The US Marine Corps has demonstrated an eight-weapon StormBreaker ripple release from an F-35B, advancing efforts to engage multiple targets in a single pass. The test highlights the weapon’s precision-guidance capabilities and potential to reduce pilot workload, while software integration and additional testing remain critical to full operational fielding.
Defence
France is accelerating its solo sixth-generation fighter programme after the collapse of the Franco-German FCAS project, while preparing the AI-powered Rafale F5 “Super Rafale.”
The Pentagon awards Raytheon $6.3 billion for SM-3 Block IB interceptors, with production centred on Arizona and Alabama.
Israel has missed the final deadline to purchase 12 Boeing AH-64 Apache attack helicopters from the United States after failing to secure approximately $288 million in funding for the proposed $1 billion acquisition.
Edgewing has opened its first engineering hub for the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) in Turin, Italy, where engineers will develop aircraft systems and subsystems.
Canada’s F-35 fighter program has taken an unusual political turn, with former Royal Canadian Air Force fighter pilot Stephen Fuhr now playing a senior role in defence procurement after once becoming one of the aircraft’s most outspoken Canadian critics.
GE Aerospace and Kratos Defense & Security Solutions are advancing the GEK800, now designated F143-ZZ-100, after the US Air Force awarded the companies an engineering, manufacturing and development contract for the engine as a second source propulsion system for the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) programme.
The United States is creating Task Force Falcon Strike (TFFS), a multinational force designed to combine one way attack drones operating in the air, on the sea, and below the surface. US Central Command (CENTCOM) is leading the initiative.
The US Air Force plans to select vendors by the end of 2026 to develop concepts for cheap, attritable drones that can perform the MQ-9 Reaper mission of persistent intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and strike in a new way.
Patria has begun manufacturing F-35 fighter forward fuselages, landing gear doors, and F135 engine assemblies in Finland, and the company said the programme is progressing as planned.