Rudy Ruitenberg
Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He started his career at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.
All Stories By Rudy
Defense tech startups had their best funding year ever in 2025
In 2026, defense-tech startups will have to prove to investors they can turn funding into actual production at scale, one analyst said.
France, Sweden send anti-drone units to Denmark to secure EU summit
Denmark in recent days observed unexplained drone activity at several of its airports as well as military locations.
Eying a Starlink alternative, France to boost Eutelsat stake
The French government announced a 10-year framework contract with Eutelsat worth as much as €1 billion to provide military-grade satellite communications.
Survival of the quickest: Military leaders aim to unleash, control AI
At a Paris summit on artificial intelligence, defense officials from around the world ponder what's in store for artificial intelligence in warfare.
British troops test laser weapon as cheap option to fry drones
The British Army’s experimental laser weapon uses advanced sensors and tracking systems to maintain lock on target.
France, UK embrace fully drone-based naval mine hunting with new tech
Novel systems include a portable operations center, unmanned surface vehicles for finding mines, and underwater drones for disabling them.
Europe picks consortium for sovereign satellite constellation IRIS²
The EU is counting on IRIS² as a sovereign alternative to the likes of Starlink, Amazon’s Kuiper or U.K.-based OneWeb.
Europe launches space mission in defense against city-killer asteroids
The Hera mission will investigate the result of NASA’s asteroid redirection test, in which the U.S. agency rammed a spacecraft into the asteroid Dimorphos.
European militaries rush to catch up on space traffic mapping
“We have no map of space, it’s a drama for the military,” said Col. Ludovic Monnerat, head of space domain for the Swiss Armed Forces.
France plans low-orbit demonstrator that can target other satellites
The nanosatellite won’t be weaponized, though it may include a “dazzling” capacity, according to the general in charge.
