Defense

Nigeria’s Air Force has topped up its fleet of Leonardo AW109 Trekker utility helicopters with the purchase of 10 aircraft, the service has confirmed.

Sikorsky has won a contract from the U.S. to build more than 70 UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters to be exported to Austria, Brazil, Greece, Sweden and Thailand.

The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force has grounded its fleet of Bell Boeing V-22 Ospreys following a hard landing incident.

Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) and Airbus have inaugurated the Final Assembly Line (FAL) complex for the Airbus C295 aircraft in Vadodara, India.

The UK has set out to recruit a dedicated national armaments director.

Concordia Technologies has been involved in missile and hypersonic weapons programs led by the Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency.

Lockheed Martin has claimed the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program will deliver more economic benefit to the UK than any other current or future combat aircraft program.

Airshow China comes Nov. 11-14 to Zhuhai, the stage for a biennial showcase of the country’s ever-expanding aviation and space industries.

TATA ADVANCED SYSTEMS and AIRBUS inaugurated C295 assembly line in Vadodara, India to deliver 40 aircraft from facility to the Indian Air Force as part of order for 56 (16 delivered from FAL in Seville, Spain) to replace legacy Avro fleet.

The A&D industry’s critical minerals supply chain is in a precarious position given its reliance on Chinese imports, panelists say at the Zero Gravity summit.

The Turkish government has announced a further increase to its 2025 defense budget, pushing spending to its highest level against GDP for 17 years.

Airbus says India-assembled C295s will start rolling off the local production facility in 2026, as it disclosed the inauguration of the Vadodara FAL in Gujarat.

L3Harris’ Viper Shield—the only modern F-16 electronic warfare system currently in production—harnesses the power of software to give pilots and commanders the edge in an increasingly contested battlespace.

The U.S. State Department has approved the potential sale to Taiwan of Nasams and two additional air defense radar systems.

Norway has finalized an agreement with the U.S. to buy more than $360 million in Raytheon Amraam missiles.

Israel has signed a contract to expand production capability of the Rafael Iron Beam laser-based defense system, aiming for service entry in about a year.

CZECH REPUBLIC finalized contract to acquire two NATO-standard C-390s.

This event coincided with a worrying escalation by Russia in its 33-month war against Ukraine.

Overall, sales rose 5% year-on-year to $8 billion, earnings per share climbed to $2.34 and the company’s backlog reached a record $34 billion.

South Korea's Agency for Defense Development (ADD) and Hanwha have revealed their new supersonic air-to-ground missile.

Safran expects to sell its share in the Roxel missile motor joint venture to MBDA before the year's end.

Our roundup of the main aerospace and defense stories making the news this week.

Kelly Ortberg’s task of revitalizing the beleaguered company was never going to be easy. Striking workers just made it harder.

Bulgaria becomes the third air force to clear a first flight event for Lockheed F-16 Block 70s, following Bahrain and Slovakia.

The U.S. Air Force’s top commander has refuted the Lockheed Martin CEO’s characterization of the first batch of Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA).