Defense Technology

New York – September 21, 2026 -- Lazard, Inc. (NYSE: LAZ) has appointed Matt Spence as Head of Defense Technology and Emerging Technology within its Technology Group, based in San Francisco.

Spence brings a defense-tech banking franchise he built at Barclays

Spence most recently served as Managing Director and Global Head of Venture Capital Banking at Barclays, where he established and led the firm's defense-tech and dual-use technology investment banking practice. He will advise defense, security, and emerging technology companies on M&A transactions and financings at Lazard.

Career spans government, venture capital and banking

Before Barclays, Spence held senior roles at Guggenheim Partners and served as a Partner at Andreessen Horowitz. He spent seven years in senior U.S. national security positions, including as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Middle East Policy and on the White House National Security Council.

Reston – September 19, 2026 -- CACI International Inc (NYSE: CACI) has secured a new task order to support U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) worth up to $1.5 billion, with the company expecting to book $1.2 billion of the total awarded value.

CACI Secures Multi-Year CENTCOM Task Order

The award spans one base year plus four option periods, covering intelligence, planning, and information-integration support across USCENTCOM's area of responsibility. CACI will deliver the work through its Apollo platform, designed to accelerate decision-making and coordination among U.S. and partner forces operating in contested or denied environments.

Nashua, N.H. – September 19, 2026 -- BAE Systems has launched Shadow EWTM, a family of compact electronic warfare systems built to equip small airborne platforms with situational awareness and self-defense capabilities in contested environments.

BAE Systems targets high-volume, low-cost production using commercial microchips

The company is producing Shadow EW systems at scale using commercial-grade microchips for high-performance computing, a design choice intended to cut costs and streamline supply chains. BAE Systems says the approach leverages its proven high-volume manufacturing base and skilled workforce to accelerate production and delivery timelines.

San Diego – – September 18, 2026 -- Obsidian Sensors has secured a contract under the DUTCH project to deliver high-resolution thermal cameras at attritable price points for the Drone Dominance program, using a manufacturing process the company says will eventually cut costs by an order of magnitude versus incumbent suppliers.

Obsidian fabricates MEMS sensors on glass panels 20 times larger than standard silicon wafers

The company's proprietary Large Area MEMS Platform (LAMP) departs from the thermal imaging industry's traditional reliance on 8-inch silicon wafers. Instead, Obsidian builds its MEMS thermal sensor structures on large glass substrates inside a standard flat-panel display factory, borrowing the scale and cost structure of the display manufacturing sector rather than the semiconductor industry.

Paris – September 18, 2026 -- HawkEye 360 (NYSE: HAWK) has signed a collaboration agreement with ERA a.s. to make the Czech surveillance specialist an international processing partner for automated terrestrial and maritime radar products derived from HawkEye 360's radio frequency (RF) data.

ERA becomes processing hub for HawkEye 360's space-based RF data

Under the agreement, ERA will integrate HawkEye 360's space-based signals intelligence and automated geolocation with its own multistatic passive surveillance and mission-workflow systems. The combined offering targets defense and security customers seeking faster access to operationally actionable RF insights.

Palo Alto, Calif. – September 15, 2026 -- SandboxAQ has completed what it calls the world's first reported test of a magnetic navigation (MagNav) system on an attritable drone platform, integrating its AQNav software into Northrop Grumman's Lumberjack Group 3 unmanned aircraft system.

Test marks first pairing of MagNav with visual navigation on a one-way attack platform

The flight demonstration also represents the first reported instance of a MagNav system operating alongside a visual navigation system on an attritable, one-way attack drone, according to SandboxAQ. Lumberjack, developed by Northrop Grumman in under 14 months from concept to first flight, is designed as a multi-use loitering munition.

Stockholm – September 14, 2026 -- Saab has secured a new order worth approximately SEK 2.9 billion from Sweden's Defence Material Administration (FMV) to continue concept work on the country's future fighter system.

Contract runs through 2028 with extension options

The agreement covers the period 2026-2028, with FMV holding options to extend the work into 2029 and 2030. It builds directly on prior contracts Saab signed with FMV in 2024 and 2025, extending a multi-year technology development pipeline.

Scope covers manned and unmanned system demonstrators

The contract funds flying and ground-based demonstrators, advanced studies, and development of future system concepts spanning both manned and unmanned platforms. Saab's mandate includes work on systems integration, autonomy, signature adaptation, propulsion, digital development, and future production capabilities.