Locator: 50395DRONES.
Tag: SpektreWorks
Yesterday, The WSJ printed an article that was sent to my iPhone as breaking news. It's key words for search were "Corolla" and "drones." That piqued my interest. Here's the link. Page 1, position 1.
Very, very interesting article. Then I got near the end and realized I had posted a link to the same story over at Reuters some weeks ago. Here's the link. The tag: Locator: 50129LUCAS. Amazing. Whatever. Much could be said, but time to move on. But using "Toyota Corolla" in its headline -- and the story having nothing to do with either Toyota or Corolla -- almost makes this story at TWSJ clickbait. Fun to read, but still clickbait.
Having said that, there was still some interesting information contained in the article. A must-read, must keep.
Most interesting: who owns the rights to Lucas.
Also interesting, mentioning a second name along with SpektreWorks:
Little-known Scottsdale, Ariz.-based SpektreWorks and Huntsville, Ala.-based Integration Innovation were tapped to build the drones. A total of five manufacturers will be selected, each set up to produce 300 drones a month, a former senior defense official familiar with the plans said.
SpektreWorks and Integration Innovation didn’t respond to requests for comment.
The Marine Corps was the first to use the drones, and ordered around 6,000, destined for the Indo-Pacific. But then the war with Iran began. The drones were handed over to U.S. Central Command and in February made their first appearance in combat.
The Trump administration has enacted sweeping reforms in defense procurement, making it easier for the military to quickly buy weapons and emphasizing commercial technology to modernize the U.S. arsenal. In particular, an August decision by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to rescind long-held requirements processes for acquiring technology made the rapid deployment of Lucas possible, current and former defense officials said.
Still, other changes will take longer to trickle through the Pentagon’s bureaucracy, and it will take time to reorient America to a new way of fighting wars, even as China is developing advanced ways to strike the U.S., say intelligence and military officials.