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Yahoo
32 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Prediction: President Trump Wants to Fast-Track U.S. Drone Production, but Kratos and AeroVironment Stocks Are the Wrong Way to Play This New Defense Policy
Key Points Drones have become crucial weapons systems in foreign conflicts. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wants to fast-track the production and acquisition of cheap FPV drones for the U.S. Army. The best-known defense contractors in the drone space build drones that cost too much, so they are unlikely to win these new contracts. 10 stocks we like better than AeroVironment › 2025 is shaping up to be "the year of the drone." According to data from online newspaper The Kyiv Independent, Russia launched more than 1,300 drone strikes (and 250 missiles) at Ukraine's capital city of Kyiv in 2024. That may sound like a lot, but over the course of the evening of July 9, 2025, Russia launched more than 700 attack and decoy drones at Ukraine in a single night. Ukraine famously responded to its ongoing bombardment with a drone mission of its own in June -- "Operation Spiderweb," in which a few hundred drones, smuggled into Russia and controlled by remote pilots transmitting over that country's own cellphone networks, wreaked havoc on Russia's strategic bomber fleet, damaging or destroying more than three dozen aircraft in a matter of minutes. Drones have also played a part in the recent Israel-Iran conflict. Israel's surprise attack on Iran on June 13, for example, involved drones launched from within Iran to take out its air defense systems preparatory to a wider bombing campaign. Iran's response reportedly involved the launching of more than 1,000 drones in an attack on Israel. Numbers like these cannot fail to have captured the attention of Washington, D.C. In fact, they have captured Washington's attention. Last week, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth promised to "support our industrial base, reform acquisition, and field new technology" needed to equip the U.S. military "with the lethal small drones the modern battlefield requires." But what does this mean to investors? A hard deadline for drone production -- and a hard target Hegseth has proposed that every squad in the U.S. Army be equipped with "small, one-way attack drones" -- sometimes known as kamikaze drones or first-person view (FPV) drones -- by the end of the government's fiscal 2026. (That's Sept. 30, 2026.) That gives us a firm calendar deadline: We can expect this directive to play out over the next 12 to 14 months. As reported by Hegseth's primary focus is on small Group 1 and Group 2 drones, which weigh about 55 pounds or less. The Pentagon will be inviting bids from companies that can produce such drones for under $2,000, aiming to purchase 10,000 small drones over the next year. As Pentagon programs go, this is pretty small potatoes, implying initial purchases of perhaps $20 million worth of hardware -- but this could be only the beginning. As one Army colonel interviewed by explained, the Army will be using these first drones to help it answer questions like how many drones it actually needs to accomplish its mission. And the answer may turn out to be "a whole lot more than 10,000." In that case, the size of this drone purchase program could grow dramatically. Round up the usual suspects Knowing this, drone technology companies like AeroVironment (NASDAQ: AVAV) and Kratos Defense and Technology (NASDAQ: KTOS) are certain to want to get in on the action. The big question, though, is whether they would be able to deliver the quantities of drones the Army will need at prices the Army is willing to pay. AeroVironment stock, for example, has surged nearly 50% since the start of June, when drones began dominating headlines. Problem is, the company's highest-profile FPV drone model -- the Switchblade -- is reported to cost anywhere from $50,000 to $170,000 each. Likewise with Kratos. The stock's up more than 55% over the past several weeks. But Kratos is developing entirely different types of drones from those the Pentagon now wants. The company's XQ-58A Valkyrie drone, designed to accompany Air Force fighter jets as a "loyal wingman," is reportedly priced in excess of $4 million. Other defense companies may have offerings that hit closer to the mark. For example, Palantir (NASDAQ: PLTR), a defense stock up-and-comer and a specialist in the kind of artificial intelligence that can be useful for guiding drones to their targets, has reportedly teamed up with lower-cost drone producer Red Cat. But Red Cat's Edge 130 drone still has a price tag of $43,000 -- cheaper than AeroVironment's and Kratos's offerings, but still much more expensive than the drones Hegseth is looking for. Privately held defense contractor Anduril is likewise working to make affordable FPV drones, offering a Bolt-M variant that costs "in the low tens of thousands of dollars," according to the company. Again, that's closer to the mark, but still probably too costly for a drone whose day job is to be an expendable munition. What it means for investors Long story short, the competition to become the U.S. Army's provider of choice for cheap, reliable, FPV drones still looks wide open to me -- and there's no way to guess what company will win it. All I can say for sure at this point is that with drones that cost many times more than what Secretary Hegseth wants to pay for the uses he's envisioning, AeroVironment and Kratos aren't leading this race. They're losing it. Should you buy stock in AeroVironment right now? Before you buy stock in AeroVironment, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and AeroVironment wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $636,774!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,064,942!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,040% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 182% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 21, 2025 Rich Smith has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends AeroVironment and Palantir Technologies. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Prediction: President Trump Wants to Fast-Track U.S. Drone Production, but Kratos and AeroVironment Stocks Are the Wrong Way to Play This New Defense Policy was originally published by The Motley Fool Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Business Upturn
4 hours ago
- Business Upturn
Nibe signs Technical Collaboration Agreement with Israel's Elbit Systems for PULS rocket system
Nibe Limited has officially entered into a technical collaboration agreement with Israel-based defence technology firm Elbit Systems Land Limited. Signed on July 26, 2025, the agreement focuses on the transfer of license and technology for the Precise & Universal Launch System (PULS), a high-range artillery rocket system. Under this agreement, Elbit will provide Nibe with the necessary know-how and licensing rights to manufacture and assemble the PULS system in India. The system is designed for long-range precision targeting, capable of engaging threats at distances up to 300 kilometers. The collaboration aims to establish a local manufacturing setup for PULS in India, allowing Nibe to take on responsibilities for development, assembly, and integration. The financial terms of the agreement are expected to be finalized within 45 days from the signing date. This is a purely international partnership between two independent entities, with no related party transaction involved. Neither Nibe's promoter group nor its affiliates have any stake or interest in Elbit Systems Land Limited. The agreement aligns with the regulatory requirements under SEBI's disclosure norms. With this development, Nibe Limited expands its presence in the defence manufacturing sector by bringing advanced rocket system capabilities to the domestic market through technology collaboration with a global player. Ahmedabad Plane Crash Aman Shukla is a post-graduate in mass communication . A media enthusiast who has a strong hold on communication ,content writing and copy writing. Aman is currently working as journalist at
USA Today
5 hours ago
- USA Today
Men don't like how Trump treats the economy. Democrats must cash in on that.
