U.S. Navy

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

Adm. Daryl Caudle, the nominee to be the U.S. Navy's next Chief of Naval Operations, has warned against not proceeding with the F/A-XX fighter program.

Confirmed details are still scant, but a recent congressional disclosure suggests the U.S. Navy has a powerful new tool coming into existence.

Regent has lifted the veil on a new product line aimed at performing maritime defense missions with its 12-passenger electric seaglider.

Replenishing key weapons and powering space launch demands drive extensive investments in Northrop’s propulsion production.

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 “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.

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).

Readers write about the U.S. Navy’s MH-60, SpaceX’s Starlink and FedEx founder Fred Smith. Plus: Behind the Scenes at NASA’s Electric Aircraft Testbed in Ohio.

President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” barely passed the Senate on July 1.

Startup Electra.aero is to study the benefits of hybrid-electric propulsion systems for U.S. Army operations.

The Pentagon’s fiscal 2026 budget request carries the imprint of recent conflicts, with a big investment in air and missile defense systems.

A special process used to fast-track legislation will likely be used again by lawmakers, a U.S. senator warned.

The late budget rollout, coupled with a reliance on GOP-led reconciliation, has caused consternation in a typically bipartisan budget process.

Boeing and the U.S. Navy have completed the first major upgrade package on a P-8 Poseidon.

With Navy acquisition programs already in a “mess,” the Pentagon is skeptical about adding a second sixth-generation fighter onto a strained defense industry.

Northrop Grumman and the U.S. Navy are in the midst of a series of upgrades to the MQ-4 Triton uncrewed aircraft fleet.

Boeing's Steve Parker defended U.S. industry’s ability to launch development of a second sixth-generation fighter at Paris Air Show, contradicting concerns by the Navy’s leader.

The Pentagon’s expected low funding request for the U.S. Navy’s F/A-XX will bankroll designs of the fighter aircraft to completion.

A fleet of land-based Northrop Grumman E-2D Advanced Hawkeyes could be acquired in fiscal 2026 to backstop the proposed cancellation of Boeing E-7A Wedgetails.

RTX and the U.S. Navy are starting to explore new applications and host aircraft for the Next-Generation Jammer’s mid-band technology domestically and abroad.

A sixth-generation fighter is on hold because the U.S. Navy’s top civilian official lost confidence in the defense industry’s ability to take on a new program.

The U.S. Navy’s new multi-engine trainer reached initial operational capability (IOC) in May, the service announced June 9.

GOP House appropriators are seeking to increase spending for sixth-generation fighters.