🔎 Defense Tech Signal — Wednesday

• The Pentagon’s largest-ever budget request includes expanded funding for AI, data infrastructure, drones, and the “Golden Dome” initiative, reinforcing software, autonomy, and digital industrial capacity as core modernization priorities.
• The Air Force canceled RTX’s next-generation GPS ground control program after years of delays and cost overruns, signaling a potential reset in how the service acquires and fields mission-critical space C2 systems.
• China extended $8.4 billion in credit to back an orbital data center venture, underscoring a strategic push toward space-based compute infrastructure with dual-use civil-military implications.

Sources:

1) Military Times — https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2026/04/21/pentagon-seeks-funds-for-golden-dome-drones-ai-in-largest-ever-budget-request/
2) RealClearDefense — https://www.realcleardefense.com/2026/04/22/air_force_scraps_rtx_gps_satellite_ground_control_program_1178170.html
3) SpaceNews — https://spacenews.com/china-backs-orbital-data-center-startup-with-8-4-billion-in-credit-lines/

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