AI   North America   Military Aircraft Procurement   Defense Industry & Major Contractors  
Aviation Week • Steve Trimble

Merlin Labs completes Preliminary Design Review for C-130J autonomy software

Merlin Labs announced on March 5 it completed the Preliminary Design Review for an autonomy software package—an autonomous flight system—for the Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules, advancing a program tied to U.S. Special Operations Command toward detailed design and integration for flight test.

Also: Aviation Week and aeromorning.com
2026-03-05T16:32:47.324228-08:00
Europe   Military Aircraft Procurement   Defense Budgets & Spending   Defense Industry & Major Contractors   Geopolitical Developments & Conflict Impact  
Reuters

Switzerland trims F‑35A order to 30 jets amid cost increases, requests CHF 394m extra credit

By Reuters: Switzerland now expects to purchase around 30 Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II fighter jets, six fewer than initially projected, because of cost increases in the order, the government said on Friday.

Also: Aviation Week, defence-industry.eu, spacewar.com, defence-blog.com and spacewar.com
2026-03-06T06:54:51.375903-08:00
UAV Development & Drone Programs   Defense Industry & Major Contractors   Cybersecurity (Cyber Threats & Protection)  
euro-sd.com • Thomas Liebe

Smith Myers adds passive Wi‑Fi/Bluetooth detection and ATAK CoT integration to ARTEMIS airborne MPDLS

By euro-sd.com: Smith Myers Communications Ltd., the world’s first fully airborne-qualified Mobile Phone Detection and Location System (MPDLS) provider, today announced the addition of passive Wi-Fi and Bluetooth detection and geolocation capability, together with ATAK Cursor-on-Target (CoT) integration, to its market-leading ARTEMIS systems.

Also: Vertical Mag
2026-03-05T22:39:20.642661-08:00