Reuters
• Mike Stone
The Pentagon and Lockheed Martin are advancing a production ramp-up for the classified AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile, intended for U.S. Air Force and Navy fighter jets and viewed as central to maintaining an air-combat advantage over China. The agreement’s scale, schedule and value remain undisclosed.
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The Pentagon and Lockheed Martin are advancing a production ramp-up for the classified AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile, intended for U.S. Air Force and Navy fighter jets and viewed as central to maintaining an air-combat advantage over China. The agreement’s scale, schedule and value remain undisclosed.
Ukraine says it has successfully tested a domestically developed interceptor designed to counter jet-powered Shahed attack drones. President Volodymyr Zelensky said the system remains under development, with additional technical work required as testing continues.
L3Harris Technologies is moving its Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor satellites into production for the Missile Defense Agency’s Golden Dome initiative, with few design changes from the existing HBTSS design. The decision signals a transition from satellite development toward scaled production for missile-warning and tracking missions.
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 implications for other F-35 operators.
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.
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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.
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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.
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