All Activity

X-Bow Systems said Monday it has delivered more than 1,100 solid rocket motors, a sharp production milestone for a U.S. defense market trying to rebuild a rocket motor supply base that has struggled to keep pace with missile and drone demand. The company did not identify every customer or program tied to the 1,100 motors […]View the full article

Russia’s Ministry of Defense has officially confirmed that its air defenses intercepted a “long-range operational-tactical missile,” adding new weight to OSINT reporting about an unusual high-altitude engagement over Moscow Oblast on June 30. The Russian ministry did not specify where the intercept took place and did not identify the missile type. However, the statement came […]View the full article

Engineers at the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division and Fleet Readiness Center Southwest built a 3D-printing method that lets sailors repair cracked composite panels on the F/A-18 Super Hornet right at the base where the jet is stationed, and they expect it to cut repair time by roughly 50 percent once it reaches the […]View the full article

A Norwegian defense giant just bet on Ukraine’s homegrown robot army, with KONGSBERG, one of Europe’s largest defense manufacturers, and Ukrainian robotics company DevDroid signing a Memorandum of Understanding on June 30, 2026, in Kyiv that lays groundwork for large-scale, long-term cooperation to produce existing systems and develop new remotely operated combat robots together. The […]View the full article

A two-person engineering firm in a small Colorado town just picked up a $4.3 million contract to help the Air Force answer a question that still sounds like science fiction: can rockets replace cargo planes for getting supplies anywhere on Earth in under two hours? The Department of the Air Force awarded the money to […]View the full article

Northrop Grumman secured a $49 million contract from U.S. Space Systems Command to provide sustainment services for the Joint Tactical Ground Station, a network of mobile satellite ground receivers that give U.S. and allied military commanders real-time warning when an adversary launches a ballistic missile anywhere on Earth. The contract was awarded on a sole-source […]View the full article

Boeing secured a $49.5 million contract from the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center on June 30, 2026, to remanufacture the electronic flight controllers and produce production test equipment that sustain the AGM-86B Air Launched Cruise Missile, the subsonic nuclear-capable cruise missile that has served as one of America’s primary airborne nuclear delivery systems since 1982. […]View the full article

The U.S. Navy awarded Lockheed Martin a $104 million contract on June 26, 2026, to begin procurement of long-lead materials and early engineering work for the F-100 mid-life upgrade of Spain’s Álvaro de Bazán-class frigates, the most capable surface combatants in the Spanish Navy and one of the most combat-proven Aegis frigate designs operating outside […]View the full article

The U.S. Army awarded Lockheed Martin a $3 billion contract to produce additional AN/MPQ-64F1 Sentinel A4 radars and provide supporting engineering services, locking in production of the ground-based air surveillance system that serves as the primary airspace watchman for Army air defense units around the world. The contract, awarded through Army Contracting Command at Redstone […]View the full article

Japan, the United Kingdom, and Italy will extend the contract for the Global Combat Air Programme through the end of 2027, after Britain’s delayed defense spending plan created an impasse that had left the three-nation stealth fighter effort operating on temporary bridge funding since April, Nikkei reported. The extension resolves the immediate crisis triggered when […]View the full article

Sweden and Ukraine signed an agreement covering the procurement of fighter jets for Ukraine’s Air Force, with deliveries set to begin in early 2029, Militarnyi reported. The signing ceremony took place in the presence of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, with Ukraine set to receive not only the aircraft but […]View the full article

Pyka’s autonomous cargo aircraft DropShip flew a 32 km (20-mile) resupply mission entirely without a human pilot from Gulfport to Diamondhead, Mississippi, then executed a precision 91 kg (200 lb) airdrop, as part of the U.S. Army Reserve’s Combat Support Training Exercise within Operation Sentinel Justice, the company announced June 30, 2026. The aircraft also […]View the full article

