Washington Post
• Dan Lamothe, Tara Copp
The U.S. Navy is preparing to pull the USS Gerald R. Ford from the Middle East after a roughly 10-month at-sea deployment that left the ship needing repairs. The carrier’s departure reduces U.S. carrier-based firepower while the Trump administration presses Tehran for peace amid war risk.
Breaking Defense
• Jonas Olsson
By Breaking Defense: “The effect is marginal. I think the other customers will get vehicles earlier,” Tommy Gustafsson-Rask, general manager of BAE Systems Hägglunds, said during a media visit to its Ornskoldsvik site.
DefenseNews.com
• Rudy Ruitenberg
By DefenseNews.com: The companies said Thundart is fully designed and produced in France.
defence-blog.com
The War Zone
• Thomas Newdick
By The War Zone: The MQ-58 with conventional landing gear will mark the beginning of the Marines’ operational Collaborative Combat Aircraft journey, with other types likely to follow.
Vertical Mag
• Oliver Johnson
By Vertical Mag: The two autonomous platforms — finalists in the U.S. Army’s Flight School Next program in their manned variants — are being developed by Sikorsky and Near Earth Autonomy.
Vertical Mag
• Elistair Press Release
By Vertical Mag: Explore the role of DroneBox in ORION 2026, a major military exercise in France with over 1,200 drones deployed.
SpaceNews.com
• Sandra Erwin
By SpaceNews.com: AE Systems WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force awarded BAE Systems an $11.8 million contract to demonstrate satellite-to-satellite communications using Link-182, a radio-frequency data link standard adopted for its planned MILNET data relay network supporting the Golden Dome missile defense shield.
FlightGlobal
• Ryan Finnerty
By FlightGlobal: Both established and start-up engine suppliers are piling into the market for small low-cost turbofans. Propulsion start-up Beehive Industries has unveiled a 1,000lb-thrust (4.4kN) turbofan targeting a rapidly growing class of uncrewed fighter aircraft.
DefenseNews.com
• Defense News staff
The War Zone
• Joseph Trevithick
