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
Patria to join with Ukraine’s General Cherry to make drones in Finland
Finnish defense company Patria is teaming up with Ukrainian drone maker General Cherry to jointly develop drones and start production in Finland.
Rheinmetall, MBDA to develop laser weapon for German Navy
Rheinmetall and MBDA aim to field an operational laser weapon for the German Navy in 2029.
Thales to buy French underwater-drone maker Exail in $4.5 billion deal
Industry champions in France and Italy move to consolidate their positions in a growing market for unmanned underwater naval equipment.
In ‘red hot’ counter-drone market, Echodyne CEO sees radar demand boom
Defeating drones starts with detection, and suppliers of relatively small and affordable radars are rushing to meet global demand.
ICEYE to double radar-satellite capacity by late 2027 as demand surges
The company's goal is to ramp up production to two satellites a week as it responds to surging demand from European militaries.
French army shows Leclerc tank with once-mocked anti-drone cage
Once derided as primitive, roof-mounted armor variants have been adopted by both Russian and Ukrainian forces as drone threats proliferate.
France to test its own AI-powered battlefield command in June NATO exercise
The French Army has developed its own large-language model for staff officers, called Berthier, named after Napoleon’s chief of staff.
At a NATO range in Latvia, hits and misses mark Europe’s counter-drone journey
Drone technology is “a couple of steps ahead” of countermeasures, one officer said, with interceptors having to work every time to prevent losses.
