Blending superior optics, advanced stabilization and AI-powered autonomy in a compact and rugged system, ASELFLIR 600 delivers unmatched intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities.| Breaking Defense
The Navy's top officer hit industry on Monday for lobbying for "aircraft we don't need."| Breaking Defense
"We shouldn’t have to stand for this," former Navy Secretary Richard Spencer says of industry cost overruns.| Breaking Defense
A senior naval aviation officer says a change to the F-35C squadrons, additional reserve aircraft from other services and a successful maintenance program will be key to resolving the longstanding shortfall.| Breaking Defense
Once touted by President Trump himself as an alternative to the F-35, the souped-up Super Hornet is now firmly established as its partner.| Breaking Defense
Global | Breaking Defense
"We're not the only target that damn communists are trying to overcome,” Col. Gary Kipe said Wednesday. “They're trying to overcome freedom loving people around the world, and all of us are using the same data.”| Breaking Defense
The money is divided into two pots for the Coast Guard: $4.3 billion for the larger Polar Security Cutters and nearly $5 billion for medium-sized Arctic Security Cutters.| Breaking Defense
Land Warfare | Breaking Defense
Networks & Digital Warfare | Breaking Defense
Evolved from JAIC’s controversial Project Maven, Palantir’s Maven Smart System pulls together data from satellites, social media and other disparate sources for military commanders and planners.| Breaking Defense
Vice Adm. Robert Sharp, outgoing NGA director, said the fusion of Project Maven with his agency's current AI efforts will "give us our millions of eyes to see the unseen."| Breaking Defense
The agency's RFI seeks capabilities that can be deployed in "epochs" starting in 2026, and running in two year increments to "beyond" Dec. 31 2030.| Breaking Defense
In a new executive order, President Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon to move forward on missile defense, though the details are still thin.| Breaking Defense
The agencies said in their joint announcement that the "launch of the two prototype systems will be followed by two years of on-orbit testing."| Breaking Defense
SDA plans to purchase and deploy a minimum of 54 space vehicles equipped with infrared sensors from up to three vendors under the new solicitation for Tranche 2 of its Tracking Layer constellation.| Breaking Defense
Congress | Breaking Defense
Space | Breaking Defense
Air Warfare | Breaking Defense
presented by | Breaking Defense
Consolidate network monitoring, performance management, and fault isolation into a single, comprehensive solution.| Breaking Defense
With a GOP-controlled House and a Democrat-controlled Senate, nothing in the bill is final until the last minute conference negotiations are completed, but here are the key issues to watch.| Breaking Defense
"I am concerned about the transition of HBTSS from the Missile Defense Agency to the Space Development Agency. The apparent shift in strategy to deploy this capability does not reflect the urgency of the hypersonic threats we face," Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., chairman of the House Armed Service's strategic forces subcommittee, told Breaking Defense.| Breaking Defense
The 10 satellites, which will be lofted on a reusable SpaceX Falcon 9 from Vandenberg SFB to low Earth orbit (LEO), are the first batch of the Tranche 0 constellation, building blocks of America's resilient space strategy.| Breaking Defense
“So you can have something that the chief wants that will solve the problem, but if you don't have a way to sell it in a way that the government can buy it – and then the challenge is not, you know, in many cases the buyer isn't the customer,” James Guerts said. “And so I think where the services are really working hard is to compress that so the buyer and the customer are more closely aligned."| Breaking Defense
Air Warfare | Breaking Defense
Global | Breaking Defense
The inclusion of space-based interceptors is a particularly hard nut for Moscow to swallow, given long-standing Russian belief that such weapons are aimed at undercutting the country’s nuclear retaliatory capability following a US first strike.| Breaking Defense
Congress | Breaking Defense
"While this type of close approach activity does not automatically signify a military mission, it obviously could provide a co-orbital counterspace capability," expert Victoria Samson told Breaking Defense.| Breaking Defense
Naval Warfare | Breaking Defense
Shipbuilding and munitions were the major beneficiaries of the $32.1 billion added to the defense topline, with about $8.5 billion added for shipbuilding and about $6 billion added for munitions, according to a senior congressional official.| Breaking Defense