At 3 a.m. in a contested forward operating base, a patrol thirty kilometres out is taking casualties. They need blood, plasma, and ammunition, not in hours, but in minutes. The aircraft that answers that call launches from a patch of dirt, climbs vertically on four jet turbine engines, pitches forward, and is gone. It returns […]View the full article

Russian investigators have opened criminal cases alleging officials and contractors stole approximately 500 million rubles ($6.4 million) earmarked for constructing naval infrastructure at the home base of Russia’s Caspian Flotilla, the business daily Kommersant reported. The cases, filed under Russia’s criminal code for abuse of authority in fulfilling state defense orders, name Alexander Katser and […]View the full article

Moldova’s Armed Forces will receive more than 100 Senator armored vehicles built by Canadian manufacturer Roshel as part of European Union defense assistance, Militarnyi reported. The procurement will run through the Estonian Centre for Defence Investments under a 2022 to 2025 aid package specifically designed to strengthen the mobility and transport capabilities of Moldova’s military, […]View the full article

One day, and that day may never come, there will be an easy search mechanism for the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Until then, the best a humble citizen from the provinces can do is take a low pass, bite a nibble at the most attractive bits, and then head off to digest what you got. Speeches, orders, and policy statements from the Executive Branch are important, but if you really want to drive change or correct error, you have to do it through the legislative branch. Yes, this is not finished and work must be done in the Senate, but let’s take a moment to see what the House has put on the table. I first got a bit too ambitious when I started digging in, and then pulled myself back to focus on just one part of the NDAA. As we like to focus as much as possible on maritime matters, I decided to scope down to the House Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee. We’re going to do a “Five and Ten” report. From their print, there are five items that brought a raised eyebrow. (1) A firm, “hold your horses” on the battleship: Sec. 129—Limitation On Construction of Battleship Pending Certification On Technology Readiness Levels This section would require the Secretary of the Navy to certify that the systems planned for inclusion on the BBG(X) program are at a sufficiently mature technology readiness level before award of a construction contract for the first of class vessel. The long pole in this tent will be the railgun. As you’ll see later, there is concern on the nuclear side of the house, but I’ve had some knowledgeable people tell me that really this isn’t a problem. Everything else, except for the hull form, already exists well enough for a Flight I. (2) FF(X) seems to be heading in an approved Salamander direction: Sec. 130—Strategy for Iterative Development and Flight Modifications for FF(X) Class Frigates This section would require the Secretary of the Navy to develop a strategy for iterative flight development of the new FF(X) vessel class. The Secretary of the Navy would be required to provide a briefing on the development of the strategy to congressional defense committees. (3) My punchline about “building Burke DDG until the crack of doom” seems to be policy now: Sec. 122—Multiyear Procurement Authority for Arleigh Burke Class Destroyers This section would provide multi-year procurement authority for up to fifteen Arleigh Burke class destroyers. (4) That is because, DDG(X) is being written out of law: Sec. 216—Modification to Test Program for Engineering Plant of Certain Vessels This section would apply previous requirements for DDG(X) land based testing and reserve power to subsequent classes of large surface combatants. No, I’m not exaggerating. From the text: (3) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘Senior Technical Authority for the DDG(X) destroyer class of vessels’’ and inserting ‘‘Senior Technical Authority for the class of vessels involved (as designated pursuant to section 8669b of title 10, United States Code)’’; (4) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘for the DDG(X) destroyer class of vessels’’ and inserting ‘‘for the class of vessels involved’’; (5) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘by not later than the delivery date of the lead ship in the DDG(X) destroyer class of vessels’’ and inserting ‘‘for a class of vessels by not later than the delivery date of the lead ship in that class of vessels’’; …and so on. Sigh. I guess my “Three Flights” Plan-B is DOA. (5) As Senator Sheehy (R-MT) said, Looks like the House will take one from off yonder there if we build two here. (b) REQUIREMENT FOR PURCHASE OF TWO NEW UNITED STATES-CONSTRUCTED VESSELS FOR EACH FOREIGN-CONSTRUCTED USED VESSEL PURCHASED IN EXCESS OF 12.—Subparagraph (C) of paragraph (3) of subsection (f) of such section is amended to read as follows: ‘‘(C) For each foreign-constructed vessel purchased by the Secretary under the authority of this paragraph in excess of 12, the Secretary shall contract for the purchase of two new vessels each of which is to be constructed in a shipyard located in the United States.’’. For the ten items that put a grin on my face, let’s look at the amendments that have passed. I like the Amendment Tracker, BTW. Nice format. BZ to Rep. Scott (R-GA), Rep. Kiggans (R-VA), and Rep. Courtney (D-CT) for making the Salamander Top-10 from the Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee En Bloc: There are some serious items here, and BZ to the subcommittee for what they did not approve. Look at some of the amendments that failed, designed to do little more than give people a chance to grandstand on their pet issues unrelated to seapower. Now, let’s see what makes it across the finish line. Leave a comment Share This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. View the full article

