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BAE Systems said ROOK is designed to disrupt and defeat incoming threats, including unmanned aerial systems and anti-tank guided missiles. The company said the system is intended to improve crew and vehicle survivability and mission effectiveness.

ROOK is a soft-kill countermeasure system that provides improved situational awareness and threat response in complex battlefield conditions. Its electronic countermeasures defeat threats before they reach the vehicle by confusing or jamming their guidance systems.

The company said this approach can render threats ineffective while preserving the limited magazine depth of hard-kill kinetic countermeasures. BAE Systems described soft-kill technologies as a complementary part of layered ground vehicle protection.

“Modern ground warfare demands a layered defense, and soft-kill technologies are a critical, complementary component,” said Dave Gillespie, director of Optics and Countermeasure Solutions at BAE Systems.

“ROOK offers a cost-effective, sustainable defense with an infinite magazine depth, continuously disrupting enemy systems,” Gillespie said.

The Soft Kill APS program builds on core research and development programs. BAE Systems said it supports the Army’s commitment to rapidly field robust and adaptable active protection systems.

The contract will also support further development of BAE Systems’ Stormcrow and TERRA RAVEN countermeasure systems. It will also cover the delivery of prototype systems for vehicle integration and testing.

https://defence-industry.eu/bae-systems-wins-u-s-army-program-for-rook-soft-kill-protection-system-on-combat-vehicles/

Ian Stalker, Executive Chair, commented:

"The PEG analysis completed by SRK Exploration at the San Domingo project is providing valuable insight into the fertility, mineralogical evolution, and exploration potential of our Arizona pegmatite portfolio. The identification of high-priority targets such as Dragon, Midnight Owl, and Ruby Soho demonstrates the effectiveness of integrating advanced geochemical vectoring tools with drilling, mapping, and surface geochemistry. Importantly, the PEG workflow is helping refine our understanding of spodumene-bearing systems and supports the prioritization of targets with the strongest potential for future resource growth and metallurgical optimization.

Bradda Head will continue to investigate and utilize modern technologies, including AI, to ensure Bradda Head remains at the forefront of most appropriate technological advances in drilling, enabling the Company to advance its exploration programs more efficiently across its portfolio including the recently acquired Whistlejacket project.

We look forward to providing further updates in due course."

The aerospace giant submitted long-awaited documents to the US Securities and Exchange Commission late on Wednesday that gave investors their first look inside Mr Musk’s space empire.

The filing revealed SpaceX, which is targeting a record-breaking $1.75tn valuation, posted a net loss of $4.9bn last year on revenues of $18.7bn, taking the company’s total losses since its launch to over $40bn.

Mr Musk’s company has been spending heavily on its next-generation rocket development, constellation of satellites and AI technology. Its capital expenditure stood at $20.7bn last year.

The financial details come ahead of a public listing expected in mid-June that could raise as much as $75bn, around three times the size of the next largest stock market float in history – the 2019 listing of oil giant Saudi Aramco. SpaceX said it would list on the Nasdaq exchange under the ticker SPCX.

The prospectus also shed light on the intertwined relationship between Mr Musk’s companies and the Silicon Valley artificial intelligence boom.

SpaceX disclosed that it had signed a deal this month to lease data centre capacity and computing power to AI company Anthropic.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/05/20/musks-spacex-kicks-off-biggest-stock-market-listing/

BAE Systems built an armored vehicle with drone-killing capabilities in ten months and put it in front of soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, for training — without waiting for a government contract to fund it.

The AMPV-30, a version of the U.S. Army’s Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle fitted with a 30mm cannon and a radar system for detecting and destroying small drones, has been running through training exercises with cavalry troopers and infantry soldiers from the 1st Cavalry Division as part of the Army’s Transformation in Contact program since late April 2026, according to William Sheehy, BAE Systems’ Vice President of Ground Maneuver Platforms.

The vehicle emerged from a deliberate decision by BAE to self-fund development after Secretary of War Pete Hegseth publicly challenged the defense industry to operate on a wartime footing and bring solutions to current battlefield threats without waiting for the traditional acquisition cycle. Sheehy confirmed in a social media post that BAE identified the problem, organized its own resources, and delivered two prototype vehicles to soldiers in ten months, a timeline that would normally represent a preliminary design review in government procurement terms, let alone a vehicle capable of conducting soldier training.

https://defence-blog.com/bae-systems-delivers-its-self-funded-ampv-drone-killer-to-the-army/

This may be a concern:

The growing number of satellites in space poses a danger to Earth because of the pollution released in their launches, scientists have warned.

In recent years, many companies including Elon Musk’s SpaceX have rushed to launch “megaconstellations” of satellites, using them to provide internet connections.

That has led to a range of problems, including warnings from scientists that the satellites are clogging up the sky. That brings an increased risk of collisions – which experts warn could rapidly make space inaccessible.

Now scientists have warned that the launches themselves are also polluting space. By the end of the decade, such launches will account for 42 per cent the climate impact from space sector pollution, they warn.

