September 2025 | Soldier Systems Daily Soldier Systems Daily

Archive for September, 2025

Red Cat Collaborates with Safe Pro Group to Embed Real-Time AI-Powered Threat Detection Onboard the Black Widow Drone Platform

Tuesday, September 16th, 2025

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, Sept. 15, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Red Cat Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: RCAT) (“Red Cat” or the “Company”), a U.S.-based provider of advanced, all-domain robotic solutions for defense and national security, today announced a strategic collaboration with Safe Pro Group Inc. (Nasdaq: SPAI) (Safe Pro), a leading provider of artificial intelligence (AI)-computer vision technologies.

Through this collaboration, Safe Pro’s patented AI-powered image analysis technology will be embedded into Red Cat’s Black Widow drones, enabling U.S. and allied ground personnel to rapidly identify and locate more than 150 types of explosive threats including landmines, anti-personnel mines, cluster munitions, and unexploded ordnance (UXO) in real-time.

The integration will allow Safe Pro’s Object Threat Detection (SPOTD) system to process real-time 4k video onboard the Black Widow at the tactical edge and deliver live threat data directly to military situational awareness platforms such as the U.S. Army’s Tactical Assault Kit (ATAK) software ecosystem, enhancing and accelerating decision making critical to mission success.

The Black Widow will also integrate with Safe Pro’s new SPOTD Navigation, Observation and Detection Engine (NODE), a powerful, edge-based solution designed to process, map and share mission critical information collected by drones. Supporting rapid deployment at the edge, the SPOTD NODE “kit” enables end users to collect real-time visual data, receive threat alerts, and utilize that imagery to create 2D and 3D interactive maps and plot hazard detections. This capability provides enhanced situational awareness, supporting a wide array of ground missions even in connectivity-denied environments.

Powering Safe Pro’s SPOTD technology is one of the world’s largest real-world landmine and UXO datasets consisting of high-resolution imagery and GPS-tagged geospatial data encompassing over 1.88 million drone images analyzed to date, and 34,200+ threats identified across 8,119 hectares (20,062 acres) in Ukraine.

“The Black Widow continues to distinguish itself as a leading sUAS platform for defense and security, ideally suited to supporting the evolving needs of the U.S. Army and its global allies. By incorporating field-proven innovations such as Safe Pro’s unique AI-powered threat detection technology, we continue to redefine the future of force protection and battlefield awareness,” said Jeff Thompson, Red Cat CEO.

“As demonstrated in Ukraine, the battlefield is dramatically evolving, establishing a critical need to provide today’s warfighter with access to enhanced, real-time situational awareness. By harnessing the power of the Black Widow with Safe Pro’s battle-tested threat detection technology, we have created a platform that can uniquely support the needs of the U.S. Army for real-time battlefield intelligence, and we look forward to bringing this capability to our warfighters,” added Dan Erdberg, Chairman and CEO of Safe Pro Group Inc.

Posted in Industry, Press Release, TAK, UAS | Comments Off on Red Cat Collaborates with Safe Pro Group to Embed Real-Time AI-Powered Threat Detection Onboard the Black Widow Drone Platform

Raptor Tactical – Reflex Two Point Sling MK4

Tuesday, September 16th, 2025

Made from a Jacquard webbing with Hexagon weave which also provides padding, the MK4 REFLEX Two Point Sling from Raptor Tactical offers comfort and breathability.

Adjustments are made with a large rubberized strap.

Offered in Coyote, Ranger Green, and Black.

Get yours at raptortactical.com/reflex-two-point-sling-mk4.

Posted in Advertiser, Weapon Accessories | Comments Off on Raptor Tactical – Reflex Two Point Sling MK4

Army updates standards for appearance, grooming, uniform wear in new directive

Tuesday, September 16th, 2025

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army announced an update to its appearance, grooming, and uniform wear standards policy in a new directive resulting from a force-wide review of military standards. The updated policy clarifies existing standards and establishes new standards, emphasizing military appearance as a reflection of discipline, professionalism, and a shared commitment to the Army’s values.

