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Defense Autonomy Spending Surges as AI Reshapes the Battlefield

Newswire.ca - Tue Feb 17, 8:59AM CST

Issued on behalf of VisionWave Holdings

NEW YORK, Feb. 17, 2026 /CNW/ -- USANewsGroup.com News Commentary – Congress passed an $839 billion defense spending bill for fiscal 2026, the Pentagon's first full-year appropriation since fiscal 2024, directing $9.8 billion toward autonomous and unmanned systems across the Department of Defense[1]. The DOD's total IT budget reached $66 billion, a $1.8 billion increase from 2025, with every service branch increasing its AI allocation and the Navy alone adding $308 million in AI spending, a 22.7% year-over-year jump[2]. VisionWave Holdings (NASDAQ: VWAV), Ondas Holdings (NASDAQ: ONDS), Draganfly (NASDAQ: DPRO), BlackSky Technology (NYSE: BKSY), and Mercury Systems (NASDAQ: MRCY) are among the companies operating across these converging defense technology sectors.

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