Democrats are being given an opportunity to fix their messaging with Americans who are quickly turning on President Donald Trump. According to new polling, American men are beginning to lose faith in President Donald Trump. It took them long enough, but I'm glad they're here with the rest of us. A CBS News/YouGov poll showed that the president's approval rating among men had dropped to 47%, while 53% disapproved of the job he was doing. It's a stark contrast from the November election, when Trump won male voters by 55%. It's a troubling sign for Republicans, but an opportunity for Democrats to gain ground with male voters before 2026. While men tend to go for the GOP, there is a possibility that Trump continues to alienate them by continuing to torpedo the economy and making irrational decisions when it comes to foreign policy and immigration. Can Democrats fix their messaging? The big issue for men? How Trump handles the economy. Men are particularly upset by Trump's handling of the economy. According to the CBS News/YouGov poll, 49% of men say the economy is getting worse, and 59% disapprove of how he's handling inflation. Sixty percent of men think he's focusing too much on tariffs, while 65% say he isn't doing enough to lower the cost of goods and services. Opinion: MAGA, I feel bad Trump lied to you about the Epstein list. Who saw this coming? Democrats, who tend to have weaker messaging on the economy, should take these criticisms and run with them. The cost of tariffs is likely to be passed on to the consumer. The nation's gross domestic product just declined for the first time in three years. Inflation may be cooling, but prices aren't falling. By putting the blame on Trump for the economic strife Americans are feeling, the Democratic Party could potentially show men that Republican lawmakers may not be the ones to rely on when it comes to their finances. When the rest of us know that was always the case. Men are also dissatisfied with the conflict in Gaza, and immigration While 55% of men say the economy and inflation are critical in how they view the president, there are some issues where Trump is also beginning to lose favor. For example, 53% of men say they are dissatisfied with the Trump administration's handling of the Israel-Hamas war, which the president said he'd end on the campaign trail. Fifty-one percent disapprove of his interactions with Iran. Fifty percent of men disapprove of how Trump is handling immigration, with 47% saying the administration is deporting more immigrants than they believed it would, according to that same poll. All of these concerns are corroborated by other polls that show Trump is widely disliked. This should be a wake-up call that Democrats need to strengthen their message on the Israel-Hamas war, at least advocating for peace talks. They could also combine immigration with economic issues, and stress how Trump's deportation agenda could negatively affect the GDP and increase the cost of food. Opinion: Trump keeps brutalizing immigrants because he's failing at everything else Gen Z is particularly unhappy Generation Z, born between 1997 to 2012, also seems to have woken up to Trump's failures. The CBS News/YouGov poll found that his approval rating among 18- to 29-year-olds plummeted to 28% in July. Seventy-one percent of those under 30 disapprove of Trump's handling of the economy, and 73% disapprove of how he's handling inflation. As with men, it's a far cry from how Gen Z felt about Trump in the 2024 election, when voters ages 18-29 supported Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris by a much smaller margin than they supported former President Joe Biden in 2020. Among this age group, 56% of males voted for Trump, 1 percentage point more than among all male voters. Opinion: Trump is unpopular, polls show, and he's building an America most Americans hate It's telling that the generation whose perception of the Republican Party is entirely shaped by the rise of Trump is suddenly souring on him. Perhaps people around my age are finally realizing that targeting marginalized communities won't actually improve their quality of life, or that Trump made promises he couldn't keep. They might also be realizing that the positive emotions they felt during the first Trump administration can be chalked up to childhood nostalgia. For those of us in the generation who were old enough to vote in 2016, the negatives of Trump's first presidency were unavoidable. Opinion alerts: Get columns from your favorite columnists + expert analysis on top issues, delivered straight to your device through the USA TODAY app. Don't have the app? Download it for free from your app store. If the Democrats are clever, they'll consider this polling and begin brainstorming ways to further drive a wedge between Trump and male voters, particularly those in Gen Z. Yet I'm not sure Democrats are prepared to pick up the young voters Republicans are siphoning off. Their solution now seems to be doing nothing – Democratic leadership essentially disappeared after the 2024 election, and no one seems to know how to get the party back on track. Ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, they need to focus on more than podcasts and memes. They need to be working on crafting a populist message and focusing on economic issues, because that seems to be the deciding factor in whether or not a president is doing well. Follow USA TODAY columnist Sara Pequeño on X, formerly Twitter: @sara__pequeno You can read diverse opinions from our USA TODAY columnists and other writers on the Opinion front page, on X, formerly Twitter, @usatodayopinion and in our Opinion newsletter.
