AeroTime
• Clement Charpentreau
Contractors will demonstrate cargo-drone solutions for the US Marine Corps at a Huntsville event early next year. France’s DGA has qualified Airbus Helicopters’ VTOL Aliaca U010 for naval operations, while Exail won a Babcock selection to supply Drix O-16 drones to the Royal Navy. Alpha Unmanned Systems also raised €4 million.
UAV Development & Drone Programs
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The Gambit Series is being presented as a scalable path for collaborative combat aircraft, with its developer positioning the family to counter current threats and address future challenges. The announcement offers no details on aircraft variants, capabilities, customers or delivery timelines.
Contractors will demonstrate cargo-drone solutions for the US Marine Corps at a Huntsville event early next year. France’s DGA has qualified Airbus Helicopters’ VTOL Aliaca U010 for naval operations, while Exail won a Babcock selection to supply Drix O-16 drones to the Royal Navy. Alpha Unmanned Systems also raised €4 million.
Germany’s procurement office has commissioned MBDA Deutschland to build a demonstrator for an aircraft-mounted laser weapon. The effort will address the technical challenges of integrating directed energy onto an airborne platform, laying groundwork for a possible future Luftwaffe capability against drones and cruise missiles.
Shield AI is planning to raise at least $1 billion to finance production of its latest autonomous fighter jet, CEO Gary Steele said. The company is also considering more mergers and acquisitions, signaling a push to scale both its manufacturing capacity and its broader business.
The Royal Air Force says its General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Protector RG1 fleet has passed 1,000 flight hours while deployed to the Middle East. The service describes the Reaper successor as a vital intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance asset, marking an early operational milestone for the aircraft.
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Saab says it has flight-tested an internally developed AI agent aboard the Gripen E, validating its performance in simulated beyond-visual-range combat scenarios. The agents are trained for multiple air-combat tasks and are being developed for crewed and uncrewed aircraft, with Saab targeting possible operational deployment within months.
After seven strikes on cargo ships near NATO members Romania and Bulgaria last month, the alliance said it would deploy maritime patrol aircraft, radars and drones to reinforce its eastern flank in the Black Sea. The move follows attacks that bring the conflict closer to NATO territory.
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