Swarmer, a U.S. drone software company with close ties to Ukraine, wants to be an integral link in Kyiv’s push to transition from weapons consumer to a worldwide defense tech provider. The Austin, Texas-based company has become increasingly active in Ukraine within the context of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s ongoing push to allow the privatization of Ukrainian defense companies.

Erik Prince, the former Blackwater founder who is chairman of Swarmer’s board, told Threat Status Special Correspondent Guillaume Ptak in an interview in Ukraine that the company is a vehicle for enhancing the value and relevance of U.S. tech sent to the warzone, while also bringing more Ukrainian tech to the United States.

Swarmer made its Nasdaq debut as Ukraine seeks to turn one of the few advantages from four years of full-scale war into an export industry. “We are in a position now where either we will automate the battlefield, or, unfortunately, our enemies will,” said Serhii Kupriienko, Swarmer’s co-founder and chief executive. “The only chance for us to survive here is to do it faster, in a credible way, and to build the automated systems we can trust in.”

Chinese state-linked hackers are systematically targeting American AI technology and the scale of the campaign is larger than most public reporting has captured, according to a new report by the Austin, Texas-based security firm CrowdStrike.

U.S. chip export restrictions have slowed Beijing’s AI development, and reporting has tracked China’s push to close that gap through domestic models. CrowdStrike’s report suggests the Chinese Communist Party has determined that it is faster to simply steal what it can’t build.

North Korea, a military treaty ally of China, is running a parallel operation, using AI-enhanced personas and U.S. front companies to steal AI secrets and try to generate revenue for use in Pyongyang’s weapons programs.

The largest-ever deployment of counter-drone technology in American public safety history is unfolding around the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will play out over the coming weeks in 11 U.S. host cities and include matches in Mexico and Canada.

The FBI says there are no specific credible terrorism threats heading into the tournament, but rogue drones, lone wolf actors and human trafficking operations top the list of concerns for the multilayered security apparatus protecting the matches. The FAA has established no-fly zones over all stadiums, and FBI field offices in host cities have authority to interdict, seize and — if necessary — shoot down drones that violate restricted airspace.

Counter-UAS systems have already been deployed this year at the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix and the Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia. The World Cup will stress-test those capabilities at an entirely different scale. A separate and specific security concern surrounds Iran’s national soccer team, which will play its first three matches on the West Coast.

Sweden is donating 16 Saab JAS 39 Gripen C/D jets to Ukraine as part of a broader deal for Kyiv to purchase 20 of the more advanced Gripen E/F models. The Ukrainian president suggested the country could ultimately acquire up to 150 of the aircraft — a development that could have a transformative impact on the war, now in its fifth year.

The Gripen was designed during the Cold War under the assumption that Swedish airfields would be among the first targets if Russia ever invaded Sweden. The fighter jets bring a unique capability set: They can take off and land on ordinary highways, be refueled and rearmed in minutes by a small ground crew, and operate from dispersed, austere locations.

Ukrainian pilots and technicians are already in training on the platforms. The Gripens heading to Ukraine will carry the European-designed Meteor long-range missile, capable of striking targets more than 125 miles away.

The Pentagon’s Drone Dominance Program is spending $1.1 billion to procure more than 340,000 one-way attack systems and the industrial base is responding, writes Andy Yakulis, co-founder and CEO of the Utah-based defense tech company Vector.

“The question nobody is answering: Who flies them?” Mr. Yakulis writes in an op-ed for The Washington Times, arguing that “drone dominance will not be won by manufacturing drones alone. It will be won by building operators at scale.

“Technology matters. The people behind it matter more,” writes Mr. Yakulis, a former Army special operations officer. “The Defense Department is beginning to invest in the industrial base. It must also invest in its soldiers.”

• June 11 — 2026 CNAS Virtual National Security Conference, Center for a New American Security 

• June 12 — Privileged but Powerless: Jieun Baek on Pyongyang’s Greatest Weakness, Atlantic Council

• June 12 — Winning the Innovation Competition (Featuring Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering Emil Michael), Hudson Institute

• June 15 — How Should the United States Counter Russia and China’s Hybrid Warfare? Atlantic Council

• June 16 — Fireside Chat with Assistant Secretary of War Michael Cadenazzi on U.S. Munitions Production, Center for a New American Security

• June 18 — Deterring Russia and China: Securing America’s Nuclear Future, Hudson Institute

• June 24 — IndoPac 2026 | Naval Dominance: Shipbuilding, Autonomy & C2, Threat Status Events