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Sam Armstrong
Sam Armstrong

I'm a writer and marketer based in London, writing Defense Profile to make sense of defense and dual-use technology (and hopefully others). I come at the sector as a deliberate outsider: rigorous in the research, honest about what I'm still learning, and focused on making a complex industry legible.

Maritime

+3

Power Lines, Part 1: The Cloud on the Ground

Oct 30, 2026

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5 min read

Power Lines, Part 1: The Cloud on the Ground

Every AI model, satellite image, and targeting tool runs in a building somewhere, plugged into a grid. In March 2026, one of those buildings became a target.

Sam Armstrong
Sam Armstrong

Communications

+2

Starlink Speed Limits

Oct 23, 2026

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5 min read

Starlink Speed Limits

For about a day last week, Ukraine's interceptor drones were slower than the drones they were chasing. A week later, nobody will say who made that call.

Sam Armstrong
Sam Armstrong

Maritime

+1

The Black Sea's Receding Safe Waters

Oct 16, 2026

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6 min read

The Black Sea's Receding Safe Waters

Drones are sinking merchant ships off NATO's Black Sea coast, and each strike is landing closer to shore. Here's why the line they're approaching matters.

Sam Armstrong
Sam Armstrong

United States

+1

America's Tungsten Problem

Oct 9, 2026

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5 min read

America's Tungsten Problem

The Pentagon bought into a Maine company that used to make lightbulb filaments. Here's why, and what it says about where the real bottleneck sits.

Sam Armstrong
Sam Armstrong

Maritime

+3

Port Alpha: Saronic's Push for America to Build Ships Again

Oct 2, 2026

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5 min read

Port Alpha: Saronic's Push for America to Build Ships Again

A four-year-old drone boat company just broke ground on a $3 billion yard in South Texas. Here's what Port Alpha is, and what it would take to work.

Sam Armstrong
Sam Armstrong

Aviation

+3

Microwaving Drones

Sep 25, 2026

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6 min read

Microwaving Drones

How high-power microwave weapons have become a leading answer to the drone swarm dilemma.

Sam Armstrong
Sam Armstrong

Europe

+1

Poland Will Buy Shield AI, if Shield AI Buys Into Poland

Sep 18, 2026

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6 min read

Poland Will Buy Shield AI, if Shield AI Buys Into Poland

Warsaw now charges admission to the fastest-growing defense market in NATO. It's getting the hardware it needs, but also a growing production capacity of its own.

Sam Armstrong
Sam Armstrong

Aviation

+4

Skydio. America's Drone Giant

Sep 11, 2026

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6 min read

Skydio. America's Drone Giant

America’s largest drone maker walked away from retail consumers, got adopted by the US Army, and made an enemy of the world’s biggest drone maker along the way

Sam Armstrong
Sam Armstrong

Aviation

+3

Will Rheinmetall Rearm Europe?

Sep 4, 2026

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5 min read

Will Rheinmetall Rearm Europe?

The order book is full, the share price has fallen. Just the ups and downs of European defense?

Sam Armstrong
Sam Armstrong

Maritime

+1

Seeing the Seabed with Ulysses

Aug 26, 2026

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7 min read

Seeing the Seabed with Ulysses

Tackling the global maritime security threat and the race to the ocean floor.

Sam Armstrong
Sam Armstrong

Aviation

+3

Undercutting the Drone War With Cambridge Aerospace

Jul 28, 2026

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8 min read

Undercutting the Drone War With Cambridge Aerospace

A defense startup is betting that cheap, not exquisite, wins modern air defense.

Sam Armstrong
Sam Armstrong

Communications

+1

Communication Breakdown? Operation Jailbreak and the Army’s Push to Make Systems Talk

Jul 14, 2026

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8 min read

Communication Breakdown? Operation Jailbreak and the Army’s Push to Make Systems Talk

For decades, the US military has bought powerful systems that often struggle to work together. Operation Jailbreak is an attempt to make interoperability a battlefield requirement, not an afterthought.

Sam Armstrong
Sam Armstrong

Autonomy

+2

Divergent and the Programmable Factory

Jul 6, 2026

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9 min read

Divergent and the Programmable Factory

The startup behind a 3D-printed supercar is now printing Tomahawk structures. The pitch is a software-defined factory that can build almost anything.

Sam Armstrong
Sam Armstrong

Aviation

+3

From Satellites to Battlefield Intelligence With ICEYE

Jun 23, 2026

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9 min read

From Satellites to Battlefield Intelligence With ICEYE

Radar satellites that can see through cloud and darkness, but the bigger pitch is faster intelligence for modern war.

Sam Armstrong
Sam Armstrong

Aviation

+3

Helsing’s Sovereign Software Bet

Jun 12, 2026

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9 min read

Helsing’s Sovereign Software Bet

The German startup is building AI systems for drones, aircraft, sensors and factories, but its larger pitch is that Europe needs to build sovereign software for war.

Sam Armstrong
Sam Armstrong

Aviation

+3

Climbing the Aviation Food Chain With Shield AI

Jun 4, 2026

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11 min read

Climbing the Aviation Food Chain With Shield AI

Convincing the Air Force Secretary to climb into a jet with no human pilot.

Sam Armstrong
Sam Armstrong

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