Clara Nguyen, Author at defense-aerospace

RAND and Joint Counter‑UAS Office Run Six Exercises on Homeland Drone Defense

A July 25 after-action brief lays out what happened during the sixth RAND-Joint Counter-Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Office exercise, held the day before at Fort Belvoir. This was not another planning session. Teams ran live drills to stop drones from reaching runways. They launched quadcopters from public parking lots, clocked response times and worked off lessons from June’s Operation Spiderweb, where cheap Ukrainian drones knocked out Russian bombers.

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Kyiv Sets January 2026 Deadline for 50% Local Arms Production

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has set a six-month deadline for reaching a home-grown share of one-half in Ukraine’s overall weapons supply. The target, announced on 17 July after parliament approved a reshuffled cabinet, would lift the current forty-percent domestic share to fifty before mid-January 2026. Zelenskyy told lawmakers the country must move the fight onto Russian territory and cannot wait for each foreign shipment.

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First In‑Flight Trial of VK‑800 Engine on Yak‑40 Testbed Advances Baikal Program

Novosibirsk, Russia – A Yakovlev Yak-40 flying laboratory lifted off from SibNIA’s Yeltsovka airfield on July 14, logging the first airborne run of UZGA’s new VK-800 turboprop. The 15-minute sortie reached roughly 700 meters and about 340 kilometers per hour. Test crews reported smooth spool-up, steady power delivery, and no abnormal vibrations as the nose-mounted propeller drove the veteran trijet around the circuit.

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Canberra Secures 400 Advanced AMRAAM Missiles in .39 Billion Air Defense Deal

Canberra Secures 400 Advanced AMRAAM Missiles in $1.39 Billion Air Defense Deal

Australia has confirmed a 2.12 billion-dollar Australian investment – about $1.39 billion U.S. – to secure the newest AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles, reinforcing both its air-defense shield and its long-range strike reach. Defense officials say the order covers the AIM-120D-3 and AIM-120C-8 variants, sourced through Washington’s Foreign Military Sales channel, with deliveries starting next year.

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European Defence Agency Pushes Drone-UGV Supply Missions Adopted from Ukraine

European armies just wrapped up three weeks of hands-on trials that pushed small drones and ground robots through the same last-mile supply missions now common on Ukrainian front lines. Engineers and soldiers moved ammunition, water, and medical kits without a single crewed truck entering the danger zone, then logged every fault, delay, and workaround for a rapid-fire lessons-learned cycle that ends later this month at Nettuno.

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Royal Australian Navy Welcomes HMAS Arafura as New Arafura-Class OPV

The Royal Australian Navy has added a new hull to its order of battle. On 28 June the service commissioned HMAS Arafura, first of the Arafura-class offshore patrol vessels, during a ceremony at Fleet Base West near Fremantle. Defense officials confirm the ship is now on the active list under pennant 203 and ready to start work while post-commissioning trials continue.

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European Trio Safran, MTU Aero Engines & Avio Aero Partner on Next-Generation Military Helicopter Engine

Safran Helicopter Engines, MTU Aero Engines, and Avio Aero have sealed a fresh cooperation accord that lays the groundwork for the European Next Generation Helicopter Engine program, widely known as ENGHE. Signed in Paris on 29 June 2025, the deal frames an equal-share development model that draws on the three firms’ complementary strengths. Each partner will handle roughly one-third of the design load and will rely on its own national industrial base, keeping the supply chain inside Europe and trimming reliance on non-European parts.

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General Dynamics Electric Boat Secures $1.85 B Navy Contract for Virginia-Class Block VI Submarine Prep

According to industry sources, the U.S. Navy has added up to $1.85 billion to its multiyear Virginia-class attack-submarine contract with General Dynamics Electric Boat. The money covers early construction work and the purchase of long-lead components for the forthcoming Block VI boats. Defense officials confirm that $1.68 billion is obligated immediately from fiscal-year 2025 shipbuilding funds, while the balance becomes available once specific technical milestones close.

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Sierra Space Opens M Power Station Tech Center in Colorado to Scale Defense Solar Production

Sierra Space Opens $45M Power Station Tech Center in Colorado to Scale Defense Solar Production

Sierra Space has placed its new “Power Station” technology center into full production. The site, located in Broomfield, Colorado, brings automated solar-array manufacturing under one roof. According to industry sources, the company finished factory acceptance tests early yesterday and shifted directly into contract work for defense satellites. The company invested $45 million to fit the 70,000-square-foot building with clean rooms, thermal-vacuum chambers, and vibration rigs.

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