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FlightGlobal • Greg Waldron

IAF’s first Tata-assembled Airbus C-295 set for flight tests as India scales private defence aircraft manufacturing

India has completed the first domestically assembled Airbus C-295 at the Tata-Airbus facility in Vadodara, moving the aircraft toward maiden sortie/flight trials. The programme—tied to Make in India and shifting beyond HAL’s historical role—signals India’s first privately built military transport aircraft reaching the next phase ahead of delivery.

2026-05-18T01:54:15.829281-07:00

Task & Purpose

US Navy EA-18G Growlers collide midair at Idaho air show; all four crew eject safely

2026-05-17T12:51:13.509349-07:00

Aviation Week

RAF puts APKWS on frontline Typhoon jets for counter-UAS in the Middle East

2026-05-16T16:10:48.963293-07:00

FlightGlobal

UK greenlights F-35B StormBreaker/SDB-II interim stand-off strike as corrosion, spare-parts gaps cut mission capability

2026-05-15T04:12:16.071143-07:00

News Timeline

FlightGlobal

IAF’s first Tata-assembled Airbus C-295 set for flight tests as India scales private defence aircraft manufacturing India has completed the first domestically assembled Airbus C-295 at the Tata-Airbus facility in Vadodara, moving the aircraft toward maiden sortie/flight trials. The programme—tied to Make in India and shifting beyond HAL’s historical role—signals India’s first privately built military transport aircraft reaching the next phase ahead of delivery.

2026-05-18T01:54:15.829281-07:00

IAF’s first Tata-assembled Airbus C-295 set for flight tests as India scales private defence aircraft manufacturing

Task & Purpose

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US Navy EA-18G Growlers collide midair at Idaho air show; all four crew eject safely Two US Navy Boeing EA-18G Growlers collided during an air show in Idaho, becoming entangled and plummeting to the ground. Officials said all four crew members ejected safely before the jets crashed, with video showing the aircraft spinning as they fell.

2026-05-17T12:51:13.509349-07:00

US Navy EA-18G Growlers collide midair at Idaho air show; all four crew eject safely

Aviation Week

RAF puts APKWS on frontline Typhoon jets for counter-UAS in the Middle East The Royal Air Force has begun operational use of the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) on Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon fighters deployed in the Middle East, moving from testing to frontline service in under two months. The low-cost guided-rocket option is intended to improve engagement of one-way attack drones.

2026-05-16T16:10:48.963293-07:00

RAF puts APKWS on frontline Typhoon jets for counter-UAS in the Middle East

DefenseNews.com

Anduril to supply 3,000 Barracuda-500M containerized cruise missiles to the U.S. Army starting in 2027; DoD selects firms to fie The U.S. Army has lined up Anduril to deliver at least 3,000 surface-launched Barracuda-500M cruise missiles beginning in 2027, tied to DoD’s Low-Cost Containerized Missiles initiative. Separately, the Department of Defense selected five companies to field thousands of containerized cruise missiles and Blackbeard hypersonic weapons between 2027 and 2029.

2026-05-15T12:38:49.643415-07:00

Anduril to supply 3,000 Barracuda-500M containerized cruise missiles to the U.S. Army starting in 2027; DoD selects firms to fie

The War Zone

Photos confirm AIM-260A JATM air-to-air missile in flight-test configuration on U.S. Navy F/A-18F AIM-260A—Lockheed’s longer-range successor to the AIM-120 AMRAAM—has surfaced in the first publicly captured imagery. The missile was photographed during a test flight from Eglin Air Force Base, carried by a U.S. Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet, showing an AIM-260A in a flight-test configuration.

2026-05-15T11:01:11.571863-07:00

Photos confirm AIM-260A JATM air-to-air missile in flight-test configuration on U.S. Navy F/A-18F

FlightGlobal

Project NYX: UK selects 4 firms to develop an Apache “loyal wingman” autonomous collaborative platform, down-selecting Anduril U The UK Ministry of Defence has advanced Project NYX by selecting four companies—BAE Systems (UK), Anduril UK, Tekever, and Thales—for a concept demonstrator to field autonomous, uncrewed “wingmen” operating alongside AH-64 Apache helicopters. In the next phase, MOD down-selected Anduril UK for development toward operational capability by 2030.

2026-05-15T04:38:12.321145-07:00

Project NYX: UK selects 4 firms to develop an Apache “loyal wingman” autonomous collaborative platform, down-selecting Anduril U

FlightGlobal

UK greenlights F-35B StormBreaker/SDB-II interim stand-off strike as corrosion, spare-parts gaps cut mission capability The UK MoD approved StormBreaker for the F-35B and is equipping the fleet with Boeing Small Diameter Bomb II (SDB-II) as an interim stand-off capability while SPEAR 3 integration slips into the early 2030s. Officials also detailed corrosion issues and spare-parts shortfalls that are reducing UK F-35 mission rates and carry deployment-support limitations.

2026-05-15T04:12:16.071143-07:00

UK greenlights F-35B StormBreaker/SDB-II interim stand-off strike as corrosion, spare-parts gaps cut mission capability

FlightGlobal

Australia, New Zealand and US sign C-130J support pact to expand cross-servicing The air forces of Australia, New Zealand and the United States have entered a cooperation pact focused on the Lockheed Martin C-130J tactical transport—an aircraft type all three operate. The agreement is designed to enhance cross-servicing, tightening sustainment and support coordination across the shared fleet.

2026-05-15T00:23:06.538041-07:00

Australia, New Zealand and US sign C-130J support pact to expand cross-servicing

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Military Aircraft Procurement News

IAF’s first Tata-assembled Airbus C-295 set for flight tests as India scales private defence aircraft manufacturing

US Navy EA-18G Growlers collide midair at Idaho air show; all four crew eject safely

RAF puts APKWS on frontline Typhoon jets for counter-UAS in the Middle East

UK greenlights F-35B StormBreaker/SDB-II interim stand-off strike as corrosion, spare-parts gaps cut mission capability

News Timeline