Breaking Defense
• Michael Marrow, Valerie Insinna
North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis Budd is sponsoring a trio of bills aimed at boosting fighter-jet inventory and retaining pilots, with implications for multi-year procurement plans that could shape future U.S. Air Force force structure. The effort is positioned as adding airpower support through the NDAA pipeline.
AeroTime
• Jean Carmela Lim
By AeroTime: Australia’s Defence Science and Technology Group will host the Australian Defence Science, Technology and Research Summit (ADSTAR) in Adelaide from August 4 to 6, 2026, bringing together leaders from government, academia, and industry to discuss defense innovation.
SpaceNews.com
• Sandra Erwin
By SpaceNews.com: WASHINGTON — Pentagon officials overseeing Golden Dome are trying to convince commercial space founders, venture investors and software companies that missile defense can be built more like a modern technology platform than a traditional weapons system.
AeroTime
• Clement Charpentreau
By AeroTime: Swiss-Dutch defense company Destinus announced on May 18, 2026, the accelerated development of RUTA Block 3, a 2,000-kilometer (1,240-mile) range precision-strike weapon developed in partnership with Germany’s Rheinmetall.
UK Defence Journal
AeroTime
• Clement Charpentreau
By AeroTime: France's DGA has signed a joint contract with Saab and Scania France for 17 Giraffe 1X radars to strengthen short and very short-range air defense.
FlightGlobal
• Greg Waldron
By FlightGlobal: The C295 is a key element in Indian air force efforts to upgrade its tactical airlift capabilities. The first Airbus Defence & Space C295 tactical transport produced in India is being prepared for its maiden sortie.
Air Data News
• Ricardo Meier
By Air Data News: Turkish Air Force commander Gen Ziya Cemal Kadıoğlu visited Portugal’s Beja Air Base last week, where he toured the Portuguese Air Force’s KC-390 Millennium fleet, simulator and maintenance facilities during an official visit to the country.
Task & Purpose
• Nicholas Slayton
By Task & Purpose: Video from the event at Mountain Home Air Force Base shows four parachutes in the sky after two E/A-18G Growlers collided in midair.
Via Satellite
• Rachel Jewett
DefenseNews.com
• J.D. Simkins
