UAV Development & Drone Programs   Space Defense & Militarization   Cybersecurity (Cyber Threats & Protection)   Thales  
AeroTime • Clement Charpentreau

Thales unveils TopStar Smart Receiver to harden drones and munitions against GPS loss and jamming

Thales has launched the TopStar Smart Receiver for drones and munitions, combining GNSS positioning, anti-jamming techniques, and an integrated clock designed to preserve tactical radio synchronization for up to 48 hours after GPS loss. The product targets degraded-PNT and contested-environment mission continuity.

2026-04-16T04:32:26.288387-07:00
UAV Development & Drone Programs   Satellite   Space Defense & Militarization   Cybersecurity (Cyber Threats & Protection)  
Reuters • David Jeans

Exclusive: Starlink outage hit drone tests, exposing Pentagon’s growing reliance on SpaceX

By Reuters: Last August, U.S. Navy officials carrying out a test of unmanned vessels realized they had hit a single point of failure: Starlink. A global outage across Elon Musk’s satellite network affecting millions of Starlink users had left two dozen unmanned surface vessels bobbing off the California coast, disrupting communications and halting operations for almost an hour.

Also: Seeking Alpha, tass.com and techstartups.com
2026-04-16T03:40:59.653806-07:00
Military Aircraft Procurement   Aircraft Manufacturing (OEMs)   Defense Policy   Boeing  
FlightGlobal • Greg Waldron

Canberra starts search to replace E-7A with ‘next-generation aircraft’

By FlightGlobal: Australia has started looking at what could replace its Boeing E-7A Wedgetail airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft. In the country’s 2026 National Defence Strategy document, Canberra lists nine priorities for the future of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), which will be “an air force with long-range intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance [ISR] and….

2026-04-16T02:09:21.630712-07:00