“What sets the U.S. Army apart is our professionalism, and that’s a direct reflection of committed Soldiers who adhere to and enforce the standards,” said Sgt. Maj. of the Army, Michael Weimer.

“This definitive guidance gives leaders the tools they need to do just that. You don’t have to memorize it, but you should know what right looks like.”

Key changes include precise definitions for hairstyles, including authorized lengths, styles, and accessories for both male and female soldiers. Standards for cosmetics, fingernails, and jewelry have also been clarified. The directive also provides clarified standards for uniform and insignia wear and body composition assessments.

The new policy was informed and developed by a representative group of leaders and stakeholders from across the Army. There was an overwhelming consensus on the need to realign all Army standards with warfighting priorities and eliminate ambiguity to allow shared understanding of the standards.

Soldiers will adhere to updated standards within 30 days of the date of this directive. Commanders, supported by NCOs, have the authority to enforce appearance, uniform, and body composition standards consistent with the intent of the new directive.

Army Policy Updates: Grooming and Appearance One-Pager

By U.S. Army Public Affairs

Posted in Army, Guest Post, Profession of Arms | 4 Comments »

Cole Fine Guns and Gunsmithing Expands Texas Location

Monday, September 15th, 2025

NAPLES, Fla. – September 12, 2025 – Cole Fine Guns and Gunsmithing, a leading premium firearms retailer, is excited to announce a major expansion of its San Antonio, Texas location. The San Antonio, Texas Gun Shop will double in size, with the new space focused on gunsmithing and stock carving. This development reflects Cole Gunsmithing’s dedication to supporting Texas shotgun sports and underscores its ongoing commitment to elevating service for shotgun enthusiasts.

Located on the grounds of the National Shooting Complex, home to the National Skeet Shooting Association (NSSA) and the National Sporting Clays Association (NSCA), Cole Gunsmithing’s San Antonio Gun Shop serves as a full-service destination for Clay Target and Shotgun Hunting enthusiasts. The location already boasts a large, country-themed showroom that carries a variety of shotgun favorites, accessories and apparel. Additionally, the Cole Gunsmithing’s Texas Gun Shop includes a well-equipped gunsmithing facility on the grounds. With this expansion, Cole Gunsmithing is doubling the size of this location to 3,800 square feet, allowing the company to further expand its services.

“Cole Gunsmithing is committed to providing the best possible customer experiences, and this expansion plays a significant part in that mission,” said Rich Cole, Owner of Cole Gunsmithing. “The added 1,900 square feet will be entirely dedicated to gunsmithing and stock carving, which will enhance our ability to serve the shotgun community with even greater craftsmanship.”

As Cole Fine Guns and Gunsmithing continues to grow, it remains dedicated to fostering the shotgun sports community. With a focus on quality and customer satisfaction, Cole Gunsmithing aims to offer shotgunners the most comprehensive year-round sales and service experience as possible. The San Antonio, Texas location’s expansion will be complete and open in time for the NSCA National Championships in October, and Cole Gunsmithing encourages firearms enthusiasts to stop by for any and all shotgun-related needs.

For more information on Cole Fine Guns and Gunsmithing and the premium firearms offered, visit www.colegun.com or contact the sales team at (800) 650-2653.

Posted in Industry, Press Release | Comments Off on Cole Fine Guns and Gunsmithing Expands Texas Location

Anduril’s Menace-I Brings Petabyte-Scale Processing to the Warfighter at the Tactical Edge

Monday, September 15th, 2025

On August 11, 2025, U.S. Marines sling loaded Anduril’s Menace-I via a CH-53K King Stallion helicopter, demonstrating new levels of mobility for expanded expeditionary mission planning and coordination. From a distance, it looked like any other grey shipping container. In reality, it was a deployable node for planning, coordination, and data processing—equipped with the power, climate control, compute, connectivity, and security of a fixed facility.