The U.S. Army awarded BAE Systems Land and Armaments a $35 million contract modification on June 30, 2026, for additional production of the general-purpose variant of the Cold Weather All-Terrain Vehicle, the tracked, amphibious troop carrier built to operate where wheeled vehicles simply cannot follow. The Army Contracting Command at Detroit Arsenal, Michigan, made the […]View the full article

AEVEX Corp. secured a $50 million contract from the United States Air Force on June 30, 2026, to continue expanding unmanned mission-support capabilities for current operations, with $27 million in initial funding committed at award. The Solana Beach, California-based company, publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker AVEX, will use the […]View the full article

Esh-Tech, the Israeli laser defense company behind the pulsed-laser counter-drone system DroneLight, raised $18 million in a funding round led by Kinetica Ventures, the company announced June 30, 2026. The Defence Blog previously reported on DroneLight’s public debut, where the system’s central claim was a radical departure from how laser weapons have traditionally worked: instead […]View the full article

The U.S. Air Force awarded a combined $471 million in contracts to 28 different companies on a single day, spreading the work of exchanging and repairing aircraft parts for the KC-46 Pegasus tanker across facilities in more than a dozen states and Israel, in a move that targets one of the most persistent and least […]View the full article

Northrop Grumman secured a $312 million contract from the U.S. Navy on June 24, 2026, to produce additional Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program Block 3 systems in two configurations called Hemisphere and Quadrant, expanding a production line that is now arming destroyers, aircraft carriers, and amphibious assault ships with the most capable electronic jamming technology […]View the full article

When a U.S. Special Operations helicopter or tiltrotor flies into hostile territory and an enemy radar locks onto it, the crew has seconds to break that lock before a missile finds them. The system that buys them those seconds just secured its long-term maintenance pipeline. L3Harris Technologies received a $614 million contract from U.S. Special […]View the full article

A self-driving railcar built by a St. Louis startup ended up doing real Army work at America’s largest Army Reserve training exercise this month, moving actual military cargo that arrived unannounced rather than the simulated loads the demonstration was originally designed around. Intramotev announced June 24, 2026, that soldiers operated its TugVolt autonomous battery-electric railcar […]View the full article

Palladyne AI’s subsidiary GuideTech secured a $2.3 million contract with an unnamed defense prime contractor to supply its BRAIN flight computer and FLEX flight software framework for a low-cost kinetic counter-UAS interceptor system, the company announced June 29, 2026. The deal represents a direct product sale of GuideTech’s hardware and software, with the prime contractor […]View the full article

A Polish-Turkish unmanned aircraft system demonstrated approximately one-meter accuracy striking a ground target during live field trials, MBF Group S.A. announced June 30, 2026, marking a significant validation milestone for the IRYDA+ X1 swarm-capable drone platform the Warsaw-based company has been developing with Turkish technology partner Shark Aviation Dynamics since their operating agreement was signed […]View the full article