Latest news with #AFRL
Business Wire
a day ago
- Business
- Business Wire
Momentus and Orbit Fab Partner to Advance Space Servicing with Podracer and RAFTI Demonstration Flight
SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Momentus Inc. (NASDAQ: MNTS), a leading U.S. commercial space company specializing in satellite solutions, transportation, and in-space infrastructure, has signed a contract with Orbit Fab to provide hosted payload services for the on-orbit demonstration of Podracer, a space domain awareness payload, and the Rapidly Attachable Fluid Transfer Interface (RAFTI). The mission is scheduled to launch no earlier than February 2026 aboard a SpaceX Transporter rideshare mission. Fueling the future of space—Momentus and Orbit Fab demonstrates next-gen refueling and sensing technologies—delivering agile operations and mission resilience in orbit. Funded by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Podracer will conduct a flight demonstration of infrared imaging sensors, image processing technology, and a control module to enhance space domain awareness aboard the Vigoride 7 orbital service vehicle (OSV). Podracer will also be used as part of a rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO) demonstration mission that Momentus plans to conduct during the Vigoride 7 mission using a system developed by Momentus. Through Vigoride's communications and data transfer systems, Orbit Fab will operate the Podracer payload remotely from its Mission Operations Center in Colorado, ensuring real-time control and monitoring of the hosted payload mission. During the Vigoride 7 mission, Momentus and Orbit Fab plan to conduct the first flight demonstration of a hydrazine compatible, Space Systems Command approved RAFTI. Orbit Fab's advanced refueling interface is designed to extend the operational lifespan of satellites, by enabling spacecraft docking and refueling, thereby eliminating the current limitations imposed by onboard fuel reserves. This advancement is expected to significantly reduce costs and improve operational flexibility for satellite operators by mitigating mission constraints caused by fuel shortages. 'We are thrilled to collaborate with Orbit Fab to demonstrate the Podracer and RAFTI payloads to continue to push the boundaries of what's possible in space servicing and space domain awareness,' said Momentus CEO John Rood. 'The new contract with Orbit Fab adds another advanced technology payload to what will be an exciting mission early next year in which Momentus will support several cutting-edge payloads from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, AFRL, and innovative early-stage space companies.' "We're excited to be working with Momentus as we advance the future of in-space mobility and dynamic space operations,' said Dr. Melissa Sampson, Vice President of Business Development, at Orbit Fab. 'Our collaboration underscores the critical role of on-orbit refueling for increasing satellite maneuverability and mission life. Together, we're pushing the boundaries of space technology and enabling a more agile and sustainable infrastructure in orbit.' This launch marks Momentus' fourth Vigoride mission and its first collaboration with Orbit Fab. In addition to Podracer, Momentus will provide transportation and hosted payload support during the Vigoride 7 mission for several additional commercial and U.S. government customers, including the U.S. Defense Department. As demand for Vigoride missions continues to grow, Momentus is actively planning a follow up mission using its Vigoride 8 OSV. Government and commercial customers interested in launching microsatellites up to 200 kg, cubesats, and hosted payloads in LEO are encouraged to contact the Momentus Commercial Team at sales@ for booking opportunities while space remains available. About Momentus Momentus is a U.S. commercial space company offering satellites, satellite components, and in-space transportation and infrastructure services. The Company offers satellites to support government and commercial customers for missions like communications, missile tracking, and cutting-edge science missions. Momentus offers services such as hosted payloads, support for in-space assembly, on-orbit servicing and refueling, and transportation of satellites to specific orbits. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains certain statements which may constitute 'forward-looking statements' for purposes of the federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the expected filing of the Company's Form 10-K and Form 10-Q and its management team's expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future, projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, and are not guarantees of future performance. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of Momentus' control. Many factors could cause actual future events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this press release, including but not limited to risks and uncertainties included under the heading 'Risk Factors' in the Annual Report on Form 10-K filed by the Company on April 9, 2025, as such factors may be updated from time to time in our other filings with the Commission, accessible on the Commission's website at and the Investor Relations section of our website at Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and, except as required by law, the Company assumes no obligation and does not intend to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
BILT awarded $15 Million STRATFI contract to support US Air Force maintainers
