Clara Nguyen, Author at DEFENSE-AEROSPACE

F-15EX at Selfridge – Runway Realignment, KC-46 Beddown and What Congress Must Fund

Michigan's Selfridge Air National Guard Base will receive 21 F-15EX Eagle II fighters. Deliveries begin in fiscal 2028. The move keeps a fighter mission at the 127th Wing once the A-10 retires. The timeline runs tight and the base still lacks several

September 2, 2025

Air & Missile Defense Systems

RTX Demonstrates AN/SPY-6(V)4 Radar Tracking in First Live Maritime Test at Pacific Missile Range Facility

The U.S. Navy and Raytheon, an RTX business, have completed the first live maritime test of the AN/SPY-6(V)4 radar at the Pacific Missile Range Facility, Barking Sands, Hawaii. The event produced real world data on air and surface target tracks and confirmed

August 26, 2025

Aircraft

US Air Force Relocates 31 F-16s to Osan Air Base for Two-Year Super Squadron Test

The Air Force is transferring F-16s and personnel from Kunsan Air Base to Osan Air Base to form a second "super squadron" in South Korea. The service describes the transfer as temporary and tied to a defined year-two trial.

August 11, 2025

Joint Exercises / Special Ops Training

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.

July 31, 2025

Defense Infrastructure & Manufacturing

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

July 17, 2025

Aircraft Propulsion

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

July 15, 2025

Contracts & Deals

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

July 8, 2025

Missiles / Drones / Directed Energy

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

July 4, 2025

Naval Systems

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

July 2, 2025

Industrial Partnerships

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

July 2, 2025

Clara Nguyen

F-15EX at Selfridge – Runway Realignment, KC-46 Beddown and What Congress Must Fund

RTX Demonstrates AN/SPY-6(V)4 Radar Tracking in First Live Maritime Test at Pacific Missile Range Facility

US Air Force Relocates 31 F-16s to Osan Air Base for Two-Year Super Squadron Test

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

Kyiv Sets January 2026 Deadline for 50% Local Arms Production

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

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

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

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

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

Authors

Julien Mercier

Clara Nguyen

Priya Shah

Michael Adler

Lena Kovacs

Diego Ramos

Peter Johansson

Lucas Meyer