AI   Helicopter   Military Aircraft Procurement   Airbus  
FlightGlobal • Ryan Finnerty

Airbus advances autonomous rotorcraft testing with MQ-72C and an MQ-72/H145 autonomy stack for U.S. Marine logistics

Airbus Helicopters’ U.S. defense arm has completed a fourth autonomous flight test on the H145, integrating partner tech from Shield AI, L3Harris and Parry Labs into a single aircraft for the first time, including autonomy and edge computing. The company is simultaneously progressing its MQ-72 autonomous cargo rotorcraft test campaign with a fourth test flight.

Also: Aviation Week, Naval News and Defense One
2026-04-15T09:53:32.849911-07:00
Europe   Military Aircraft Procurement   Missile Systems & Strategic Weapons   Defense Industry & Major Contractors   Geopolitical Developments & Conflict Impact   Defense Deals  
Breaking Defense • Tim Martin

Raytheon secures $3.7B deal with Ukraine for German-funded Patriot interceptors

By Breaking Defense: A missile quantity and a timeline for the PAC-2 contract was not disclosed but the move comes as Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pushes partner nations to agree on new air defense weapon system commitments.

Also: army-technology.com, militarnyi.com, arabiandefence.com, Defense Daily, marketforecast.com and defenseandmunitions.com
2026-04-15T07:54:30.492416-07:00
Helicopter   Sikorsky   Military Aircraft Procurement   Aircraft Manufacturing (OEMs)   Defense Industry & Major Contractors  
Lockheed Martin

Sikorsky Offers New Armed BLACK HAWK® Helicopter Kits to Deliver Additional Mission Capabilities

By Lockheed Martin: NASHVILLE, Tenn., April 15, 2026 – Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company (NYSE: LMT), announced its new Armed Black Hawk helicopter kits, expanding the capabilities of this proven workhorse.

Also: Aviation Week, english.defensearabia.com and defence-industry.eu
2026-04-15T05:08:04.934280-07:00
eVTOL   Helicopter   Military Aircraft Procurement   Defense Industry & Major Contractors  
The War Zone • Thomas Newdick

Army Names Its New MV-75 Tiltrotor Cheyenne II

By The War Zone: First applied to a failed cutting-edge attack helicopter, the Cheyenne name returns for what is perhaps the Army’s most ambitious rotorcraft program yet.

Also: FlightGlobal, insidedefense.com and english.defensearabia.com
2026-04-15T07:35:36.436499-07:00
Military Aircraft Procurement   Orders   Defense Industry & Major Contractors  
FlightGlobal • Craig Hoyle

US Army clears Sierra Nevada ATHENA-S surveillance jets for operational use

By FlightGlobal: The US Army’s ATHENA-S aircraft fleet has been cleared for operational use, following the completion of a comprehensive test programme. US company Sierra Nevada (SNC) has prepared two Bombardier Global 6500s for signals intelligence (SIGINT)-collection duties, with the jets to be employed under a contractor-owned, contractor-operated (COCO) business model.

2026-04-15T06:38:57.749974-07:00