DefenseNews

French air force official says FCAS industry kerfuffle is overblown

November 10, 2025
ROME — Reports of infighting between partners on the French-German-Spanish FCAS fighter program have been exaggerated and the platform will see the light of day with all members on board, a leading French air force official has said. “There are differences but don’t believe all you are reading,” said Brig. Gen. Phillipe Suhr, the French Air Force point man for the program. “We are still…
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DefenseNews

Germany moves to field a miniature anti-drone missile

November 7, 2025
BERLIN — Germany is set to develop and deploy a miniature missile designed to combat drones inexpensively, with lawmakers approving a funding proposal on Nov. 5. Dubbed SADM, the Small Anti-Drone Missile will be fitted onto Rheinmetall-made Skyranger 30 anti-aircraft…
DefenseNews

GCAP fighter jet designers push to keep weapons, drone options open

November 7, 2025
ROME — The new sixth-generation GCAP fighter should be able to carry a wide variety of armaments and work with any number of different “Loyal Wingman” drones, a leading official on the UK-Japanese-Italy program has said. British defense ministry official Group Captain Bill Sanders said the under-development platform needed to have a weapons bay ready to accept any armament used by the…
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DefenseNews

Experts: Full nuclear weapons tests would backfire on US

November 6, 2025
Resuming full testing of nuclear weapons — as President Donald Trump called for last week — would be unnecessary, costly, undermine nonproliferation efforts, and empower the nation’s adversaries to use their own tests as intimidation, experts told Defense…
DefenseNews

US Air Force wants 1,558 fighters for low-risk wars. Can it get there?

November 5, 2025
The Air Force told lawmakers it needs a fighter fleet of 1,558 manned, combat-coded fighters to carry out and sustain operations at a low risk, nearly 300 more than it has now. In an August report signed by Air Force Sec. Troy Meink, which was obtained by Defense News, the service said it needs to “grow to minimize risk” over the next decade, as it focuses on modernizing its current…
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DefenseNews

Army’s clock must now start ticking faster when a soldier goes missing

November 4, 2025
A new U.S. Army directive orders commanders to act within hours — not days — when a soldier goes missing, giving them three hours to classify a service member as “absent-unknown” and eight hours to notify the soldier’s family once the absence is discovered. The change, issued by Army Secretary Dan Driscoll last week, compresses what sometimes can be a slow, inconsistent process for…
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