Latest news with #defensetechnology
The National
3 days ago
- Business
- The National
Rare earths and real risk: Why the global supply chain needs a rethink
They are buried in our smartphones, embedded in EV motors, and essential to jet engines and wind turbines. Yet most people could not name a single rare earth element. This quiet invisibility belies their strategic importance. As the world accelerates towards a more digital and electrified future, rare earths have become indispensable – and increasingly, a source of geopolitical friction. The global supply chain behind these elements is under pressure. China currently produces nearly 70 per cent of rare earth ores and holds more than 95 per cent of global refining and separation capacity. For heavy rare earths, that number is closer to total control. This concentration gives China significant influence over price, availability and access to materials that power the energy transition and advanced defence technologies. In short, it is not just an economic advantage. It is a position of systemic control. But the challenges do not end with geographic concentration. The industry also struggles with what is known as the 'balance problem'. Not all rare earths are created equal. High-demand elements like neodymium and praseodymium, crucial for permanent magnets in electric vehicles and wind turbines, are co-mined with lower-demand elements such as cerium and lanthanum. Producers must extract and process everything, regardless of market demand. That creates inefficiencies, price distortions and sustainability concerns. This imbalance has strategic consequences. Without careful co-ordination, demand for magnet rare earths could outpace supply within the next decade. That does not mean catastrophe, but it does mean rising costs, tighter margins, and a squeeze on industries that depend on long-term stability. Momentum is finally shifting. As the urgency to diversify supply chains intensifies, ion adsorption clay (IAC) deposits have come into focus – and not just in China and Myanmar, where they have long been tapped. Exploration efforts are under way in countries like Brazil, Uganda and South-east Asia, offering new access to heavy rare earths. Unlike traditional hard-rock mines, IAC operations can reach production in just four to seven years, giving them a distinct strategic and commercial advantage. Refining is the next major hurdle. Mining rare earths without the ability to refine them only shifts the bottleneck, it does not solve it. Today, the vast majority of REE concentrates – even those mined outside China – are still sent back for processing. But that is beginning to change. Companies like Lynas in Malaysia, MP Materials in the US, and Neo Performance Materials in Estonia are building local refining capacity. These efforts mark early steps towards a more regionally balanced and secure supply chain. Innovation is also reshaping what's possible across the value chain. Manufacturing techniques like grain boundary diffusion allow for the reduction of dysprosium and terbium usage without compromising performance – a potential game changer given their sensitivity to supply shocks. Meanwhile, magnet recycling and by-product recovery from sources like phosphogypsum offer alternative streams of material with lower environmental impact. A co-ordinated, multinational response is essential. The US, Japan and Australia have launched public-private initiatives to diversify rare earth supply chains and strengthen refining capabilities. It is not just about securing raw materials. It is about ensuring that economic resilience and national security are not tied to a single point of failure. For those deeply involved in the rare earth ecosystem, from miners and refiners to end users and policymakers, the issues at stake go well beyond geology or engineering. They are a test of foresight and preparedness. The companies and countries that invest, innovate, and collaborate today will be the ones best positioned to thrive in the next era of industrial transformation. The 20th century was powered by oil. The 21st will be driven by rare earths. Those who recognise this early and act decisively will shape the future.
Entrepreneur
5 days ago
- Business
- Entrepreneur
Defence Tech Startup Armory Raises INR 13 Cr to Strengthen Counter Drone Capabilities
The capital will be deployed to accelerate R&D, ramp up manufacturing, and enhance field deployment of its indigenous counter drone technologies. You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media. Defence tech startup Armory has raised INR 13 crore in a funding round led by growX ventures, with participation from Industrial 47, Antler, AC Ventures, and Dexter Ventures. The capital will be deployed to accelerate R&D, ramp up manufacturing, and enhance field deployment of its indigenous counter drone technologies. Founded in 2024 by Amardeep Singh, an IIT Bombay alumnus and aerospace engineer, Armory develops Counter Unmanned Aircraft Systems (CUAS) to detect, deny, and destroy rogue drones — an urgent and growing threat in modern warfare. Its flagship solution, SURGE, moved from concept to successful field trials with Army regiments in just six months. "It's increasingly obvious that the future of warfare is autonomous drones and electronic warfare," said Amardeep Singh, Founder and CEO. "The only way to deter them is to build advanced countermeasures. The foundation of India's self-reliant defence is being built right now, and we aim to play a leading role in it." Armory's systems are powered by its proprietary Samaritan OS, an AI first defence operating system that allows real time adaptability and continuous learning — capabilities missing from traditional defence technologies. Manish Gupta, General Partner at growX ventures, said, "India's national security priorities are rapidly evolving, and Armory is one of the few startups addressing these changes at the pace of software. Their AI led, indigenous approach is exactly what India's defence tech ecosystem needs." Rahul Seth, Founder and General Partner at Industrial 47, added, "Weaponised drones are the IEDs of our era. Counter drone systems will soon be as common as CCTV cameras. Armory is building the airspace security infrastructure that will become essential." Armory is also exploring international partnerships to expand its "Make in India, Made for the World" strategy, aligning closely with India's growing role in global defence innovation.