“We need to increase spending in simple systems that we need a huge volume of that can, basically, counter very low-tech drones that could pose a threat," Norway's top officer told Breaking Defense, "so we don't end up using the most sophisticated missile systems against something that is very cheap to buy."| Breaking Defense
Defense industry news, analysis and commentary| Breaking Defense
Stories by Jonas Olsson| Breaking Defense
Stories by Andrew White| Breaking Defense
Michael Williamson, president of Lockheed Martin International, said non-operators of the F-35 have inquired about building "facilities and repair parts so another F-35 can land at their air bases, be repaired, and fly out.”| Breaking Defense
“It's more challenging to defend than to attack,” when it comes to air defense, Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonson told Breaking Defense.| Breaking Defense
“We have collectively raised $800 million in humanitarian aid and $200 million for the security forces," said French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot.| Breaking Defense
Media reports also said this week NATO would discuss taking over a leadership role in providing weapons to Ukraine from the current US-led Ukraine Defense Contact Group.| Breaking Defense
Piaggio has done work as a sub-tier supplier for the F-35 program, which Turkey was kicked out of in 2019.| Breaking Defense
"I've seen comparative numbers of US defense budget versus China, US defense budget versus Russia," Gen. Milley said. "What is not often commented on is the cost of labor. We’re the best paid military in the world by a long shot. The cost of Russian soldiers or Chinese soldiers is a tiny fraction."| Breaking Defense
Global | Breaking Defense
As the US watches warily, Maj. Gen. Ireneusz Nowak told Breaking Defense that Kyiv's move "spoiled totally the perception of President Putin as a strong leader."| Breaking Defense
As US President Donald Trump made headlines, Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a much more low-key presence at this year’s NATO summit.| Breaking Defense
House lawmakers say they are "highly circumspect" of the Navy's analysis for closing the strike fighter shortfall.| Breaking Defense
The Army is looking for improved pilot training in its innovative Flight School Next initiative. The Navy advanced its rotary wing training with the TH-73, which may provide a proven roadmap.| Breaking Defense
"NGA Maven is now available to all services and all combatant commands. There are 20,000 active users through more than 35 service and combat and command tools across three security domains," said NGA Director Vice Adm. Frank Whitworth.| Breaking Defense
The SDA call for studies on speeding HBTSS "missile defense capabilities" is interesting, as its wording differs somewhat from language in an earlier solicitation from the Missile Defense Agency for proposals that appears to refer to an HBTSS satellite constellation.| Breaking Defense
The new "Fire-Control On Orbit-Support-To-The-War Fighter (FOO Fighter or F2)" program "will accelerate the ability to provide new fire control options for the tactical users," an SDA spokesperson told Breaking Defense. But how does it play with MDA programs?| Breaking Defense
"This is a critical step in delivering the capabilities we need, at the scale and speed we need, to continue securing a free and open Indo-Pacific" said Admiral Samuel Paparo, commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.| Breaking Defense
Northrop Grumman is one of the only companies with expertise and capability to design, build and operate systems across an array of orbits.| Breaking Defense
Colin Clark | Breaking Defense
A key part of the ceasefire with Israel involves the LAF providing security in southern Lebanon as Israeli forces withdraw. Is it up to the task?| Breaking Defense
Military analysis supports the fielding of a sixth-generation stealth fighter, Breaking Defense has learned, though a final decision on the Next Generation Air Dominance platform now rests with the Trump administration.| Breaking Defense
Perhaps no company has bet so much on the Air Force's NGAD sixth-gen fighter effort as Boeing — and now the service could be dramatically reinventing the program.| Breaking Defense
The combination of delaying F/A-XX development and shutting down F/A-18 production may not go well for Navy leadership when they testify to lawmakers.| Breaking Defense
A source with knowledge of the program told Breaking Defense that Lockheed submitted a bid for the next-gen fighter effort, but the proposal did not satisfy the Navy’s criteria, leaving Boeing and Northrop Grumman as the remaining competitors.| Breaking Defense
Breaking Defense obtained a list of the 17 priority categories that are to be financially protected in FY26.| Breaking Defense
The memo mandates an assessment of "the essentiality of contracts ... for the purpose of terminating or descoping contracts for activities that are not essential for the Department to fulfill its statutory purposes."| Breaking Defense
