Defense

Analysts push for breaking up defense primes to boost valuations and meet market demands.

While major new contracts generally grab the headlines within the global military aircraft market, Aviation Week’s newly released 2026 Military Fleet & MRO Forecast projects that aftermarket demand will far outstrip spending on procurement over the next decade.

Hadrian, a startup which is building automated factories for the defense sector, has launched a 3D printing division.

The UK defense ministry is progressing with plans to launch a contest to find a replacement for the BAE Systems Hawk T2.

Suppliers to GE Aerospace boosted their material input to the engine OEM by more than 40% in 2025, including a double-digit improvement in the fourth quarter.

Crucial for defense and scarce due to China’s export controls, samarium was recently named the most vulnerable critical mineral by the U.S. Geological Survey.

The U.S. Air Force expects a quick delivery of the Boeing 747-8i given to President Donald Trump by the government of Qatar.

Some of the UK RAF Eurofighter fleet is set to receive an advanced AESA radar under a $610 million contract.

Spanish defense electronics provider Indra says it is developing an airborne electronic-attack system for use on fighters.

FCAS is suffering due to a slow pace of decision-making rather than political will to work together, France’s ambassador to Germany says.

From “left-of-launch” early warning to terminal defense, Pitch Black is targeted at an integrated kill web hypersonic defense system.

The GPS signals on satellites are being jammed from terrestrial sources at growing rates, and the demand for alternate options for position, navigation and timing is burgeoning.

Emirati defense conglomerate Edge Group has received additional orders for the HT-750 optionally manned turbine-powered light helicopter from the UAE.

Germany has signed up to acquire additional stocks of the Meteor beyond-visual range air-to-air missile, MBDA has declared.

Mexico became the 25th country to order the Lockheed Martin C-130J airlifter, the U.S. company said on Jan. 21.

An Anduril-made sensor passively detected and targeted another aircraft from an autonomously commanded Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) for the first time.

Turkey could begin receiving Eurofighter combat aircraft from Qatar as soon as February, media reports have suggested.

Italy is budgeting €18.6 billion ($22 billion) for its role in the design, development and programmatic phases of the Global Combat Air Program.

The U.S. Navy now plans to brief industry on a concept for a new family of ship-launched ballistic missiles in February.

The Space Development Agency (SDA) is tasking Starfish Space to deorbit at least one of its satellites based in low Earth orbit (LEO) under a mission targeted for 2027, the Tukwila, Washington-based startup announced Jan. 21.

NASA is poised to begin flight tests of a representative stub wing section that is aimed at dramatically enhancing the drag-reducing benefits of natural laminar flow (NLF) in next-generation, swept wing airliners.

Washington has approved Singapore’s request to acquire four Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft and Mk. 54 Mod 0 lightweight torpedoes.

Sixty years ago in Aviation Week, editor C.M. “Tony” Plattner, a U.S. Marine Corps reservist, spent two months covering the military’s rapid buildup in the Vietnam War, flying as an observer on nine combat missions.

Congressional appropriators seek to add $8 billion to the Pentagon’s budget for fiscal 2026 over its request, calling for $838.7 billion.

For almost a year, the Pentagon’s pause and review of the U.S. Navy’s F/A-XX program has tested the patience of the competitors.