Aerospace

US Marines and Philippine Navy personnel have tested the Firestorm Tempest drone during Balikatan 2026, adding a modular unmanned aircraft and distributed production model to the Indo-Pacific’s expanding littoral warfare toolkit.

Indonesia will receive 12 Bayraktar Kizilelma unmanned combat aircraft from 2028, giving Baykar its first export customer for the jet-powered platform and placing unmanned fighter production, sustainment, and carrier-compatible operations at the centre of Jakarta’s future airpower planning.

Spain has opened early discussions with Türkiye over the Kaan fighter, adding a new variable to Europe’s combat-air landscape. The move follows Spain’s Hürjet-based SAETA II training programme and highlights growing interest in software control, workshare, and sovereign fighter integration.

Anduril will lead a space interceptor team for Golden Dome. The Space-Based Interceptor effort brings together Impulse Space, Inversion, K2 Space, Sandia, and Voyager, aiming to develop an orbital missile-defence layer that demands scalable spacecraft production, guidance hardware, propulsion, communications, autonomy, and repeated test infrastructure before any operational constellation deployment.

The B-52J engine upgrade has cleared critical design review successfully. The milestone allows Boeing to begin modifying the first two aircraft with Rolls-Royce F130 engines, new generators, updated interfaces, and supporting systems, creating production work across propulsion integration, electrical power, tooling, software, testing, and depot processes for long-range bomber sustainment.

LRSO development keeps strategic standoff missile production under scrutiny again. The AGM-181 programme links bomber modernisation to low observable missile manufacturing, with performance dependent on shaping, coatings, propulsion integration, nuclear certification, software assurance, warhead interfaces, and long cycle sustainment.

US E-7A plans revive airborne early warning production momentum again. The proposed five aircraft buy would sustain a complex conversion programme, with industrial pressure falling on 737 airframe modification, MESA radar integration, mission consoles, secure communications, power and cooling changes, and fleet support.

Skyhammer’s Jordan trial moves UK counter drone missiles toward delivery. Cambridge Aerospace’s interceptor gives Britain a faster route to lower cost drone defence, while production depends on seekers, propulsion, control surfaces, electronics, launchers, energetic materials, testing, and quality assurance.

China’s compact cruise missile design puts stealth carriage under focus. The internally carried concept links stealth aircraft design to missile production, with bay geometry, shaping, thermal control, propulsion packaging, release safety, and repeatable surface quality driving future air-launched strike manufacturing.