Project Ranger is moving fast. 17 buildings built. 1.6 million cubic yards of earth moved. 300 workers on site. Speed matters, and we're doing our part to rebuild the Arsenal of Freedom.

VP Vance at Saronic groundbreaking in Texas: "What this facility represents to me is the American Dream renewed. And an American Dream built by American workers, created by American companies, and ensuring that the next generation of America's future is in our hands."

BOLSTERING THE DEFENSE INDUSTRIAL BASE: @BretBaier examines efforts to overhaul the defense industrial base through stable, multi-year funding frameworks and a growing reliance on agile commercial startups. As Under Secretary of War for Acquisition and Sustainment Michael Duffey notes, multi-billion-dollar deals with prime contractors like Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman are locking in production for critical systems like Tomahawk, THAAD, and Patriot interceptors. Meanwhile, the Defense Innovation Unit and next-gen tech firms like Castelion and Rocket Lab are utilizing rapid commercial manufacturing practices to scale up hypersonic capabilities and outpace modern threats.

.@Saronic is partnering with @Castelion to launch a hypersonic missile off the back of an autonomous ship: “We're actually going to launch a hypersonic missile off the back of Marauder, an autonomous ship, before the Navy completes their first test of a hypersonic missile off of a manned vessel.” @hargsb @MavrookasD

In 2022, an investor drew Bryon Hargis a two-by-two matrix and put his company in the corner he called impossible. Over a hundred rejections followed. Today that company is valued at $13 billion. @hargsb, Co-founder and CEO of @Castelion , just closed a $1 billion Series C co-led by JPMorgan, Carlyle, and Andreessen Horowitz. But the more interesting story is what almost didn't happen. In the winter of 2022, after leaving @SpaceX to build hypersonic weapons, he was selling his 401k to make it through the month while his wife was expecting their second child. Here is how he described the rejection that stuck with him: "There was commercial, defense, software, hardware. He's like, you're on the quadrant of defense hardware, and not even in the middle of the quadrant. You're on the very corner. He's like, that's the realm of impossibility." He still remembers the exact phrase one investor used to describe the category: in the realm of the uninvestable. The market had not mispriced the technology risk. It had mispriced its own model. A decade of software-era venture had optimized for capital-light, fast-iterating businesses, and defense hardware failed every filter in that model: long cycles, heavy capex, a single customer with byzantine procurement. None of that made the category actually unfundable. It just made it invisible to investors running the wrong checklist. The turning point came less than a year later, when Andreessen Horowitz wrote a check. Doors that had been closed for a year opened within days. The technology had not changed. The willingness to underwrite it had. The lesson is not that defense tech is hot now. It is that the biggest returns tend to sit exactly where the standard model says not to look. We’d like to thank @AlphaSenseInc for sponsoring this episode! Full episode below 👇 youtu.be/u9gUE0kaYfE

Big milestone for SC funded @MuonSpace, which has closed an oversubscribed $250 million Series C, bringing total equity funding to $386 million+. The capital will help Muon scale constellation production and expand the Mission Foundry behind its next generation of space infrastructure. 11 satellites deployed. 100% mission success. 50+ more in development. Congratulations to CEO Jonny Dyer and the entire Muon team on what's next. More on the Series C: bit.ly/3UJhnKl

.@Castelion just raised +$1B in a series C valuing the defense tech startup at $13B, (up from $2.8B in December). @hargsb says the capital will go toward “supercharging” production of the company’s first hypersonic weapon, Blackbeard, for which delivery begins next year. Development of a longer range hypersonic weapon and defensive systems are also in the works.

Castelion is proud to announce our $1 billion Series C. We’re growing fast and our mission hasn't changed: build the weapons required to deter the next major war, affordably, rapidly, and at massive scale. This funding accelerates Blackbeard production, develops a longer-range strike system, and starts work on defensive systems. Thank you to @JPMorgan Chase's Strategic Investment Group, @a16z, @OneCarlyle, @lightspeedvp, @LavrockVC, @AltimeterCap, @TRowePrice, @generalcatalyst, and #Interlagos for backing that work. castelion.com/news/series-c/