Entries by Bud McLaughlin

$5 a shot vs. $4M a shot: AeroVironment’s LOCUST X3 laser makes battlefield math easy

It’s simple battlefield math but not quite 1+1=2.  It’s more like a $50,000 drone>$30 million aircraft and a $4 million missile shot<the $50,000 drone. Enter the economics of AeroVironment: A $5 laser shot<$4 million missile shot, therefore the $5 laser shot>the $50,000 drone. This cutting-edge development by the Huntsville company was showcased this week at […]

Sigma, America’s most advanced mobile tactical cannon rolls into the Von Braun Center

Shoot and scoot. That’s the strategy behind the newest self-propelled howitzer in the U.S. arsenal. And it’s all made in the U.S.A. Elbit Systems, partnering with Oshkosh Defense, unveiled Sigma in a rare public appearance at this week’s AUSA Global Force Symposium and Exhibition. “We’re launching the Sigma howitzer with our friends at Oshkosh,” said […]

Ground is broken for ‘next chapter’ of ServisFirst bank

Citing the vision of Andy Kattos, ServisFirst Bank Regional CEO Jim Holtkamp celebrated the bank’s new Huntsville location during a groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday. “Andy drove by and saw a for sale sign and got on the phone,” Holtkamp said with Kattos, the bank’s director emeritus, among those in the audience. “Without Andy’s leadership over the […]

Bite of the VAMPIRE: L3Harris ramps up counter-drone production in Huntsville

There will soon be VAMPIREs flying out of Cummings Research Park. And they will be deadly. No, we’re not talking about the likes of Dracula or Nosferatu nor, even, characters of Anne Rice. These VAMPIREs (Vehicle-Agnostic Modular Palletized ISR Rocket Equipment) are the latest line of defense against drone attacks and L3Harris is ramping up […]

Global Force: Epirus, General Dynamics, Kodiak unveil mobile, high-power microwave platform to counter drones

With drones rapidly taking over 21st century warfare, namely the wars in Ukraine and Iran, countries have been forced to adjust their strategies in real time. Static missile-based defenses have proven inefficient in halting drone attacks and the mobile missile defense systems are more geared toward aircraft and incoming missiles. To answer this new threat […]

Ridgeline President Marsh honored with Alabama Women in Construction Award

As a dance teacher, Lauren Marsh made sure her students had the correct timing and steps. Now, as the president and co-founder of one of the state’s top construction companies, she makes sure the work is done in time and by following the right steps. For her work with Ridgeline Construction Roofing & Exteriors, Marsh […]

WHNT-TV Channel 19 owner Nexstar purchases Tegna, owner of WZDX-TV Fox 54

A mega broadcast merger now leaves Huntsville’s four TV stations in the hands of two companies. The Federal Communications Commission said Thursday it had approved the purchase of Tegna, which owns WZDX-TV Channel 54, by Nexstar Media Group, the owner of WHNT-TV Channel 19. Last August, Gray Media, the parent of WAFF-TV Channel 48, bought […]

Innovation Power Hour introduces Oakwood students to the world of business and entrepreneurship

“You will be the changemakers for the future.” With those words, students at Oakwood University left academia for the business world through the Alabama Collective’s Innovation Power Hour. In collaboration with Innovate Alabama, the Alabama Collective hosted the Power Hour in partnership with Oakwood University on Thursday, bringing together students, faculty, alumni, and industry leaders […]

Delivering victory: Global Force Symposium and Exposition to address technological changes

We all know that technology is ever-changing at an ever-increasing speed. To avoid being left in the dust, whether commercially or militarily, these changes must be met. The Army is making its own transformational changes, as well, to answer challenges from our adversaries. And those changes will be addressed at next week’s Association of the […]

GENESIS: AeroVironment’s $97M Army contract is latest in next-generation defense systems

To boost the Army’s efforts to modernize, AeroVironment is turning to GENESIS. Under a three-year, $97.4 million contract, the company, which has an office on Corporate Drive in Huntsville, will design and integrate prototype test environments — including flight motion table and cryogenic space chamber facilities — on Redstone Arsenal. The contract was awarded under […]