GRAPEVINE, Texas, June 26, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BILT Incorporated, creators of 3D Intelligent Instructions®, has been awarded a $15 million Strategic Funding Increase (STRATFI) contract by the United States Air Force. The multi-year initiative will expand interactive training and maintenance capabilities across a range of Air Force operations, enabling airmen to complete complex tasks faster, more accurately, and with greater confidence. The AFWERX award, funded by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), is one of the most competitive funding vehicles within the Department of Defense and represents a major step forward in the USAF's modernization of technical training and sustainment efforts. BILT's mobile platform and spatial computing capabilities will be used to enhance readiness, safety, and standardization across mission-critical roles. 'We're honored to support airmen with the knowledge and tools they need in high-stakes environments,' said BILT President & COO Ahmed Qureshi. 'This award reflects the strength of our technology and the dedication of our team to deliver scalable, intuitive solutions that meet the evolving demands of national defense.' The contract builds on a series of successful pilots and Phase I/II SBIR programs that demonstrated BILT's ability to transform traditional manuals into 3D guides. The platform allows airmen to access interactive instructions on mobile devices and immersive procedures on Apple Vision Pro, both on and off the grid. Link to video: About BILT: Millions of users follow 3D Intelligent Instructions for thousands of products from hundreds of brands. BILT revolutionizes professional training, operational enablement, and the user experience for assembly, installation, maintenance, and repair. The award-winning platform delivers turnkey interactive instructions on iOS, Android, Windows, and immersive spatial computing instructions on Apple Vision Pro. BILT is accessible, sustainable, and efficient. Contact: Juliette Qureshi VP, PR & Media Comms Juliette@ 703-554-3020 About AFRL:The Air Force Research Laboratory, or AFRL, is the primary scientific research and development center for the Department of the Air Force. AFRL plays an integral role in leading the discovery, development and integration of affordable warfighting technologies for our air, space and cyberspace forces. With a workforce spanning across nine technology areas and 40 other operations around the globe, AFRL provides a diverse portfolio of science and technology ranging from fundamental to advanced research and technology development. For more information, visit About AFWERXAs the innovation arm of the DAF and a directorate within the Air Force Research Laboratory, AFWERX brings cutting-edge American ingenuity from small businesses and start-ups to address the most pressing challenges of the DAF. AFWERX employs approximately 370 military, civilian and contractor personnel at four hubs and sites executing an annual $1.4 billion budget. Since 2019, AFWERX has awarded over 10,400 contracts worth more than $7.24 billion to strengthen the U.S. defense industrial base and drive faster technology transition to operational capability. For more information, visit: A video accompanying this announcement is available at 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
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Yahoo
Air Force tests new ship-killing bomb variant
The Air Force has tested a new variation of its ship-killing Quicksink guided bomb to expand its options for taking out enemy vessels in a future war. In a June 4 statement, the service said it dropped a 500-pound version of Quicksink, made from a GBU-38 Joint Direct Attack Munition, or JDAM, from a B-2 Spirit stealth bomber at Eglin Air Force Base's Gulf Test Range off the coast of Florida. Previous Quicksink tests were conducted with 2,000-pound bombs. Quicksink is the Air Force Research Laboratory's effort to strengthen its ability to take out enemy ships. This capability would be particularly important in the event of a conflict with China over Taiwan, which would likely involve grueling fighting in the Pacific Ocean and require U.S. forces to destroy Chinese ships. Previous tests used modified GBU-31 JDAMs to destroy target vessels. Those JDAMs are guided by GPS and use fins to steer towards the target as they fall. AFRL previously said that it redesigned the JDAM's nose plug to better suit it for maritime strikes. A stock JDAM nose might cause the bomb to carom off the surface of the water in unexpected directions instead of striking its target, AFRL said, but the Quicksink redesign is meant to keep it on target. Quicksink bombs do not travel under the water towards their target like traditional torpedoes. The Air Force says modifying existing guided bombs into Quicksink weapons would provide anti-ship capability at a lower cost than weapons like torpedoes. The Air Force said in its statement that the new Quicksink variant would expand the B-2's targeting reach by giving combatant commanders more options for striking enemy targets. AFRL declined to further detail how the 500-pound version provides more targeting options or when the latest test took place, citing security concerns. 'Quicksink offers an affordable, game-changing solution to rapidly and efficiently sink maritime targets,' Col. Dan Lehoski, commander of Eglin's 53rd Wing, said in a statement. 'AFRL's 500-pound Quicksink variant adds options for the warfighter and enhances operational flexibility.' AFRL said video of the latest test is classified and could not be released. But a previous video posted in 2022 shows a Quicksink bomb streaking towards an empty vessel before exploding, cleaving the ship in half and sending it underwater in a matter of seconds.