When rockets are launched carrying the satellites, they put black carbon or soot into the upper atmosphere. That lasts much longer than the soot generated on the ground – leading to a 540 times more significant impact on the environment.

https://www.independent.co.uk/space/launch-pollution-satellite-study-new-b2977364.html?lid=v2mgrp2c7xeh&utm_medium=email&utm_source=braze&utm_campaign=IndyTech%20Newsletter%2019-5-26&utm_term=IND_Tech_Newsletter&empar=157eafc17a34508cd04f383edae3c291f9adb0f554a4b1f32335136d8ff88369

the ministry of defence has signalled its intent to award bae systems a four-year contract worth up to gbp 4 million for the supply of artillery, howitzer and armoured vehicle weapons systems components, including parts for the 105mm light gun.

bab**** land defence limited, acting as agent on behalf of the mod, has published a notice of intent to negotiate a single-source contract with bae systems gcs international ltd under section 41 of the procurement act 2023.

the justification given is that “only bae systems gcs international ltd has significant niche expertise, knowledge, and acquired specific experience to undertake the manufacture, testing and supply” of the required components.

https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/uk-to-award-bae-systems-artillery-components-contract/

... from 'Investingpro': Interest Coverage Ratio for FTC is ‎34.3x‏ and above peers.

Alphabet’s Google is in talks with SpaceX to launch orbital data centers, signaling a structural shift from terrestrial server reliance to space-based compute (Bloomberg).

Rolls-Royce Holdings is ramping up its India strategy with major bets across fighter jet engines, civil aviation, naval systems, and nuclear energy. The company aims to make India its fourth home market, targeting opportunities like the AMCA and the country’s fast-growing aviation sector. With potential multi-billion-dollar investments, technology transfer offers, and plans for MRO facilities, Rolls-Royce is positioning India as a long-term hub for manufacturing, partnerships, and advanced engineering growth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SA5zG3pU4LU

Faaaaark!

Part 4: As the Company noted in the 9 April release, the borehole results show the exact opposite of grade degradation at depth.

The geological confidence underpinning that statement — the well-exposed flow banding, the well-defined gravity anomaly associated with the high-grade TK1A outcrop and the structural interpretation of the system — is what gives the current seven-target drill programme its significance.

Each hole that confirms grade continuity at depth adds another data point to the resource model and another layer of confidence in the scale argument.

At Kieshöhe, the 9 April update reinforced what the 26 March release had begun to suggest.

Trenching extending for more than 2.5 kilometres in cumulative length has exposed a large number of mineralised carbonatite sheets and dykes over an extensive area.

The Company’s observation is that while Kieshöhe has fewer large structures than Teufelskuppe, it potentially hosts multiple closely-spaced dykes and sheets with the potential to contribute significantly to total project tonnage.

Hence the decision to acquire a dedicated second rig for the site.

The rest: https://thatstocksguy.substack.com/p/kendrick-resources-4ec?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1504413&post_id=196668498&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=33awho&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

Part 3: 9 April: DEM Completed, Second Rig Acquired, Resource Work Begins

Three things to consider here.

First, the diamond drill programme targeting all seven carbonatite bodies at Teufelskuppe — TK1 through TK7 — is ongoing.

Second, a new drill rig has been acquired and is being commissioned at Kieshöhe.

Third, and most significantly for near-term catalysts - work is underway to generate a Maiden Mineral Resource Estimate based on historic data supplemented by the new DEM completed on 5 April.

DEM completion is the key.

Commissioned by KEN using satellite imagery to create detailed high-resolution maps of the eight most prominent plugs, dykes and cone sheets at Teufelskuppe, it provides the foundation for converting the above-ground mineralisation into a JORC 2012 compliant resource estimate.

The previous in-house estimate from Bonya — described as unverified but encouraging — used a proprietary modelling tool with nearest-neighbour gridding methodology.

The new DEM is a more statistically precise and independent assessment. With that survey now complete, the updated volumetric and tonnage estimate of above-ground mineralisation was described as expected shortly.

That maiden MRE is now the single most important near-term catalyst for the stock. When it arrives, it will for the first time attach a tonnage figure to the grade data that has been driving the narrative. Grade without tonnage is a compelling geological story.

Grade with tonnage is a resource.

The 9 April release also contained important structural commentary on why the Company expects grade to persist at depth — and why the current drill programme is designed to prove that hypothesis across all seven targets rather than just the two holes already completed.

The technical argument runs as follows.

At Teufelskuppe, REE enrichment in the central zone is associated with sub-vertical plunging emplacement structures — flow banding, shearing and folding — which suggests the high-grade mineralisation persists at considerable depth.

The system is interpreted as the cap of a diatreme (meaning the exposed carbonatite hills represent a relatively shallow expression of a much larger intrusive system). In contrast to weathered and supergene-enriched carbonate systems where grade typically degrades with depth, the late-magmatic mineralisation at TK is not expected to follow that pattern.

The first drill hole — TWDD001, results released 16 March — provided the first empirical test of this hypothesis.

It passed.

