Defense

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

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.

For years, members of the U.S. Navy’s Super Hornet and Growler community had raised the question of adding a ground collision avoidance system (GCAS).

The U.S. Space Force has taken delivery of the GPS Operating Control System (OCX).

Safran has laid the first stone for a new turbine blade factory in Rennes, France, as the group creates the foundry for its civil Leap and military M88 engines.

Germany has sent a letter of request to the Pentagon to buy Typhon ground-launched, long-range strike systems, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius says.

Rapid space-based intelligence is mission-critical for defense and intelligence agencies operating in today’s high-speed global environment.

The U.S. Air Force has deployed two of its new Boeing F-15EX Eagle IIs to Kadena Air Base, Japan, as it prepares to stand up a unit of the fighters at the base.

President Donald Trump approved an acceleration of arms shipments to Ukraine on July 14, with U.S. weapons paid for by European governments.

A slow but steady stream of data has been released on the U.S. FY26 defense budget request, which would represent a substantial hike of 11% in nominal terms.

French President Emmanuel Macron plans for a hike in the country’s defense spending to respond to the growing threat perception.

Norway can buy nine Sikorsky HH-60W combat search-and-rescue helicopters, the U.S. government announced on July 11.

Vertical Aerospace announced the successful closing of a $60 million equity raise, extending its cash runway through the middle of 2026.

The BAE Systems PHASA-35 high-altitude, solar-electric, uncrewed aircraft system (UAS) will carry an Aloft Sensing X-band synthetic aperture radar.

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) wants to cancel its Space-based Kill Assessment (SKA) experiment in favor of higher priority Pentagon investment.

Rocket Lab has awarded a contract to build the sea-based landing platform for its forthcoming Neutron reusable launch vehicle, the company announced July 10.

For more information about Aviation Week Intelligence Network’s (AWIN) 2025 Military Fleet & MRO Forecast and other Aviation Week data products, please see: https://pgs.aviationweek.com/forecast

Spanish-Australian startup Dovetail Electric Aviation has announced plans to partner with Netherlands-based Zeusch Aviation to develop hybrid-electric retrofits for the Beechcraft King Air twin turboprop.

Spanish startup Grasshopper Air Mobility has partnered with Swedish delivery service Jetpak to offer uncrewed parcel deliveries in Sweden.

The Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) looks to add $30 billion to the Pentagon’s budget, while blocking some aircraft retirements and increasing F-35As.

Pratt & Whitney has released imagery of its digitally designed XA103 next-generation adaptive combat engine and says initial parts production is underway.

Japan’s Marubeni is to resume demonstration flights with Lift Aircraft’s electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) Hexa at the 2025 World Expo in Osaka.

Leonardo, in a July 10 statement, said it would equip six of the Lockheed Martin C-130Js with laser-based Miysis systems.

An audit of the UK’s F-35 program shows it continues to suffer from delays in deliveries, capability enhancements and reliability shortfalls.