Miami Herald
05-06-2025
- Science
- Miami Herald
US tests bomb that splits ships in half
By Dean Murray The U.S. has successfully tested a lighter version of a bomb that can blast huge ships in half. The U.S. Air Force (USAF) said Wednesday (June 4) they dropped a 500-pound QUICKSINK munition from a B-2 Spirit stealth bomber. It follows a dramatic 2022 trial where a larger 2,000-pound variant was used to destroy a full-scale surface vessel. The USAF say the smaller version of the precision-guided bomb offers a lower-cost anti-ship weapon, with more being able to be carried by bombers and fighter jets. Col. Dan Lehoski, 53rd Wing commander, said: "QUICKSINK offers an affordable, game-changing solution to rapidly and efficiently sink maritime targets. "AFRL's 500-pound QUICKSINK variant adds options for the warfighter and enhances operational flexibility." The live-fire exercise was a collaborative effort between Air Force Materiel Command's Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and Air Force Test Center and Air Combat Command's 53rd Wing. Col. Matthew Caspers, AFRL Munitions Directorate commander, said: "QUICKSINK is the result of a Joint collaboration that rapidly prototyped an affordable concept for holding surface targets at risk." It has not been reported what target the new variant was used against. The post US tests bomb that splits ships in half appeared first on Talker. Copyright Talker News. All Rights Reserved.
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Smaller Version Of Quicksink Ship-Killing Smart Bomb Tested By USAF
The U.S. Air Force says it has tested a modified 500-pound-class GBU-38 Joint Direct Attack Munition, or JDAM, optimized for use as an anti-ship munition as part of its Quicksink program. The service has already demonstrated a 2,000-pound-class Quicksink bomb, and the new version could offer a valuable lower-cost anti-ship weapon that bombers and tactical jets could also carry more of on a single sortie. At the same time, there are questions about the exact scope of maritime targets that a Quicksink GBU-38 might be effective against. The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) announced the test of the GBU-38-based Quicksink munition today, but did not say when exactly it had occurred. A B-2 Spirit stealth bomber dropped the weapon over the Gulf Test Range, which the 96th Test Wing at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida manages. The Air Force first unveiled the Quicksink program in 2021 after a test of the 2,000-pound-class type, which is a modified GBU-31/B JDAM. 'This new 500-pound [Quicksink] variant expands the B-2's targeting capabilities, providing combatant commanders with an expanded complement of innovative warfighting solutions,' a press release from AFRL states. 'A collaborative effort between Air Force Materiel Command's Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and Air Force Test Center (AFTC), and Air Combat Command's 53rd Wing enabled execution of the Quicksink live-fire tests.' How much the 500-pound-class Quicksink munition may differ from the 2,000-pound-class type is not immediately clear. Typical JDAMs consist of a low-drag bomb body combined with a new tail section that contains a GPS-assisted inertial navigation system (INS) guidance package, as well as clamp-on aerodynamic strakes. JDAM kits exist for 1,000-pound-class bombs, as well as 500 and 2,000-pound-class types. JDAMs, which can only hit static targets, can be built around various types of unguided bombs, including general-purpose high explosive and bunker-buster types. At least when it comes to the 2,000-pound-class version, the Quicksink bomb combines the JDAM kit with a new imaging infrared seeker fitted to the nose. The Air Force has said in the past that the resulting munition, which is capable of engaging moving targets, navigates to a designated area first via GPS-assisted INS before switching over to the seeker. The weapon then finds and categorizes the target by checking its length against a detailed internal reference database. The seeker then provides additional course correction data to put the bomb on a path where it is intended to detonate right next to the target ship's hull, just below the waterline. Initial cueing to the target, which the launch platform or offboard sources could provide, is required. The computer-generated video below depicts a full engagement cycle. The GBU-31-based Quicksink munition already presented a notably lower-cost option for engaging enemy ships, especially compared to traditional air-launched anti-ship cruise missiles. JDAM kits cost around $85,000, with the unguided bombs that they are paired with adding a minimal increase to the overall price tag. AFRL has said in the past that each Quicksink seeker unit costs around $200,000, and that the goal was to drive that price point down to some $50,000 as production ramped up. For comparison, the unit cost for the AGM-158C Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM), the U.S. military's premier air-launched anti-ship cruise missile, is around $3 million. Past U.S. military cost data has also pegged the price point of current generation AGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship cruise missiles at