That hole ended in mineralisation at 6.09 wt% TREO at 80.66 metres depth, with the headline intercept of 8.14 wt% over 21.16 metres from 59.5 metres.

Part 2: The historical data inherited by Kendrick at Kieshöhe, as summarised in the 26 March release and attributed to Walter et al. (2022) in a scientific journal, says it all.

Across all whole-rock channel samples and drill core, the combined KH carbonatite samples returned 1.6 wt% TREO with a peak value of 10.1 wt%.

Breaking that down by rock type:

dolomitic carbonatites averaged 1.9 wt% TREO across 22 samples calcitic carbonatites averaged 2.1 wt% TREO across 11 samples ankerite carbonatites averaged 0.5 wt% across 4 samples

When you focus on the dolomitic ferrocarbonatite outcrop and xenolith-free core sections — the material that dominates the complex — the average TREO rises to 2.0 wt%.

The Nd and Pr contribution at Kieshöhe averages 27% of the rare earth pool across all three carbonatite categories — slightly higher than the 25% figure at Teufelskuppe.

Individual peak values include 1.55 wt% neodymium oxide and 0.55 wt% praseodymium oxide in single samples. These are not average figures, but they indicate the ceiling that this system can reach in its highest-grade expressions.

A key feature repeated from the January analysis was that uranium concentrations at Kieshöhe are low compared to carbonatites elsewhere globally.

This matters because elevated uranium is one of the main factors that complicates rare earth processing economics and creates regulatory headaches.

Kieshöhe, like Teufelskuppe, appears largely to dodge this issue.

Three open pits have already been identified as potential satellite sources of ore supply to complement the high-grade resource expected from Teufelskuppe.

The ore would route to a central processing facility within the Teufelskuppe project area, approximately 30 kilometres distant and connected by existing road access. The architecture being contemplated is a hub-and-spoke model - Teufelskuppe as the high-grade starter pit and primary resource, Kieshöhe as the tonnage contributor that extends mine life and supports processing plant utilisation.

From Charles Archer (part 1)

In the weeks since my last piece, Kendrick has published four material RNS releases: a Kieshöhe project update on 26 March, a broader Namibia project update on 9 April, a Teufelskuppe drilling update on 14 April, and yesterday, a full strategic development and operational delivery plan.

A second drill rig has been acquired and commissioned. A Digital Elevation Model has been completed across Teufelskuppe. And a maiden Mineral Resource Estimate is being actively worked towards.

Colin has used the phrase ‘Tier 1’ in an RNS.

Bird can perhaps be accused of talking his own book at times (don’t we all!), but in my many interviews with the man, he has always been careful with caveats and forward looking views.

So this is significant.

Let’s consider where we are.

26 March: Kieshöhe Gets Serious

When I wrote about Kendrick in January and then again in March, the narrative was dominated by Teufelskuppe - where the peer-reviewed channel sampling data lived and where the first inherited drill core came from.

It’s also where the exceptional grades — 3.12 wt% average TREO across 295 whole-rock samples, central zone averaging 4.47 wt% — had been independently validated.

Kieshöhe was always described as the second licence. Promising, less intensively explored, average TREO of 1.54 wt% from 14 diamond drill holes and systematic channel sampling across an area of 1,500 by 600 metres.

The 26 March RNS began the process of upgrading that assessment.

The headline from that update saw more than 2,500 metres of cumulative trenching completed and sampled at Kieshöhe.

Evidence of mineralised breccia between high-grade carbonatite cone sheets is under active investigation — this breccia material will be trenched, channel and bulk sampled for both grade assessment and ore sorting sighter test work.

Samples have been submitted to an independent international specialist facility for detailed petrological studies, with the specific objective of guiding the next phase of metallurgical test work optimisation.

The Ministry of Defence has confirmed a GBP 19.2 million contract is to be awarded to BAE Systems to integrate the Sting Ray Mod 1 torpedo onto the RAF’s fleet of P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, with the contract due to be signed in February 2027 and running through to 2032, with an option to extend to 2035.

A transparency notice published in April 2026 confirmed the intention to direct award to BAE Systems Surface Ships Limited, with the MoD citing the company’s unique technical expertise spanning more than 26 years since it acquired the original equipment manufacturers who developed and manufactured the weapon.

The notice states that no other supplier holds the specific technical expertise, experience or engineering capability required to safely deliver the integration while maintaining current levels of weapon effectiveness, and that BAE possesses unique techniques, tooling and test equipment required to undertake integration and testing without exposing the programme to unacceptable engineering or safety risk.

https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/british-torpedo-to-be-integrated-onto-sub-hunters-next-year/

Cheers, Lalez; much appreciated.

A near-30% dilution does not bode well.

From the advfn board, with thanks to theapiarist:

They buy a mine for $500 million with 2 year mine life.

And within 18 months they've increased the mine life beyond 10 years, discovered another high grade mine under, and accessible to, the processing plant, PLUS put $1.2 billion in the bank.

Amazing doesn't really come close.

This is the stuff of dreams!

Thanks, Dip... much appreciated.

... when is it, please? I've been away for a while; thanks.