The court filings do not provide a proposed schedule for the new bid process, but do reveal that it will be managed by officials who were not involved in overseeing the original contract awards.| Breaking Defense
The GAO is expected to rule on the protest, filed by Mistral, Inc., according to documents, by Dec. 16.| Breaking Defense
“We already expanded production ahead of Replicator, and irrespective of Replicator, because we know where this is going,” AeroVironment CEO Wahid Nawabi told Breaking Defense.| Breaking Defense
The fear among industry now is that this move is just the first in what would amount to a Pentagon-wide halt on new awards, for an indefinite period of time.| Breaking Defense
In a sit down with Breaking Defense, Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart discussed getting the FY25 budget sorted, giving the Pentagon more flexibility, and reforming foreign aid.| Breaking Defense
"This oversight regime will balance economic competitiveness together with safety, security, sustainability, and responsibility," states the new United States Novel Space Activities Authorization and Supervision Framework.| Breaking Defense
Aaron Mehta | Breaking Defense
"The structure of the global defense sector is changing, and this transaction underscores that transformation," said analyst Byron Callan of the merger.| Breaking Defense
Robotic missile batteries maneuver and fire faster than crewed systems, keeping operators at standoff distances.| Breaking Defense
Barry Rosenberg | Breaking Defense
Tim Martin | Breaking Defense
Over the last 12 months, weapon assessment phase activities have included a first TP15 ultra Low Observable [LO] subsonic prototype missile undergoing “extreme” RF trials, and wind tunnel propulsion system testing of a RJ10 supersonic variant.| Breaking Defense
Justin Katz | Breaking Defense
The testing taking place off the coast of California comes as the White House has made several attempts to bolster the US-Japan security relationship.| Breaking Defense
Theresa Hitchens | Breaking Defense
"The three new rules ... recalibrate our approach to export controls," a senior Commerce Department official said. "These changes will offer relief to US companies and they'll increase innovation without compromising the critical technologies that keep our nation safe."| Breaking Defense
From Operation Properity Guardian to Operation Aspides, dozens of countries are militarily active in the Red Sea, and sometimes wires get crossed.| Breaking Defense
Carley Welch | Breaking Defense
DISA chief Lt. Gen. Robert Skinner said the agency hopes to bring "nearly 100,000" users to DODNET within months of a planned fall push.| Breaking Defense
“We are moving forward, we're hoping by the first quarter of calendar year [2025] we'll be able to start enforcing this and putting this in contracts," Dave McKeown, Deputy CIO for the DoD, said.| Breaking Defense
At its most basic level, under CMMC 2.0, defense contractors and subcontractors that have access to controlled unclassified information (CUI) will be required to demonstrate the “maturity” of their cybersecurity programs against a set of increasingly advanced capabilities.| Breaking Defense
The new proposal includes new requirements for contracting officers, ensuring that parties bidding on Pentagon contracts are properly protecting sensitive information.| Breaking Defense
Ashley Roque | Breaking Defense
The head of the Estonian Scouts, among the first who would be called to fend off an invasion, said the "biggest part that's going to change" is how the unit fights with and against drones.| Breaking Defense
Though Estonia's chief of defense told Breaking Defense the idea has fallen by the wayside, a key lawmaker in Tallinn said it's time to consider a "coalition of the willing" to go into Ukraine.| Breaking Defense
Breaking Defense | Breaking Defense
“The Americans thought that Iran would respond at dawn on Monday, but this turned out to be untrue.," Hezbollah's leader said today. "The Israeli wait for the response is part of the response and the punishment, because the battle is psychological, moral and military,” he added.| Breaking Defense
The dollar figure from the secretary comes as Speaker of the House Rep. Mike Johnson said he is ready to bring the supplemental funding bill the Navy needs passed to the floor for a vote.| Breaking Defense
"Despite seeking international legitimacy, Houthi actions have damaged regional security, impeded international humanitarian relief efforts, and put stress on global maritime trade," the new DIA report says.| Breaking Defense
IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi visited an Israeli base home to F-35s on Monday, emphasizing Iran’s missiles had caused only minor damage to the facility.| Breaking Defense
