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DefenseNews.com

Air and Space Force leaders plot an immediate shift toward AI- and drone-driven warfare

Air and Space Force leaders are gathering to address how drones, artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies are reshaping the battlespace. Their focus is on adapting current force structures, operations and strategy to a radically changed future of warfare rather than waiting for those technologies to mature.

AeroTime

ASELSAN demonstrates ANTIDOT electronic-warfare and FULMAR 200 SAR pods on Bayraktar TB2s

ASELSAN flew Bayraktar TB2 drones equipped with its ANTIDOT electronic-support and electronic-warfare pod and FULMAR 200 synthetic-aperture radar pod during an international demonstration in Konya, Turkey. Defense delegations from 18 countries observed the systems perform radar detection, SAR imaging and electronic-warfare missions.

Politico

FAA Scales Back AI Tool Rollout After Airlines Raise Flight-Scheduling Concerns

The FAA is adopting a more modest rollout for a new artificial-intelligence tool after airlines expressed concern about its impact on flight scheduling. The phased approach is intended to help manage implementation and limit disruption as the agency introduces the technology.

Joby Aviation

High activity

Joby’s autonomous Cessna Caravan flies 3,199 miles across the U.S. without pilot input

Joby Aviation says a Cessna Caravan equipped with its autonomy technology completed a 3,199-mile transcontinental flight, including takeoffs and landings, without control inputs from the onboard pilot. The demonstration advances the company’s ambitions for autonomous freight and logistics, while a safety pilot remained part of the operation.

Wall Street Journal

High activity

FAA’s $12.5 billion ATC modernization faces $100 million tariff hit as agency scales back AI ambitions

The FAA expects tariffs to add about $100 million to its more than $12.5 billion air traffic control modernization program. Separately, the agency is narrowing an AI-assisted tool to real-time decision support initially, amid airline pushback, with longer-term plans to predict traffic flows and map routes days ahead.

Bloomberg

SpaceX Discusses Buying Failed Startups’ Data to Train AI Models

SpaceX has held internal discussions about purchasing customer and operational data from troubled or defunct startups, according to people familiar with the matter. The proposed approach would give the company a lower-cost source of information to improve its artificial intelligence models.

Payload

Icarus Robotics completes four-flight parabolic test campaign ahead of planned 2027 ISS mission

Icarus Robotics completed a four-flight parabolic campaign testing its free-flying robot, advancing preparations for a planned first mission to the International Space Station in 2027. The tests mark a key step in validating the system for microgravity operations ahead of the orbital demonstration.

The War Zone

USAF prepares to integrate European allies into Collaborative Combat Aircraft program

Growing allied interest in Collaborative Combat Aircraft is pushing the U.S. Air Force in Europe to address interoperability across a diverse mix of future systems. The effort could shape how European partners participate in, operate alongside and connect with the USAF’s next-generation uncrewed combat aircraft.