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14h ago

Hegseth Tours Texas Defense Firms and Texas A&M as Impeachment Effort Is Paused

The visits underline the Pentagon’s push to lock in commercial sea‑drone suppliers with longer, more predictable contracts to speed U.S. defense production.

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U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks during an event at Saronic Technologies in Austin on Friday, Sept. 18, 2026. Hegseth visited the Austin defense technology company as part of his “Arsenal of Freedom” tour, which the Defense Department says is focused on focuses on strengthening the U.S. defense industrial base and domestic manufacturing.
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Overview

  • Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visited Saronic Technologies and Capital Factory in Austin on Sept. 18 and then Texas A&M on Sept. 19 to praise industry innovation and meet cadets and veterans.
  • Hegseth publicly credited Saronic’s Corsair autonomous 24‑foot sea drones with a June rescue of two AH‑64 pilots and a later strike in the Strait of Hormuz, calling the company a model for U.S. military manufacturing.
  • Saronic has a reported $392 million production contract and has announced a roughly $3.2 billion Port Alpha shipyard project at the Port of Brownsville that the company says will create more than 10,000 jobs.
  • The Pentagon used the visits to press for procurement changes that give industry larger, longer and more predictable contracts to speed commercial technologies onto the battlefield and expand U.S. shipbuilding capacity.
  • Rep. Thomas Massie filed articles of impeachment on Sept. 15 over Hegseth’s Iran‑war conduct but the House recessed early, postponing any floor vote and leaving the matter unresolved while the secretary continues public outreach.