ROME — Italy, Japan and the U.K. have signed a stopgap contract to keep work going on their joint GCAP fighter program for three months, giving the U.K. time to free up more funding.
The joint program office created by the three nations announced the signing of a £686 million ($906 million) development contract on Thursday with Edgewing, the joint venture set up to develop the sixth-generation…
‘Infrastructure is the weapon’: Inside the race to build portable interceptor factories
April 2, 2026
KYIV, Ukraine — While interceptor drones have become one of the most sought-after commodities of the Iran war, Ukrainian officials and defense practitioners are cautioning allies to recognize that the pace of today’s battlefield requires them to buy into an entirely new…
PARIS — Ukraine claimed its air defenses were close to 90% effective in March in destroying or suppressing Russian targets, as both sides tout their successes in what has become one of the defining features of the war between the two countries: defending against massed…
‘Ukrainian housewives’ and Skyranger delays – German defense poster child Rheinmetall is in hot water
April 2, 2026
VIENNA — The chief executive of Rheinmetall, Europe’s highest-valued defense company, continues to face criticism after dismissing Ukraine’s drone industry as the work of “housewives” with “3D printers in their kitchens” − comments his own company quickly walked back. Now, German media report the Bundeswehr’s flagship Rheinmetall counter-drone system is running at least 16 months…
Ukraine’s war has forced the country to become a trailblazer in drone interception. The conflict in the Middle East could be its make-or-break moment to take the technology global.
In an effort to export Ukrainian systems and know-how, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has…
ROME — U.S. military aircraft heading from the United States to the Middle East have been refused permission to stop off at an air base in Italy, an Italian government source has told Defense News.
The request to land at Sigonella air base in Sicily was issued to Italian…
Editor’s note: This story originally appeared on Laser Wars, a newsletter about military laser weapons and other futuristic defense technology. Subscribe here.
The U.S. Navy spent at least six months resurrecting a high-energy laser weapon that previously graced the bow of a warship for a new military exercise last year, the service recently revealed.
The Navy’s Directed Energy Systems…
The Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division last month revealed the service’s new “Drone Killer Cartridge,” or DKC, a small-arms ammunition specifically designed to destroy small quadcopter drones.
In the announcement, Brian Hoffman, chief engineer of NSWC…
MANILA, Philippines — The Japanese destroyer JS Chokai is now capable of launching U.S. Tomahawk cruise missiles, making it the first Japanese warship that can strike targets beyond 1,000 kilometers.
This development marks a key shift in the country’s defense strategy.
PARIS — The war in Ukraine is driving a shift toward fast-changing, mass warfare that Western militaries are unprepared for, while Russia is adapting rapidly, according to Adm. Pierre Vandier, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Transformation.
The gap between what Europe should be doing for defense and its actual capabilities undermines deterrence, risking Russian aggression if Moscow concludes…
