for U.S. Air Force Tactical Security System
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Axios
2 days ago
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Grid Aero debuts with cargo-hauling Lifter-Lite drone
Aerospace startup Grid Aero exited stealth Monday, with a U.S. Air Force contract and $6 million in seed funding in its pocket, and a prototype cargo drone in its garage. Why it matters: In a defense-tech market saturated by quadcopters and explosive payloads, Grid Aero wants to solve contested logistics, or the struggles of supplying troops wherever they may be. Driving the news: Chief executive Arthur Dubois said in an interview that his company designed and built "the pickup truck of the skies," its Lifter-Lite, in six months. "This first aircraft is built for scalability. It is, really, like an Ikea kit that you assemble," Dubois said. "It doesn't require any specific tooling. It's super simple." Zoom in: The aircraft is designed to fly thousands of miles with thousands of pounds aboard. It can't haul humans or large vehicles, according to Dubois, "but everything else is fair game." The latest: Grid is readying the Lifter-Lite for ground tests in the back half of September. Follow the money: The company, which employs about 14 people, including alumni from Joby Aviation, Northrop Grumman and Xwing, is backed by Calibrate Ventures and Ubiquity Ventures. It's also inked a deal with AFWERX, the Air Force's innovation arm. Bottom line: "If we run out of C-130s, or we run out of these cargo aircraft, the whole machine can grind to a halt. And we're not talking just the Air Force; it's across services," Dubois said.
