Breaking Defense
• Diana Stancy
Sierra Nevada Corp. has withdrawn from the U.S. Navy’s trainer-jet competition, according to an exclusive report. The service now plans to award the Undergraduate Jet Training System (UJTS) contract between July and the end of September 2027, setting a defined procurement window for the remaining competition.
Military Aircraft Procurement
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Sierra Nevada Corp. has withdrawn from the U.S. Navy’s trainer-jet competition, according to an exclusive report. The service now plans to award the Undergraduate Jet Training System (UJTS) contract between July and the end of September 2027, setting a defined procurement window for the remaining competition.
The U.S. Air Force has issued two requests for information seeking variants of its Extended Range Attack Munition, including one with glide capability. The effort also seeks industry capacity to mass-produce ERAM for Ukraine, linking the weapon’s design requirements to production scale-up.
Sweden has received Taurus KEPD 350 cruise missiles purchased from German military stocks, a step toward equipping its Saab Gripen fighters with a long-range strike capability. The transfer confirms that the initial phase of the capability’s development relies on existing German weapons rather than a newly described production order.
High activity
France’s Directorate General of Armaments has qualified the vertical take-off and landing variant of Airbus Helicopters’ U010 Aliaca drone for French navy service. The clearance marks a regulatory milestone for the system’s naval use; the articles provide no further detail on deployment timing or fleet numbers.
Germany’s BAAINBw has contracted MBDA Deutschland to build a demonstrator addressing the challenges of integrating a directed-energy weapon onto a tactical aircraft. The initiative is intended to lay groundwork for a Luftwaffe capability to engage drones and cruise missiles; the reports do not specify a platform, schedule or weapon performance.
High activity
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.
LMT Defence and Thales Italia will explore using mobile-network infrastructure and defense 4G/5G to detect and counter drones, while Gallium Defense raised €7.1 million for a radar it says could cost €500,000. Separately, AeroVironment tapped Leonardo DRS to integrate power and thermal-management systems for the U.S. Army’s Enduring-High Energy Laser program.
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