Aerospace

  • Typhoon trial points to cheaper counter-drone loadout

    Typhoon trial points to cheaper counter-drone loadout

    BAE Systems has fired APKWS from a Typhoon in a UK trial, advancing a lower-cost interceptor option for counter-UAS missions and pushing weapon integration, launcher qualification, and certification work further up the agenda for the UK combat-air industrial base.

  • South Korea rolls out first production KUS-FS surveillance drone

    South Korea rolls out first production KUS-FS surveillance drone

    South Korea has unveiled the first production example of its KUS-FS medium-altitude unmanned aircraft, a platform built around a heavily domestic supply chain and intended for operational service from 2027. The programme is a notable test of sovereign aerospace integration.

  • GCAP contract moves Edgewing into first international work package

    GCAP contract moves Edgewing into first international work package

    GCAP has entered its first fully trilateral contract phase, with Edgewing taking a £686 million package covering design and engineering work through the end of June. For the UK combat-air sector, the shift from national lines to an integrated programme carries immediate industrial weight.

  • F-35 request lifts output but leaves the Air Force short of rebuild pace

    F-35 request lifts output but leaves the Air Force short of rebuild pace

    The Pentagon wants 85 F-35s in FY2027, including 38 for the Air Force. That keeps a major production line moving, even if it still falls short of a true fighter recapitalisation rate.

  • Rocket Lab’s HASTE award expands the industrial base for hypersonic testing

    Rocket Lab’s HASTE award expands the industrial base for hypersonic testing

    Rocket Lab’s $190 million HASTE contract is bigger than a launch deal. It strengthens a test infrastructure market now central to getting hypersonic weapons and related aerospace systems through development faster.

  • Italy closes Estonia air-policing run as Typhoon workload deepens

    Italy closes Estonia air-policing run as Typhoon workload deepens

    Italy has concluded two consecutive Typhoon rotations in Estonia. The mission closure points back to the less visible industrial story of fleet sustainment, spares demand, and replacement planning.

  • Pilatus lands Indonesian PC-24 order for transport and training support

    Pilatus lands Indonesian PC-24 order for transport and training support

    Pilatus has secured an Indonesian contract for 12 PC-24 aircraft, giving the Swiss manufacturer a stronger Southeast Asian military foothold while opening a broader sustainment, training, and support workload around short-field transport operations.

  • Airbus Bird of Prey scores first live counter-UAS engagement

    Airbus Bird of Prey scores first live counter-UAS engagement

    Airbus has completed the first demonstration flight of its Bird of Prey interceptor, with the uncrewed system autonomously detecting and engaging a one-way attack drone in a test that points toward a more manufacturable counter-UAS cost curve.

  • Lockheed Martin deepens UK manufacturing push through MTC

    Lockheed Martin deepens UK manufacturing push through MTC

    Lockheed Martin has joined the Manufacturing Technology Centre as a Tier 1 member, pairing that move with a UK technology roadmap effort aimed at accelerating defence innovation into production and broadening the role of British suppliers in future capability delivery.

  • Shield AI funding extends autonomy industrial stack

    Shield AI funding extends autonomy industrial stack

    Shield AI’s latest raise deepens defence autonomy’s industrial stack further. The financing and planned Aechelon acquisition strengthen the software, simulation, and validation layer behind autonomous military aviation.