MBDA has completed the first METEOR missile jettison trial from an F-35B Lightning II’s internal weapons bay at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland. The successful test demonstrated safe weapon separation and advances the UK-Italian integration programme towards further developmental releases and live missile firings.
Lockheed Martin
The Pentagon cannot establish the status of more than 1 million previously reported lost F-35 components valued at over $85 million. A new GAO report exposes serious inventory tracking failures across the fighter program’s $31 billion global spare parts pool, raising concerns about contractor oversight, financial reporting and military readiness.
The US Air Force has moved its AGM-183A ARRW hypersonic missile into production under a $694 million Lockheed Martin contract, reviving a programme that faced repeated test failures and funding uncertainty.
The Pentagon and Lockheed Martin have announced a 10-year framework targeting 1,560 F-35 fighters at a production rate of 156 aircraft annually.
An unnamed foreign government is funding $18.79 million in development and integration work on a tailored F-35 variant, with the effort continuing through December 2030.
Canada has reportedly paused the planned purchase of 16 UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters amid worsening trade tensions with the United States. The move comes as Ottawa reassesses its dependence on US defence suppliers, reviews its F-35 fighter acquisition and faces growing calls to strengthen domestic military manufacturing.
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.
The first F-16 Block 72 fighter built for the Royal Moroccan Air Force (RMAF) has completed its maiden flight, opening the next stage of a major program to modernize Morocco’s combat aircraft fleet and strengthen its future airpower capabilities.
Finland has begun a new chapter in military aviation with the arrival of its first permanently based F-35A fighters in Rovaniemi, strengthening national defense, NATO interoperability and the country’s transition to fifth-generation airpower.
Lockheed Martin is preparing to deepen its aerospace manufacturing footprint in India if its C-130J Super Hercules proposal is selected for the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) 60-aircraft medium transport programme.