The Independent
5 days ago
- The Independent
Hackathon teams race to solve defense tech challenges as Europe boosts military capabilities
Hunched over laptops, the team of four raced to solve a challenge: how to get a set of drones to fly themselves from one place to another when GPS and other signals are jammed by an enemy. Elsewhere around the hall, groups of people — engineering students, tech workers and hobbyists — gathered around long tables to brainstorm, write computer code or tinker with more drones and other hardware. Most of them were strangers when they first gathered last month at Britain 's Sandhurst Military Academy to compete in a 24-hour 'hackathon" focused on defense technology. Many were drawn to the event because they wanted to use their technical skills to work on one of the biggest challenges confronting Europe: the continent's race to beef up its military capabilities as Russia's war in Ukraine threatens to widen global instability. 'Given the geopolitical climate, defense tech is relevant now more than ever,' said Aniketh Ramesh, a startup founder with a Ph.D. in robotics in extreme environments and one of the drone team members. The hackathon, he said, 'is a good place to sort of go and contribute your ideas.' 'Robotics and drones are having their iPhone moment" because costs have come down and the hardware is widely available, Ramesh said. That means building drones to do new things is more a 'thinking challenge" than a technical one, he said. Ramesh already knew one teammate, a former British army paratrooper, from a previous event. They recruited two others — one engineer and one with a Ph.D. in computer vision — through the event's group chat on Signal. The drone problem was just one of the many challenges the teams could choose to solve. The tasks were proposed by defense tech companies like German drone maker Helsing, robotics company Arx, the British military and Kyiv-based venture capital firm D3. Some worked on software, such as an algorithm to predict which way a target would move. Others came with their own ideas. One team made a plastic cup packed with sensors that could be produced in large amounts to be scattered across a battlefield. Another team built a scale model of an autonomous medical evacuation aircraft. Similar competitions have been held regularly across Europe since last year, inspired by the Ukrainian military's on-the-fly wartime innovations to fend off the larger Russian army. The grassroots meetups are part of a wider network of defense innovation that organizers hope to foster in Europe, underscoring the continent's scramble to churn out weapons that have been turbocharged by U.S. President Donald Trump's persistent threats to withdraw from the NATO trans-Atlantic security alliance. The idea is to 'go build a prototype, take your prototype to become a product, and go build a company' so that you can 'deliver stuff to the frontline and hopefully save someone's life,' said Benjamin Wolba, who organizes a separate but similar series, the European Defense Tech Hackathon. Wolba's group has held tournaments in about 10 cities in the past twelve months, including one in Lviv, Ukraine, in May, and has scheduled more this year in Sheffield, England; Gothenburg, Sweden; Marseilles, France; London; and Berlin. The European Union-backed EUDIS Defence Hackathon holds simultaneous competitions at eight universities twice a year. Meanwhile, NATO has launched DIANA, an 'accelerator' program to speed up defense innovations. The competitions are producing real-world results. The winners of one European Defense Tech Hackathon were a team of Bulgarian high school students who came up with a de-mining solution that they used to found a startup. At last year's London event, the winning team devised an idea for an anti-drone system. They went to Ukraine for more testing, and then were bought by a startup that went on to raise millions in venture capital funding, said Pass. This year, instead of a trophy, some London teams signed term sheets with investors. Hackathons have their origins in the software industry. Small teams of programmers and developers are pitted against each other in marathon brainstorming sessions to write programs that could become new products. 'The beauty of the hackathon is you get a mixture of people who never normally meet,' said Wolba. 'Engineers are 'paired with actual investors who understand something on the commercial side, but also, critically, military end users.' Organizers want to foster a culture of nimble startups to join Europe's defense ecosystem, traditionally dominated by a handful of big 'prime' military contractors such as Britain's BAE, Germany's Rheinmetall and France's Thales that are focused on building pricey hardware. 