Menace-I is a turnkey command, control, compute, communications, cyber, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C5ISR) solution accredited for use as both a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) and a Special Access Program Facility (SAPF). In less than ten minutes after setup, Menace-I is fully operational and supporting missions in forward, contested environments.

The challenge is delivering large quantities of processing power—secure, accredited, and reliable—to the tactical edge. Today, anything involving classified data in a SCIF or SAPF can only be done in fixed facilities or in Temporary Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities (T-SCIFs) that require a day or more to set up. That timeline doesn’t work for expeditionary forces that maneuver in hours, not days.

Traditional approaches rely on reach-back to distant data centers over SATCOM links that may be degraded or denied in conflict. At the tactical edge, connectivity cannot be assumed, yet forces still require AI, analytics, mission planning, briefing, and debriefing in seconds. Menace-I solves this by bringing the compute with you.

Menace-I delivers a powerful, secure, accredited SCIF/SAPF set of edge nodes wherever forces are operating—enabling classified mission planning, force generation, and battle management at the point of need. What once took a day or more to set up can now be established in under ten minutes. Every Menace-I runs on Lattice, Anduril’s AI-powered software, is powered by Voyager’s rugged edge computing platform, and is connected through Lattice Mesh, our secure networking fabric.

Proven Real-World Mobility Options

The recent sling load operation validated Menace-I as the only fully integrated mission planning solution for fifth-generation aircraft that is transportable by all organic Marine Corps assets: truck, KC-130J Super Hercules, and rotary wing aircraft.

This mobility matters. Expeditionary forces can now reposition a fully accredited planning node as quickly as they maneuver, ensuring secure command centers move in lockstep with the fight. What once required hours of setup or reach-back can now move forward with the unit, giving commanders immediate access to secure facilities wherever the mission takes them.

Petabyte-Scale AI at the Edge

Artificial intelligence, advanced analytics, and cross-domain data processing demand massive compute capacity—rarely available at the tactical edge. To meet this need, in July, Anduril delivered the first Menace-I in a petabyte-scale configuration, powered by Voyager.

The configuration quadruples compute capacity with tens of thousands of cores, brings petabyte-scale storage, and delivers high performance computing (HPC) and graphics processing unit (GPU) acceleration to the edge. It provides the same expeditionary capabilities of Menace-I, scaled to handle AI workloads, data fusion, mission planning, briefing, and debriefing—all without relying on fragile reach-back to distant data centers.

In a D-Day environment where connectivity is uncertain, Menace-I brings the data center with you.

At the heart of Menace-I is Voyager, Anduril’s family of rugged edge communications and computing solutions. Voyager is engineered to withstand extreme environments, electronic attack, and jamming. Its modular design makes it easily adaptable to different mission needs.

Voyager is deployed in austere environments worldwide, trusted by thousands of customers, and is the preferred solution for rugged computing for militaries and special operations forces.

Cross-Domain Operations with Everfox

Conflicts are contested across land, air, sea, space, and cyber. Winning requires seamless data movement across classification levels.

Voyager is now the preferred edge server hardware platform for Everfox’s cross-domain solutions, enabling enterprise-grade data transfer between classification levels in expeditionary environments. This partnership ensures that forces operating at the tactical edge can move intelligence across domains and networks without sacrificing security or speed. Imagery, targeting data, and mission plans can flow seamlessly from unclassified to classified environments—and back—enabling faster, more informed decisions in contested battlespaces.

Everfox, powered by Voyager, will be deployed across Anduril’s Menace family of systems, enabling customers to conduct cross-domain operations at the edge.

In the Field Today

Menace-I is deployed with customers and partners today, enabling forward-deployed forces to plan, process, and fight with the speed, security, and mobility needed to stay connected wherever the fight takes them.

Posted in AI / ML, C5ISR, Press Release, USMC | Comments Off on Anduril’s Menace-I Brings Petabyte-Scale Processing to the Warfighter at the Tactical Edge

Don’t Miss Lawman’s & Shooter’s Supply’s First Annual Rodeo – September 20th

Monday, September 15th, 2025

There’s a lot going on Saturday September 20th at Lawman’s & Shooter’s Supply’s first annual rodeo.

