Giovanni de Briganti, Author at DEFENSE-AEROSPACE

Official group photograph of NATO Heads of State and Government at the 2026 Ankara Summit

NSDIF26: Joint Procurement From Communique to Contract

NATO’s new industry strategy was endorsed the same week as its $50 billion procurement headline. The strategy’s own text says it carries no legal or funding force and covers only the pre-competitive phase. The agency that actually negotiates and signs joint-procurement contracts

September 18, 2026

An MH-139A Grey Wolf flies alongside a missile security convoy at Malmstrom Air Force Base

Helicopters

MH-139A Grey Wolf: how the full-rate production decision kept moving

The 2023 production baseline targeted the full-rate production decision for March 2025. The FY2027 budget projected it for August 2026. Along the way, the Air Force funded 36 of 50 production helicopters and declared the type’s initial operational capability for nuclear security.

September 17, 2026

Gen. Michael A. Guetlein speaks at a podium during a Golden Dome for America event

Space Systems

Golden Dome’s Space Layer: $17.5 Billion, Mostly Off-Budget

Two Congressional Research Service products, published a day apart, can’t agree on what “$17.5 billion” means for Golden Dome. The continuing resolution that followed settled a different question: for now, none of it is protected. Document Figure given What it says CRS

September 16, 2026

A soldier stands in front of an emplaced THAAD launcher prepared to fire interceptors

Defense Infrastructure & Manufacturing

Interceptor Stocks After a 38-Day Campaign

The factories rebuilding Patriot and THAAD stocks are running on a dated, public paper trail. The stocks themselves are the subject of a public fight between a cable network and the Secretary of War. Neither argument settles what Congress has actually paid

September 10, 2026

A Royal Australian Air Force E-7A Wedgetail on approach to land, its dorsal MESA radar antenna visible

Aircraft

The E-7A Wedgetail Line in the FY2027 Request

The Pentagon has reversed course on the E-7 twice in two budget cycles. Only one of those reversals has a dollar figure attached to it in an actual bill. E-7A Wedgetail · FY2027 DoD request none requested HASC, authorized none SASC, authorized

September 9, 2026

Marine Corps Gen. Francis L. Donovan watches a demonstration of an unmanned system during the FLEX 2026 exercise

AI & Autonomy

A New Command for Autonomous Warfare, and $55 Billion Behind It

Five months after the Pentagon’s headline budget request, three congressional committees have written down a figure for the same organization, and it isn’t $55 billion. Defense Autonomous Warfare Group · FY2027 Requested, discretionary $1.00B Requested, mandatory $53.6B via reconciliation HASC, authorized $1.00B

September 9, 2026

Two F-35A Lightning II aircraft of the 461st Flight Test Squadron in flight

Contracts & Deals

Kongsberg JSM: the 5 June Award Was Lot Three, at $280.7M

Sources are listed in full at the end. Contract figures come from Department of War announcements; quantities, unit costs and the lot schedule come from the Air Force FY2027 missile procurement justification book, line item JSM000. The $240.9 million Joint Strike Missile

September 4, 2026

Cars queueing at a petrol station in Kaliningrad during fuel shortages in July 2026

Russia-Ukraine War

How Much of Russia’s Refining Is Actually Down?

Figures below cover January to late August 2026 and are attributed to the organisation that produced them, with the date each was given. Claims by parties to the fighting are identified as such. On 4 July, Ukraine’s General Staff said Ukrainian strikes

September 3, 2026

A materials engineer leads a laboratory session at Naval Surface Warfare Center Philadelphia Division

GAO / Think Tank Reports

GAO’s 24th Assessment: The 12-Year Number and What Explains It

GAO-26-108457 was released on 2 July 2026. Figures below are from the report’s analytical section unless otherwise noted. Programme cost and schedule data in the report come from Department of Defense reporting, not from independent measurement. Every account of this year’s assessment

September 2, 2026

Keir Starmer, Donald Trump, Mark Rutte, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Radmila Shekerinska seated at the North Atlantic Council table during the 2026 NATO Summit in Ankara

Europe & NATO

Ankara pledged $50 billion in procurement and €70 billion for Ukraine. Neither number means what it looks like

The Ankara Summit Declaration runs to six paragraphs and carries two large figures. It carries no methodology for either one. Reconstructing the denominators from allied and third-party data gives a materially different picture of how much new money left Ankara — and

August 27, 2026

Giovanni de Briganti

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