NATO has launched the BALTOPS naval exercise in the Baltic Sea, involving more than 6,000 personnel, 30 vessels and 15 countries. The drills focus on protecting maritime traffic, freedom of navigation and regional security.
The U.S. Navy has moved the MQ-25A Stingray program to Milestone C, allowing progress toward Low-Rate Initial Production. The carrier-based unmanned aircraft is designed to provide aerial refueling support and extend the operational range of carrier strike groups.
GE Aerospace has received orders to provide eight LM2500 marine gas turbine engines for two future U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke-class Flight III destroyers, extending the long-running use of the propulsion system across the class.
The U.S. Navy has awarded BAE Systems a new five-year contract worth up to $1.7 billion for continued production of APKWS laser-guidance kits, supporting large-scale procurement of low-cost precision munitions for U.S. forces and allied nations.
NAVSEA has chosen Damen’s LST100 design for the U.S. Navy’s Landing Ship Medium programme, with plans for up to 35 vessels to be built at U.S. shipyards to support Marine Corps operations.
Northrop Grumman has delivered the first Airborne Laser Mine Detection System pod to South Korea under the Korean Mine Countermeasures Helicopter program, supporting mine detection and classification in coastal waters. The system, already in service with the U.S. and Japanese navies, uses laser-based sensors to locate floating and near-surface mines and will be integrated into the Republic of Korea Navy’s mine countermeasure fleet.
Take a drive around the Boneyard, the largest concentration of military aircraft in the world. All retired, many will be scrapped for parts but some remain ready enough to be recalled.
The U.S. Air Force has already flown multiple prototypes of the new F-47 fighter, which is part of the Next Generation Air Dominance program that includes uncrewed loyal wingman drones and new adaptive engines. It is planned to be cheaper than the F-22, with a larger fleet and an export version.
A total of 168 KC-46A tankers are on contract around the world with the latest order for the aircraft worth $2.38 billion. The order for the P-8A worth $1.6 billion brings the number of aircraft on contract to 207, of which 135 have been ordered by eight other countries.
F-35C fighters from the U.S. Marine Corps’ VMFA 314 squadron aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln conducted multiple strikes on Houthi weapons storage facilities in Yemen. The F-35C stealth fighter model has longer, folding wings and, like the F/A-18, is designed to be launched from the catapults of aircraft carriers, allowing it to carry heavier payloads than the F-35B.
Australia announced a $4.7 billion purchase of Raytheon SM-2 and SM-6 missiles and Taiwan is likely to buy three Raytheon NASAMS medium-range air defence systems in a $2 billion sale.
Swarm drones across domains hosted by motherships will be the future of naval operations according to a top official of Russia’s Rubin Design Bureau, which unveiled new uncrewed submersible concepts at the Army 2024 defence exhibition in Moscow in August.
Boeing issued a ‘global No Technical Objection (NTO)’ confirming there are no technical issues to any Boeing-built defence aircraft and derivatives operating on synthetic aviation turbine fuels at the maximum allowable limit of a 50-50 blend with conventional fossil fuels.
With the selection of the Rafale Marine by the Indian Navy, here’s a look at how it happened, and the challenges and consequences ahead.
Between the navy’s own maintenance facilities at INS Rajali and MRO contractors, Air Works and AIES, India’s P-8I aircraft can now be fully sustained with complete maintenance cycles without having to leave the country.
