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Category Defence

AST SpaceMobile Inc ($ASTS)

In January you saw the “National Defense Strategy / Deep Tech” macro piece: defense budgets, uranium enrichment, electronic warfare and reusable launch infrastructure all moving at once. In that map, AST SpaceMobile sits on the space-based connectivity layer: a company trying to build cell towers in orbit that can serve both civilian and military customers, at a time when governments explicitly talk about resilient communications, contested environments and independent infrastructure. This note takes that macro lens and zooms back into ASTS.

AI, drones and US defense after the Singapore Airshow 2026

The Singapore Airshow 2026 is not just a nice backdrop for air displays and static jets. It is a live x-ray of how fast the Indo-Pacific balance of power is shifting, and how quickly drones and AI-enabled systems have moved from the fringe to the centre of the defence conversation. While China shows off fighters and commercial jets to signal that it wants a bigger slice of the regional market, US and allied firms are quietly doing something just as important: locking in long-term positions across drones, autonomy and “AI-ready” hardware.

Golden Dome $PL $BKSY $SATL

For years, “space” was mostly a story about launch costs and broadband dreams. In 2026 the narrative is shifting: satellites are becoming the nervous system of a new defence architecture built around missile warning, tracking and resilient communications

ONDS Ondas Inc

In early January we started to follow Ondas Inc. (ONDS) more closely on Merlintrader, first with a long-form deep-dive on the transformation of the group into an autonomous defense “system-of-systems” platform, and then with a sequence of updates as new contracts and Investor Day details emerged. Those articles focused on the structural story, the DCMA “Blue UAS” listing for Optimus and the growing defense pipeline.

2026 The New Era – Watchlist Space-AI-Defense

2026 opens in a geopolitical environment that looks like a “Cold War 2.0” – but running at a much higher speed and across more domains than anything we have seen before. Classic threat pillars – nuclear deterrence, air and sea control, conventional superiority – are still there, but they have been reshaped by disruptive technologies that make them far more lethal and unpredictable.

CTM Castellum Inc

Castellum starts 2026 with exactly what you want to see in a micro-cap defense name: more work, bigger visibility inside the U.S. missile-defense and Navy ecosystem, and a tape that already gave traders a clean spike-and-fade on the first new contract of the year.

LUNR Intuitive Machines Inc

Intuitive Machines is a Houston-based space infrastructure company working on lunar landers, cislunar communications and defense-focused satellite platforms. The stock is one of the purest public plays on the Artemis + Golden Dome “space infrastructure” theme.

Ondas (ONDS) Inc

Ondas Inc. (NASDAQ: ONDS) announced that the Optimus drone from its American Robotics unit has been added to the DCMA “Blue List” of approved unmanned aircraft systems. This confirms compliance with Department of War cybersecurity, supply chain and operational standards and opens a faster lane for U.S. government and defense procurement of Optimus.

At Merlintrader we’ve been following Ondas for a while through this steep progression, and today’s move is another step in the transition from a niche wireless/IoT story towards a more clearly defined dual-use autonomous infrastructure profile.

PDYN Palladyne AI Corp Update Jan 28

Today’s move is all about a fresh U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory contract: the headline is “swarming,” but the real keyword is integration—getting drones, ships, ground systems, and now satellites to share ISR and coordinate as one network. Below: what happened, what it could mean, what can still go wrong, and the key numbers double-checked from SEC filings and official releases.

ROCKET LAB (RKLB)

Rocket Lab is one of the few listed names sitting at the intersection of launch services, space infrastructure and US national security. In the last weeks, three threads have converged: a record defence contract for missile-tracking satellites, a visible test failure on the new Neutron rocket, and a high-visibility hardware milestone with the arrival of the “Hungry Hippo” fairing at the Virginia launch complex.

RDW Redwire Corporation

Redwire is moving from niche space supplier to integrated space-and-defense player just as the Golden Dome and SHIELD architectures turn from political slogan into multi-decade procurement programs. The stock has already rerated on expectations; the question now is whether cash flow, backlog and contract wins will catch up with the narrative.

Space Defence & AI

When you line up the numbers on artificial intelligence in space operations, autonomous systems and new-generation missile defence, it becomes very clear we are not looking at a “nice theme” to trade for a few quarters. We are watching the birth of a structural, AI-native arms race that stretches easily over the next 20–30 years.