Military Aircraft Procurement   Missile Systems & Strategic Weapons   Defense Budgets & Spending   Defense Industry & Major Contractors  
AeroTime • Clement Charpentreau

US Air Force awards Northrop Grumman $60.4M LAIRCM enhanced-sensor upgrade; War Dept. backs nLIGHT/Lockheed Martin Aculight with

On July 8, 2026, the U.S. Air Force awarded Northrop Grumman a $60,438,241 sole-source contract to develop an enhanced sensor for the LAIRCM aircraft missile-defense system, with performance at Rolling Meadows, Illinois through April 30, 2029. Separately, the U.S. Department of War awarded nLIGHT and Lockheed Martin Aculight $86 million to develop containerized laser weapons to counter drones and cruise missiles.

Also: defence-blog.com and defenseadvancement.com
2026-07-10T01:58:52.441351-07:00
Military Aircraft Procurement   Defense Industry & Major Contractors   Workforce & Skills Development  
Air Data News • Ricardo Meier

B-21 automation drives USAF plan to retrain bomber crew officers as pilots

By Air Data News: The US Air Force (USAF) has confirmed that the B-21 Raider will operate with a two-pilot crew, a configuration made possible by the aircraft's advanced automation that has prompted the service to find a new role for officers who traditionally filled other cockpit positions in legacy bombers.

2026-07-10T01:45:09.814901-07:00
Military Aircraft Procurement   Missile Systems & Strategic Weapons   Geopolitical Developments & Conflict Impact   Defense Deals   Defense Policy  
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Bloomberg • Firat Kozok, Selcan Hacaoglu

Turkey Seeks Russian OK for S-400 Exit to Unlock F-35 Purchase

By Bloomberg: Turkey is seeking Russia’s consent to transfer air defense systems it bought from Moscow to a third country, an effort aimed at clearing the way for the purchase of US-made F-35 fighter jets.

2026-07-10T03:29:19.809506-07:00
UAV Development & Drone Programs   Satellite   Europe   Military Aircraft Procurement   Accident   Defense Industry & Major Contractors   Space Policy & International Cooperation   Space Defense & Militarization   Geopolitical Developments & Conflict Impact   Defense Policy   Airbus  
Payload • Douglas Gorman

NATO Allies Plan to Stitch Together Sovereign Space Fleets

By Payload: Eight NATO allies announced plans this week to combine their national defense satellites into a single network.

Also: Aeronews, arabiandefence.com and arabiandefence.com
2026-07-09T22:15:38.150336-07:00
Military Aircraft Procurement   Aircraft Manufacturing (OEMs)   Defense Industry & Major Contractors   Boeing  
FlightGlobal • Ryan Finnerty

Boeing progressing with new factory for advanced combat aircraft

By FlightGlobal: Although not officially tied to the US Air Force's F-47 programme, the St Louis plant is widely expected to assemble the new sixth-generation fighter.

2026-07-09T11:29:24.691499-07:00
Satellite   Defense Budgets & Spending   Space Policy & International Cooperation   Space Defense & Militarization   Geopolitical Developments & Conflict Impact  
Via Satellite • Rachel Jewett

Telesat to Provide Mil-Ka Arctic Connectivity for Canada’s ESCP-P Program

By Via Satellite: Telesat has reached an agreement with the Canadian government to provide Military Ka-band satellite capacity for Canada’s Enhanced Satellite Communications Project – Polar (ESCP-P) program.

2026-07-09T13:15:10.877092-07:00