Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

Solestial plans to demonstrate a two-week production sprint to manufacture 1 kW of spacecraft solar cells and modules.

BAE Systems appears to have adopted a modestly swept, cropped delta wing planform for a combat air demonstrator.

U.S. defense officials confirmed July 16 that a new version of the Kratos XQ-58 Valkyrie will transition into a program of record for the U.S. Marine Corps.

The U.S. Space Force last week released its first International Partnership Strategy.

A Slovakian-led research project to develop a hydrogen-powered vertical-takeoff-and-landing aircraft has been approved to receive almost €60 million ($69 million) in European Union funding.

Firestorm Labs' investors include the venture arms of Lockheed Martin and Booz Allen Hamilton as well as JP Morgan.

China’s eVTOL startups continue to make rapid progress with new financing and pre-orders.

Discussions among senior military leaders internationally have taken on a more serious approach, the top U.S. Air Force officer says

The “tough decision” to cut the U.S. Air Force’s planned E-7A Wedgetail fleet was simply a balancing act for funding, Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin says.

Forcing the U.S. Navy to move forward on the F/A-XX program would slow the U.S. Air Force F-47 program, the Trump administration argues.

The European Union plans a large boost in defense spending in its next multiyear budget that aims to total €2 trillion ($2.3 billion) for 2028-34.

The Global Combat Aircraft Program (GCAP) expects to have a flying prototype by 2030, says Lt. Gen. Antonio Conserva, the Italian Air Force chief.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization officials are growing anxious about plans to replace the alliance’s flagship E-3A AWACS early warning aircraft.

The Austrian Air Force is looking to define the requirements for its Eurofighter Typhoon replacement effort this year.

Denmark says it is donating military equipment to Ukraine to enhance the country’s ability to tap satellite communications in a move Europe expects other countries may follow.

The UK government has named Air Marshal Harv Smyth to be the next chief of staff for the Royal Air Force.

Airbus says it has signed an agreement with Kratos to offer a version of the XQ-58A Valkyrie for potential German Air Force use before the end of the decade.

Thales says it is in advanced talks with RTX to buy the U.S. company’s stake in the Thales-Raytheon Systems joint venture.

HASC passed its fiscal 2026 defense policy bill, looking to block some key moves in the DOD proposal and raising the fleet size of USAF mobility aircraft.

SpaceX sent another Falcon 9 rocket into orbit to deliver 24 members of Amazon’s fledgling Kuiper constellation.

Anduril flew another round of powered flight tests for the Barracuda-100M, a proposed long-range alternative to the Lockheed Martin AGM-114 Hellfire.

House lawmakers are directing the Defense Department to formally establish the Tactical Surveillance, Reconnaissance and Tracking (TacSRT).

A U.S. House subcommittee on July 15 voted to reject NASA funding cuts contained in the White House’s fiscal 2026 budget proposal.

Joby has announced a planned doubling of its production footprint at its low-rate facility in Marina, California.

More than five months into the second Trump administration, it is becoming increasingly clear who the winners and losers are in Western aerospace and defense.