Audi's First U.S. Plant Lands In Georgia

Lockheed Martin announced a framework agreement with the Pentagon for 850 U.S. F-35s over 10 years at 156 jets a year, contingent on Congress granting multiyear authority and funding, which would give suppliers steadier demand.

Longbow, the Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman joint venture in Orlando, Florida, won a $419.6 million Army contract for fire control radars and post-production support for the Apache attack helicopter.

Stoke Space won a conditional $150 million financing commitment from the Pentagon to build a second launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida, for the larger reusable rocket it plans to fly in 2029.

Long Wall won $75 million from the Missile Defense Agency to finish testing Cyclops, a low-cost interceptor built from commercial parts and 3D-printed components, and will match the award with $75 million of its own.

Northrop Grumman won a $43.9 million Navy contract to design new rocket motor production facilities at the Naval Industrial Reserve Ordnance Plant in Magna, Utah, for the Trident II D5 missile.

Raytheon had its Small Diameter Bomb II support contract raised by $350 million, with the work centered in Tucson, Arizona.

General Dynamics Land Systems won a $135.9 million Army contract change to buy upgraded power distribution systems for the Stryker combat vehicle, managed from Sterling Heights, Michigan.

The Army is looking for new companies to make 155mm howitzer barrels, up to 10 a month within three years, to add a second source alongside the Watervliet Arsenal in New York.

Orbital Operations won a Pentagon agreement worth up to $35 million to fly a full-scale demonstration of its Astraeus spacecraft in orbit, and raised a $7 million seed extension led by DTX Ventures.

HD Hyundai and Kiewit plan to form HD Kiewit Shipbuilding to build a new shipyard on an existing deep-water Gulf Coast site, with construction starting in 2027, and up to 3,000 jobs at full operation in 2029; the venture will also explore building ship blocks and modules for other U.S. shipbuilders.

Newport News Shipbuilding shares a $98.1 million increase in a Navy submarine safety contract with Oceaneering of Chesapeake, Virginia, Epsilon Systems and Delphinus Engineering, for hardware fabrication and engineering through November 2029.

The United States and Denmark signed a maritime agreement to bring Danish expertise to American shipyards through workforce training, equipment and joint ventures, joining similar pacts with South Korea and Japan.

Applied Intuition won a $25 million Navy contract to install its AI sensor fusion system on five Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, with room to expand across the fleet.

General Dynamics NASSCO began a second modernization period on USS Pinckney in San Diego under the Navy's DDG MOD 2.0 program, which installs the SPY-6 radar.

The Commerce Department signed letters of intent for up to $389 million in chip research awards to Helion, Commonwealth Fusion Systems, Vertical Semiconductor and Sibelco, taking a minority, nonvoting stake in each company.

Helion plans to put up to $175 million from its letter of intent, plus $50 million of its own money, into high-voltage power chips, with more than $100 million going to research and packaging in Everett, Washington, and about $80 million to work with a partner in Burlington, Vermont.

Vertical Semiconductor received a letter of intent for up to $73 million to develop vertical gallium nitride power transistors, a technology the MIT spinout aims to use to cut energy losses in AI server racks by 30%.

US Conec will invest more than $149.7 million in a new plant in Hickory, North Carolina, creating 224 jobs to make high-density optical interconnects for advanced computing.

Hyundai Translead raised its Joliet, Illinois, investment to $600 million and 3,750 jobs, adding $150 million and 1,250 jobs for a third shift at two trailer plants on the former Caterpillar and Lion Electric sites.

Mitsubishi Power will spend $490 million to double its gas turbine parts plant in Pooler, Georgia, adding 450,000 square feet and more than 220 jobs near Savannah.

GXO will put Agility Robotics' Digit humanoids to work at warehouses in Statesville, North Carolina, and Lebanon, Tennessee, starting in early 2027, after a Georgia pilot moved more than 100,000 totes.

AGCO will pilot Agility's Digit robots on assembly tasks at its farm equipment plant in Hesston, Kansas, starting in 2027.

U.S. Steel approved nearly $3 billion for a new hot strip mill at its Edgar Thomson plant in Braddock, Pennsylvania, raising capacity from about 2.2 million to 3.5 million tons a year, with first production targeted for late 2029.

MISO picked Ameren, GridLiance and Dairyland Power to build a $1.23 billion Iowa transmission project, including about 187 miles of 765-kilovolt line, the highest voltage on the U.S. grid.

Elementl Power signed a preliminary agreement with Korea's DS Investment Partners to form a development partnership of up to $750 million, with Samsung C&T as a possible strategic investor, to carry up to three nuclear projects to a final investment decision, including a 1.5-gigawatt plant in Ohio.

Perpetua Resources won up to $40 million from the Army to define a tungsten resource at its Stibnite project in Idaho, matched by $40 million of its own.

Google expanded its virtual power plant deal with Voltus to 1 gigawatt across the 13-state PJM grid, paying homes and businesses to cut use when demand peaks.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission finalized a rule that lets reactor applicants use data from Energy Department and Pentagon demonstrations, aiming for reviews of about 18 months for a first-of-a-kind design and 12 months for later units.

The Energy Department named helium a critical material, citing its use in chipmaking and the U.S. helium-rich natural gas deposits that limited refining capacity and slow permitting have held back.

Samsung SDI agreed to supply 1 gigawatt-hour of battery storage to Alpha Omega Power using cells and modules built at the StarPlus Energy plant in Kokomo, Indiana.

Bedrock Robotics raised a $600 million Series C at a $4.1 billion valuation led by CapitalG and Emergence Capital to put self-driving systems on excavators and other construction equipment.

Xona Space Systems raised a $250 million Series D at a $2.45 billion valuation led by Future Ventures and runs a production facility in Burlingame, California, that it aims to ramp to 50 navigation satellites a year by the end of 2027.

CScale came out of stealth with a $145 million Series C for optical links between AI chips, with Nvidia and Intel Capital among its first strategic investors.

Dream Labs raised a $90 million seed round led by B Capital and Kindred Ventures for a model that turns a camera feed and plain-English instructions into motor commands for robots from different makers.

EQT agreed to buy Range Resources in an all-stock deal that creates a natural gas producer with an enterprise value above $50 billion, headquartered in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, with closing expected in early 2027.

OMRON agreed to buy OnLogic for $675 million, adding the South Burlington, Vermont, maker of industrial computers, which will keep its Vermont headquarters.

The Partner Companies bought F&B MFG, a Phoenix metal forming shop with more than 200 employees that makes parts for aerospace and defense.

Chouest Group bought Horizon Maritime, adding the St. John's, Newfoundland, offshore services company to the Louisiana-based group.