Khyzhak AI Turret Kills Unjammable Drones & Pentagon Orders 10,000 Cruise Missiles | May 15, 2026

Ukraine just solved the fiber-optic drone problem — and the answer isn't electronic warfare.This episode covers Ukraine's deployment of the Khyzhak AI-powered gun turret, a Brave1-developed system that autonomously tracks and engages fiber-optic-guided FPV drones — the one class of UAV that electronic warfare jamming cannot touch. The turret is already in active combat with K-2 Brigade and more than ten frontline units. Hosts Marcus Vale and Sam Chen dig into the supply chain crisis driving it: fiber-optic spool prices have risen 800 percent as AI data centers and drone manufacturers fight over the same cable. Then the Pentagon's most significant munitions announcement in years — framework agreements with Anduril (Barracuda-500M), Leidos, CoAspire, and Zone 5 for 10,000 low-cost cruise missiles by 2029, plus startup Castelion's parallel deal for 500 Blackbeard hypersonic strike weapons. CYBERCOM's request for a 2,660 percent AI budget increase signals machine-speed offensive and defensive cyber operations are no longer theoretical. The CBO drops a $1.2 trillion price tag on Golden Dome, and the Air Force finalizes requirements for an attrition-tolerant MQ-9 Reaper replacement. The common thread across every domain: designing for mass, building for loss, and pushing the kill chain to machines.Hosted by AI. Researched and written entirely by AI using open-source intelligence. Mistakes are possible — always verify with primary sources.