Breaking Defense
• Barry Rosenberg, Casey Laughman
The Joint Interagency Task Force 401 is expanding its options against evolving unmanned-aircraft threats, including directed-energy weapons, AI-enabled systems, kinetic and non-kinetic tools, and measures to harden defenses. The mix points to a layered approach rather than reliance on a single counter-drone capability.
Defense Industry & Major Contractors
Latest source-backed stories
The Joint Interagency Task Force 401 is expanding its options against evolving unmanned-aircraft threats, including directed-energy weapons, AI-enabled systems, kinetic and non-kinetic tools, and measures to harden defenses. The mix points to a layered approach rather than reliance on a single counter-drone capability.
Boeing has won both the Navy’s and Air Force’s next-generation fighter competitions, a rare dual victory that gives the company a central role in future U.S. combat-aircraft development. The immediate test, CSIS’s Jerry McGinn said, is execution—a demanding challenge as Boeing moves from selection to delivering the programs.
Boeing’s selection for a stealth-fighter program is framed as a pivotal moment for the company. The available article summary provides no further details on the program, contract value, customer or schedule, limiting what can be said about its implications.
EDGE has unveiled a sovereign MK 82 penetrator munition designed to strike hardened targets. The announcement highlights the UAE defense group’s development of a locally produced air-delivered weapon, though the article provides no details on performance, platform integration, production plans or customers.
High activity
Rheinmetall ICEYE has begun production of dedicated SPOCK 1 synthetic-aperture radar satellites for Germany, while Lithuania has received its first Switchblade 600 loitering munitions. Separately, the Pentagon plans an urban counter-drone exercise, DroneShield won a U.S. contract worth up to $500 million, and Russia reported intercepting nearly 900 Ukrainian drones.
The program has secured approval from France, Germany and Spain following its Preliminary Design Review this summer. The milestone advances MBDA’s Remote Carrier Compact demonstrator toward a planned first flight in 2029.
Airbus Defence and Space and CenSec, a Danish business cluster representing companies and researchers in defense, space and security, have signed a partnership agreement. The groups said the deal is intended to expand cooperation and strengthen ties between Airbus and Denmark’s aerospace and defense supply base.
HAL’s Koraput division has delivered its 2,000th aero-engine, while the company plans to raise annual AL-31FP output to 50 with a ₹335 crore investment. GE Aerospace also dispatched F404-IN20 engines for India’s Tejas Mk1A program, with HAL expecting 20 engines in the second half of 2026.
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