Come dressed up in your best rodeo outfit to win the costume contest, or win the mechanical bull riding contest to win awesome prizes donated by the many vendors. Maybe win both.

The legendary Ric Prado will be speaking and signing copies of his book “Black Ops: the Life of a Shadow Warrior.” You can also come listen to some live music and talk to 35+ vendors.

Posted in Industry | Comments Off on Don’t Miss Lawman’s & Shooter’s Supply’s First Annual Rodeo – September 20th

Kopin Secures Transformative $15.4M Award to Revolutionize Color MicroLED Technology and Domestic Production for U.S. Army Ground Soldier Integrated Visual Augmented Reality Applications

Monday, September 15th, 2025

Funded by the Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment (IBAS) program, the award reinforces support for U.S. based manufacturing and innovation of Kopin’s Color MicroLED

WESTBOROUGH, Mass. – September 10, 2025 – Kopin Corporation (NASDAQ: KOPN), a pioneering leader in application-specific optical systems and high-performance microdisplays, has been awarded a transformative $15.4 million Other Transaction Agreement (OTA) from the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) through the U.S. Army Contracting Command (ACC) under the Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment (IBAS) program. This landmark award accelerates Kopin’s development of ultra-bright, full-color MicroLED displays optimized for ground soldier augmented reality (AR) applications, positioning the company as a cornerstone of America’s defense innovation and domestic manufacturing ecosystem. By advancing daytime and nighttime readable AR display technology, Kopin is poised to redefine battlefield vision systems, enhancing soldier lethality, situational awareness, and operational effectiveness.

A Transformational, Game-Changer for Kopin and U.S. Defense

This award marks a pivotal moment for Kopin, solidifying its leadership in MicroLED technology and establishing a robust U.S.-based production capability for this critical defense technology. The funding empowers Kopin to develop full-color MicroLED microdisplays tailored for Integrated Visual AR systems, delivering unmatched performance in diverse lighting conditions—from intense daylight to low-visibility environments. Unlike traditional displays, MicroLED offers superior brightness, power efficiency, and durability, eliminating temporal artifacts that can impair soldier performance during prolonged use. This breakthrough technology ensures crystal-clear visuals, enabling warfighters to maintain focus and make critical decisions in high-stress combat scenarios.

By investing in scalable, U.S.-based manufacturing, Kopin is strengthening the nation’s defense industrial base, ensuring a secure and reliable supply chain for advanced display technologies. This domestic production capability not only supports current U.S. Army needs but also positions Kopin to win future defense programs that rely on full-color MicroLED for next-generation AR systems. The company’s Class 10 cleanroom facility in the United States, combined with over 40 years of experience and more than 400,000 defense vision systems fielded, underscores Kopin’s unmatched reliability and expertise as a trusted partner to the U.S. military.

Strategic Synergy for Future Defense Programs

The IBAS award builds on Kopin’s ongoing Soldier Display Trade Study and Phase 2 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract for an Off-the-Visor (OTV) extended reality (XR) prototype.Together, these initiatives create a powerful synergy, positioning Kopin at the forefront of soldier-centric AR innovation. The full-color MicroLED technology developed under this award will enable AR systems that deliver unparalleled clarity and usability, day or night, meeting the rigorous demands of modern warfare. We believe this award positions Kopin as a frontrunner for future U.S. defense contracts that prioritize advanced AR solutions for enhanced soldier performance.

“This is a transformative moment in Kopin’s history and growth trajectory as this contract and the expected follow-on non-dilutive infrastructure investment contracts will be the bedrock which we build the next decade of foundational innovations upon. Kopin’s expertise in MicroLED technology, coupled with our domestic manufacturing capabilities, is transforming how America’s warfighters see and interact with the battlefield,” said Michael Murray, CEO, President, and Chairman of Kopin.

