AURORA, Colo. — Lockheed Martin hopes to begin rolling out early Block 4 capabilities to the F-35 this summer, a senior company official said Monday.
Chauncey McIntosh, vice president and general manager of Lockheed’s F-35 program, said at the Air and Space Forces Association’s AFA Warfare Symposium here that the company plans to drop an update to the F-35′s Technology Refresh 3 software…
Airbus wins $500 million contract to upgrade French Navy comms
February 26, 2025
PARIS — Airbus Defence and Space, together with Naval Group, won a contract worth as much as €480 million (US$504 million) to upgrade the communications system of the French Navy to prepare for collaborative and networked combat.
Airbus is leading an industrial…
Air Force budget cuts may open old wounds with Congress
February 26, 2025
The Air Force wants to accelerate its plans to retire old and outdated aircraft to meet Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s order for services to cut and reallocate a portion of their spending.
But the service’s previous efforts to cut planes like the A-10 Warthog and older…
Trump fires Joint Chiefs chairman, Navy head in DOD leadership purge
February 24, 2025
President Donald Trump on Friday evening fired Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. CQ Brown, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti and Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Jim Slife.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a statement that Trump plans to nominate retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan Caine, who joined the venture capital firm Shield Capital in January, as the nation’s next…
Army Stinger missile replacement competition heads into flight tests
February 21, 2025
RTX and Lockheed Martin are heading into flight tests this year in a head-to-head competition to develop a replacement for the U.S. Army’s Stinger missile.
The Army is pursuing a Stinger missile replacement for short-range air defense that can go faster, survive jamming…
Air Force tests unarmed nuclear missile in pre-dawn video
February 21, 2025
The Air Force conducted a test launch of an unarmed Minuteman III missile early Wednesday to help ensure its land-based nuclear force still operates safely and effectively.
Airmen from Air Force Global Strike Command launched the intercontinental ballistic missile from…
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — GM Defense has signed an agreement with Edge Group to build a local manufacturing capability for some of its light tactical vehicles, which could be integrated with Emirati weapons.
The General Motors subsidiary will work on the project with NIMR Automotive, an arm of the Emirati defense conglomerate, to assess demand for military platforms in the Middle East…
General Atomics eyes ‘huge’ MQ-9 sale to Saudi Arabia
February 20, 2025
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates —General Atomics is preparing to offer a package deal to Saudi Arabia to acquire a number of MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones, company executives said in an interview at the IDEX arms fair in Abu Dhabi.
“We are still in the very early stages but…
Fincantieri, Edge nab $500M-plus maintenance deal for UAE Navy fleet
February 19, 2025
A picture taken in February 2019 in Monfalcone shows Fincantieri’s logo on a crane at the company’s shipyard. (Miguel Medina/AFP via Getty Images)
ROME — The United Arab Emirates has handed a five-year, €500 million ($524 million) contract to a joint…
Japan has ordered 17 of the latest variant of the Boeing-manufactured CH-47 Chinook cargo helicopter, the company said Thursday. The CH-47 Block II Chinook is an extended-range version of the aircraft that is used by the U.S. Army and U.S. Special Operations Command. Japan is the fourth customer for the new variant.
Germany purchased 60 of the helicopters in a $4 billion deal in 2022, and the U.K.
