defence-industry.eu
• Hannah Miller
Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Lockheed Martin have begun integrating the 1,000-pound SPICE 1000 air-to-surface munition on Israel’s F-35I Adir. The electro-optically guided weapon has a range exceeding 120 kilometers and is designed to operate in jammed and GPS-denied environments, with potential applicability to other F-35 fleets.
Missile Systems & Strategic Weapons
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Lockheed Martin’s FLEX concept would give the AGM-158 JASSM family a common modular architecture supporting longer-range variants, anti-ship missions and additional launch configurations. The proposal is intended to broaden the missile’s operational flexibility while building on the existing JASSM family design.
Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Lockheed Martin have begun integrating the 1,000-pound SPICE 1000 air-to-surface munition on Israel’s F-35I Adir. The electro-optically guided weapon has a range exceeding 120 kilometers and is designed to operate in jammed and GPS-denied environments, with potential applicability to other F-35 fleets.
Thales is pursuing additional international sales of its UK-produced Lightweight Modular Missile (LMM), citing export demand as important to sustaining production in Belfast. The company has sharply increased output since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began in early 2022 and outlined a new UK technology strategy.
High activity
Avio completes the second successful Vega C launch of 2026, deploying the European Space Agency’s FLEX and Copernicus Sentinel-3C Earth-observation satellites from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. The mission places two science and environmental-monitoring spacecraft into orbit and demonstrates continued Vega C operations.
High activity
The U.S. Navy is moving multiple uncrewed and advanced-weapon concepts toward operational use: Boeing received a $562 million contract for three MQ-25A Stingrays, Castelion secured a potential $200 million Blackbeard production order, and Textron Aviation and Merlin unveiled a pilotless SkyCourier military resupply concept.
The U.S. Air Force plans to establish a dedicated point-defense career field within two years and is considering a new acquisition office to oversee the mission. The changes reflect a shift toward defending bases worldwide against drone and missile attacks, following recent Iranian strikes in the Middle East.
North Korea said it conducted a coordinated strike exercise on September 12 involving attack drones, cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and rocket artillery, disclosing the drill two days later. The unusually broad salvo combined unmanned systems and multiple missile classes in a single exercise.
Lockheed Martin awarded L3Harris an undefinitized contract valued at $4.7 billion to manufacture propulsion systems for PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement interceptors, while the U.S. Air Force separately awarded about $60 million to continue C-HOBS proximity-sensor production in Cincinnati.
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