Defense

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand — Australia successfully tested a “Frankenstein” medium-range air defense system last month, harnessing existing and new capabilities in a way nobody has tried before. After dawdling over the need to improve its ground-based air defense (GBAD) capabilities, Australia — with American assistance — is prioritizing a hybrid solution that takes sensors, software and…

VIENNA — Nuclear cooperation between France and Germany has moved from words to first actions, with French nuclear-capable bombers visiting a German airfield this month and joint exercises on the calendar. The leaders in Paris and Berlin had formed a “nuclear steering group” in March to coordinate the countries’ closer integration in atomic strategic matters. It is part of a major French…

LONDON — Solid rocket motor manufacturer X-Bow Systems is launching what the company hopes will be a much-needed remedy to the ongoing conundrum of combating cheap drones with multimillion-dollar interceptors. The New Mexico-based firm this week pulled the curtain back on Buckler, an interceptor designed to kill Group 3 drones — UAS weighing up to 1,320 pounds and flying below 18,000 feet at…

LONDON – As militaries prepare for a new age of air combat defined by ever-evolving unmanned aerial systems, one defense company is betting that the workload of fighter pilots will swell far beyond flying an aircraft to include directing swarms of drones. At Farnborough Airshow this week in London, BAE Systems unveiled a helmet-mounted prototype it says is intended to explore how future…