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Mach Industries unveils Viper, an AI-powered, vertically launched drone with a 180 mile strike range
Mach Industries, a California-based firm, is building a new kamikaze drone called Viper, aimed at bringing long-range precision strike capability to frontline units.
Shaped by lessons from Ukraineâs drone war, Viper combines the reach of Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS), the speed of a cruise missile, and the lethality of a Hellfire warhead in a compact, tactical platform.
At under $100,000 per unit, Viper aims to deliver effects similar to million-dollar systems like ATACMS at a fraction of the cost.
Tech Terrain
Advanced Computing
Why this matters: The system boasts significant performance improvements including a 159% boost in temporal reasoning tasks compared to OpenAIâs memory systems.
Defense Tech
US Navy Starts Building 400kW Laser to Fry Drones and Hypersonic Threats
Trend to watch: US Navy kicked off a $29.9-million effort to develop one of the worldâs most powerful shipboard laser weapons.
US Army Invests $108M in Next-Gen Vehicle Protection Systems
Energy
House defense bill leans heavily on nuclear energy (paywalled)
Why this matters: The bill would create a new DoD âexecutive agentâ to oversee nuclear energy across installations and form a Pentagon working group focused on fielding SMRs and other advanced technologies
Fusing energy developer Helical Fusion raises $15M in Series A funding
Space
SpaceX in talks to raise new funding at $400B valuation
Trend to watch: This latest round would represent a major jump from the $350 billion valuation set during the tender offer held in December 2024.
Future Mobility
Electra won a $1.9M Army contract to research hybrid-electric propulsion for aircraft
Why this matters: To date, the Army has awarded six contracts to Electra, supporting a range of technology research and development activities maturing Electraâs Ultra-STOL aircraft.
Japan-based eVTOL aircraft manufacturer SkyDrive raises $56M in Pre-Series D funding