“This award is a testament to our ability to deliver cutting-edge, soldier-centric solutions that enhance lethality and situational awareness. By integrating insights from our Soldier Display Trade Study and OTV prototype, we are creating AR systems that not only push technological boundaries but also prioritize human factors, ensuring soldier acceptance and operational success. This is a defining moment for Kopin as we pave the way for future defense programs.”

A Bright Future for MicroLED and National Security

The government’s recognition of MicroLED as a critical technology underscores its importance for next-generation AR systems. Kopin’s advancements in full-color MicroLED displays offer significant technical advantages, including greater brightness, energy efficiency, and production cost efficiency. These innovations enable scalable, high-volume manufacturing in the U.S., ensuring that America’s warfighters have access to state-of-the-art technology produced domestically. This award not only strengthens Kopin’s innovation pipeline but also enhances national security by reducing reliance on foreign supply chains.

With this transformative award, Kopin is well-positioned to provide key components for the development and production of AR systems that will define the future of battlefield vision. By delivering human-centric, high-performance solutions, Kopin continues to empower U.S. warfighters with the tools they need to succeed in the most challenging environments.
(more…)

Posted in Army, Contracts, Industry, Optics, Press Release | Comments Off on Kopin Secures Transformative $15.4M Award to Revolutionize Color MicroLED Technology and Domestic Production for U.S. Army Ground Soldier Integrated Visual Augmented Reality Applications

Haley Strategic Partners Launches All New MP2 Pistol Magazine Pouches

Monday, September 15th, 2025

September 10, 2025 (Scottsdale, AZ) – We set out to create all new Pistol Pouches designed around the superior retention principles of our popular MP2 Rifle Inserts.

The Single Pistol Pouch features a robust laminate construction with a removable injection molded MP2 Handgun Insert that enables secure retention of pistol magazines without the need for pull tabs, bungies or hook and loop flaps. The positive click-in retention provides audible and tactile feedback and delivers a smooth draw.

Rather than traditional heat-formed Kydex, which can deform in extreme heat or become brittle in extreme cold, the MP2 is injection molded from a blend of reinforced polyamides known for their superior weather performance and impact resistance, as well as their ability to maintain shape and retention over time.

The intuitive design allows the removable MP2-HG inserts to be installed to the shooter’s preference; either the traditional “bullets forward” orientation or “bullets outward” orientation. Common with competitive shooters and law enforcement, the “bullets outward” orientation provides a more ergonomic draw by reducing the amount of wrist rotation needed during a speed reload.

The all new Single and Double Pistol Pouches were designed to fit common sized double stack handgun magazines including but not limited to: Glock 17/19/19X/34/45/47/22/23, Sig Sauer P320/M18/M17/P226, Staccato P/C/CS/C2/XC (and other standard 2011 mags), Smith and Wesson M&P9, Springfield Armory XD9/XD40/Hellcat, HK P30/VP9/USP9, Walther PDP, and any similar sized magazine.

The research and development process also culminated in a brand new universal pouch attachment system for belts, the Mandible MOLLE Straps. The lightweight closure system is reusable and provides quick installation of pouches with finer adjustability than traditional MOLLE/PALS or Malice Clips® (sized for outer belts 1.5″ – 2.0″). The Mandible Straps were disruptively designed with a proprietary extruded hook and loop laminate for extra strength adhesion to inner belts as compared to OneWrap.

All MP2 Pistol Pouches come standard with 2x Mandible Vertical MOLLE Straps. The optional Mandible Angled MOLLE Strapprovides attachment of pistol magazine pouches at an ergonomic 45-degree angle for a more efficient draw/reload angle.

The all new Pistol Pouches deploy the latest manufacturing techniques and advanced materials to deliver an innovative system that seamlessly supports all end users. Learn more and shop at www.haleystrategic.com.

Posted in Load Carrying, Press Release | Comments Off on Haley Strategic Partners Launches All New MP2 Pistol Magazine Pouches