'There's definitely been a shift in the industry from the purchase of more exquisite, high-cost capabilities, such as fighter jets, or submarines, or expensive tanks, towards more low-cost systems that can give you scale advantages,' said Richard Pass, one of the co-founders of the London event. A recent aerial confrontation between Pakistan and India further highlights how Europe is at risk of losing its edge against adversaries, he said. Pass said reports that Pakistan used Chinese-made fighter jets armed with Chinese air-to-air missiles to down Indian air force planes, including three French-made Rafale jets, came as a big surprise. Not only does it show 'technological parity between the Chinese and leading Western industrial nations like France,' but it also hints at China's advantages in mass-producing fighter jets that could overwhelm Western forces, he said. Fostering a broader European defense tech start-up ecosystem is a way 'to regain that technological advantage,' he said. Defense tech startup founders can ride a wave of investment as Europe moves to beef up its military capabilities. Leaders of NATO, which includes 30 European nations, are meeting this week to endorse a goal to spend 5% of gross domestic product on defense. The European Union has sought to mobilize 800 billion euros ($927 billion) to boost the 27-nation bloc's defense, with priorities including drones, AI, autonomous systems and quantum computing. Britain, which left the EU, has meanwhile pledged to spend 10% of its defense budget on new technologies. Europe still has a long way to go. The continent's defense tech startup ecosystem is young and about five years behind the United States, consulting firm McKinsey said in a recent report. But it's growing rapidly as investors flock there. Venture capital investment in Europe's defense tech sector for 2021-2024 more than quadrupled from the previous three-year period, according to Pitchbook. At the London hackathon, teams worked into the evening, fueled by chocolate bars, energy drinks, fruit and a late-night pizza delivery. Army cots were available for those who wanted to catch a few hours of sleep. Soldiers in camouflage and defense company reps hovered on the sidelines to provide advice and answer questions. CEO Andrii Solonskyi said defense hackathons are 'a bit of a novelty.' The industry has traditionally been more structured and formal, because 'it's a serious business and there's a lot of things that can go wrong,' he said. But, "what we definitely feel is that you can be very agile in defense right now."
South China Morning Post
11-06-2025
- Science
- South China Morning Post
China's J-20 stealth fighter's radar leap credited to semiconductors expert Xu Xiangang
China's J-20 stealth fighter has tripled its radar detection range, thanks to semiconductor advancements over the past two decades led by Shandong University scientist Xu Xiangang, according to the university. A silicon-carbide (SiC) semiconductor material developed by Xu's team had powered a threefold increase in the detection range of phased array radar systems, allowing Chinese radars to swiftly detect enemies and gain the first-mover advantage, the university said on its social media page. 'From the J-20's on-board systems to advanced weaponry, this 'Chinese chip' is crucial for national security,' the May 30 post said. 'It enhances the range of Chinese radars, improves missile accuracy and boosts the power of laser weapons, making it an indispensable 'hardcore shield' in defence technology.' The J-20, also known as the Mighty Dragon, is a twin-engine stealth fighter viewed as China's answer to America's F-22 'Raptor'. It officially entered active service in March 2017. Xu, who is dean of the university's Institute of Novel Semiconductors, said it was important for researchers to address the country's needs.
CNA
16-05-2025
- Business
- CNA
Defense and space tech firm Voyager reveals annual revenue rise in US IPO filing
Defense technology and space solutions company Voyager Technologies has revealed a rise in its 2024 revenue in filings for its initial public offering in the United States on Friday. The company confidentially filed for the IPO in January. It did not disclose the number of shares it plans to sell or the estimated price range for its listing. The Denver, Colorado–based company's revenue rose to about $144.2 million in 2024, compared with $136.1 million in 2023. Founded in 2019, Voyager has completed more than 2,000 missions for commercial, civil, national security and non-profit customers from about 35 nations, according to its website. The IPO market has reopened as financial markets recover sharply amid progress in trade talks, providing companies with the opportunity to list their shares after several months of tariff-driven turbulence. In a related development, the space industry is experiencing policy changes under the Trump administration. The administration has proposed cutting 24 per cent of NASA's current $24.8 billion budget — a proposal that threatens to cancel major science programs but is expected to boost the Mars-focused agenda advocated by billionaire SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. Voyager plans to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "VOYG", with Morgan Stanley and serving as lead underwriters for the offering.