around $1.4 million. A GBU-38-based Quicksink munition also offers important magazine depth benefits for both bombers and tactical jets. A B-2 like the one used in the latest Quicksink test can carry up to a whopping 80 500-pound-class JDAMs on a single sortie. Loadouts for F-15E Strike Eagles, which have also been used extensively in past Quicksink testing, can often include up to nine GBU-38s. Strike Eagles have also been test loaded with as many as 15 500-pound-class JDAMs, but not necessarily with the intention to drop them all during a single mission, as you can read more about here. As a comparison, F-15Es have also been tested loaded with five AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) cruise missiles, from which the LRASM is derived. Smaller jets like the F-16 Viper, which have more limited payload capacity overall, could also benefit greatly from access to a 500-pound-class anti-ship weapon. For instance, a typical anti-ship loadout for the Viper today includes just two Harpoons. Any increased magazine depth translates to more engagement opportunities per sortie for an individual aircraft. It also means more munitions are available during a mission to employ against a single target, which could help overwhelm enemy point defenses. For years now, there has been great interest within the Air Force and elsewhere across the U.S. military in new, lower-cost precision bombs and missiles, in general, particularly amid planning for a potential future high-end fight across the Pacific against China. Acquiring cheaper precision munitions as complements to more exquisite types is seen as essential for ensuring stockpiles are sufficiently full before such a conflict breaks out, and also to help replenish them in the event of protracted fighting. Lessons learned from recent U.S. operations in and around the Middle East, as well as observations from the ongoing war in Ukraine, have only validated this viewpoint and provided new impetus for programs like Quicksink. The prospect of a large-scale conflict in the Pacific has also driven a broad push across America's armed forces to expand anti-ship capabilities and capacity across the board, again with capabilities like Quicksink. It's also interesting to note here that Quicksink seeker technology is already known to have migrated to the Air Force's separate Extended Range Attack Munition (ERAM) effort. ERAM has been centered on the development of a low-cost cruise missile, primarily for Ukraine's armed forces. At the same time, though far lower cost than something like the AGM-158C, modified JDAMs do not offer anywhere near the same standoff range capability to help keep the launch platform away from threats. A low-observable (stealth) platform like a B-2 or an F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) would have added the ability to bring Quicksink munitions closer to their intended targets with lower risk (but not no risk) in the face of limited defenses. Non-stealthy aircraft could use Quicksink munitions to help finish off damaged small surface combatants with already degraded defenses, or employ them against targets that are less-well-defended, or even essentially defenseless, to begin with. These could include vital sealift assets and civilian cargo vessels pressed into military service. Hitting ships at anchor in port or other littoral areas, especially if they are densely congregations, could be another application for Quicksink. Wing kits that can extend the range of JDAMs from around 15 miles up to 45 miles, depending on the weapon's exact configuration and release envelope, also exist. The JDAM-Extended Range (JDAM-ER) is now a combat-proven capability as a result of their employment by Ukraine's Air Force in recent years. However, this is something the U.S. military has curiously not invested significantly in for its own use. Quickstrike-ER air-launched naval mines, which leverage the JDAM-ER kit, are the only example of this capability known to be in American service today. JDAM prime contractor Boeing has also been developing a cruise missile derivative, or Powered JDAM (PJDAM), which you can learn more about here. The 2,000-pound-class Quicksink bomb has at least demonstrated its ability to sink a civilian-type cargo ship, but the smaller size of the new version might present limitations in terms of effectiveness. At the same time, it is worth noting that 500-pound-class Quickstrike mines are in service now, and are expected to detonate further away from a target's hull. The magazine depth benefits of the GBU-38-based Quicksink munition also means that a single aircraft could more readily release a salvo of the bombs at a ship for increased effect. There are smaller maritime assets, including landing craft and other types of ship-to-shore connectors, that Quicksink bombs based on the GBU-38 could be used against, as well. Overall, Quicksink bombs offer a way to help free up weapons like LRASM for use against targets that demand higher-end capabilities to tackle. The Air Force is clearly interested in the potential cost and other benefits that a 500-pound-class version of the Quicksink anti-ship munition could offer, and more details about its capabilities may now begin to emerge. Contact the author: joe@
