The U.S. Army conducted Falcon Peak, a September exercise in Arizona to evaluate counter-drone radars, interceptor drones, and autonomous gun systems against cartel unmanned aircraft. The military detected 378 drone incursions in 30 days along the southern border.
The Army awarded Anduril $162.8M to build the Next Generation Command and Control common data layer for I Corps in the Pacific, with options potentially raising total value to $1.8B over five years.
The newly public drone maker drew down $82M of its $90M Air Force IDIQ contract for Guardian counter-UAS interceptors, the second and largest order in two months.
The Virginia munitions startup closed a Series A led by Konvoy Ventures to expand Piranha guided glide bomb production from 35 to 500 units per month via a new Factory Zero facility.
Ondas won a $56 million contract to produce Electronic Safe & Arm Devices for a European loitering munition program, the first major ESAD order since acquiring GATE and Bron Technologies.
Advanced Navigation secured $110 million in Series C funding to build a Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Center of Excellence in Huntsville, Alabama, developing counter-EW technologies for autonomous systems.
Open Cosmos secured over €300 million to expand satellite manufacturing and deploy 192 satellites for the ConnectedCosmos LEO network, aiming for full global coverage by 2030 as a European sovereign alternative to U.S. providers.
Japan's domestically built hypersonic glide missile reached operational status at Camp Fuji on March 31. The Defense Ministry plans new units in Hokkaido and Kyushu during fiscal 2026 and Block 2 variants with 1,000-2,000 km range by the 2030s.
Japan publicly displayed its Type 25 surface-to-ship guided missile for the first time since deployment, confirming the 1,000 km range ground-launched system built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries as Tokyo's first operational counterstrike weapon.
GE Aerospace increased F110 fighter engine production 50% year-over-year since Q2 2025 through $600M in internal manufacturing investments and $100M+ in supplier tooling, using AI and process improvements to cut lead times 60%.
The U.S. Air Force added $12.1 million to Scale AI's contract to develop autonomous AI agents for the E-4C Survivable Airborne Operations Center, raising total value to $44.3 million through November 2027.
The U.S. Navy commissioned its second Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, equipped with AN/SPY-6(V)1 radar and Aegis Baseline 10 combat system for integrated air and ballistic missile defense.
Germany has begun exploratory talks with the UK on joining the Global Combat Air Program, a next-generation fighter developed by the UK, Italy and Japan. Internal German assessments reportedly favor a separate collaboration with Spain and Sweden instead.
German Chancellor Merz announced €1.3 billion in support for Ukraine, with €1 billion in military aid focused on mass-producing interceptor drones through Quantum Systems to counter Russian jet-powered Shaheds.
Ukrainian President Zelensky announced that small air defense missiles developed under the Brave1 grant program will begin operational use against Russian drones in late October 2026. Eight companies received funding to develop the systems.
The Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division plans a five-year follow-on contract worth $50 million to $100 million for engineering support to redesign F-35 Mission Planning Environment software, with award expected May 2027.
Azerbaijan signed an agreement to purchase Roketsan's Barbaros coastal defence system armed with Atmaca and Çakir anti-ship missiles. Deliveries begin before end of 2026 with remainder within two years.
Shield AI announced a three-state industrial network for its X-BAT autonomous combat aircraft, targeting 9,800 jobs and $78 billion in economic activity through 2046.
Joint Interagency Task Force 401 awarded OWT Global a $38.2 million contract to deliver mobile counter-drone training teams, curriculum development and instruction across the U.S. military.
The U.S. Navy finished a major maintenance period on the Ohio-class guided-missile submarine USS Florida, returning it to operational readiness with capacity for 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles and 66 special operations personnel.
The U.S. Coast Guard awarded Lockheed Martin a $735 million contract for six C-130J aircraft, expanding its long-range surveillance fleet to 25 total aircraft with deliveries from fiscal 2028 through 2030.
The U.S. Air Force and Northrop Grumman broke ground on a new B-21 final assembly line at Plant 42 in Palmdale, California, with over 1 million square feet of facilities planned to increase annual production capacity by 25 percent.
Lockheed Martin won a $245 million contract to deliver 48 IRST Block II infrared search-and-track pods for U.S. and Australian F/A-18E/F Super Hornets by February 2031.
The U.S. Army integrated Epirus' high-power microwave counter-drone weapon with external sensors and command-and-control networks during Operation JAILBREAK FALCON FURY, demonstrating non-kinetic defeat capability within a layered defense architecture.
The Department of War released a five-year strategic plan identifying castings, forgings, and microelectronics as single points of failure in U.S. weapons production, warning that insufficient surge capacity invites adversary aggression.
Anduril Industries acquired Sandwich, Massachusetts-based Popoto Modem to integrate adaptive acoustic modems into its autonomous underwater systems portfolio, starting with Copperhead UUVs.
The Army created Army Futures and Autonomous Systems Command to develop and field autonomous fires, combat vehicles and manned-unmanned teaming by fiscal year 2028, acting on Pentagon guidance.
Echodyne secured an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with a $250M ceiling from JIATF-401 to supply MESA radars for counter-UAS operations domestically and overseas.
Defense Secretary Hegseth ordered creation of a four-star functional combatant command for autonomous systems to stand up October 1, 2027, building on Drone Dominance playbook that has delivered 13,440 drones.
Taiwan took delivery of the first two of 66 F-16V Block 70 jets from a $8 billion 2019 sale, after software delays pushed back arrival. The aircraft strengthen Taiwan's air defense against Chinese military pressure.
France's Air Force, DGA and defense AI agency announced Hypairion, a sovereign autonomous combat aviation program designed to fly crewed-unmanned teams in 2028 and integrate into Rafale F5 by 2033.
Northrop Grumman is expanding U.S. microelectronics operations to quadruple domestic chip production by 2030, reducing dependence on Taiwan for defense and commercial applications.
South Korea's DAPA and India's defense ministry restarted discussions on exporting the Hanwha Aerospace-built Biho Hybrid system for a 104-unit Indian Army requirement valued at $2.5 billion, reversing a stall caused by Russian objections and India's domestic production push.
The National Reconnaissance Office successfully orbited NROL-97 using SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket, the first NRO mission on the heavy-lift vehicle, demonstrating operational confidence in commercial reusable hardware for classified payloads.
Senate lawmakers are pushing for bipartisan funding of the Pentagon's $185 billion layered missile defense program after it faced political gridlock under reconciliation-based appropriations in 2025 and 2026.
The Army created the Futures and Autonomous Systems Command and designated a Program Acquisition Executive for Autonomy to accelerate fielding of autonomous fires, combat vehicles and collaborative teaming platforms by fiscal 2028.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a memorandum to remove administrative bottlenecks in counter-UAS technology deployments, targeting approval timelines of days or weeks instead of months.
The U.S. Army is soliciting industry proposals to remediate the energetics supply chain at Blue Grass Army Depot with $2.3 billion planned for fiscal 2027 to build government-owned, contractor-operated facilities for RDX, HMX and next-generation explosives.
Canadian space domain awareness company NorthStar completed a SPAC merger valuing it at $300 million and raised an additional $30 million in private investment, beginning NYSE trading to fund orbital sensor constellation deployment.
The Air Force formally launched the Massed Modular Aircraft program to develop a lower-cost, modular drone successor to the MQ-9A Reaper, selecting seven companies including Otto Aerospace, Anduril, and General Atomics, with a target of 500+ aircraft by 2032.