Defense Infrastructure & Manufacturing

On July 24, Italy moved forward with a major defense project as L3Harris Technologies and ELT Group signed an agreement to build Europe’s first multi-sensor calibration and flight-test center. The signing took place inside a Ministry of Defense hangar in Rome. The new installation will let Italian and allied aircraft check radar, electronic warfare, and navigation systems without needing to travel to the U.S. The facility draws on L3Harris’ experience with its Greenville, Texas range and ELT’s long history in electromagnetic support.

Royal International Air Tattoo, Fairford – Michael Williamson, who heads Lockheed Martin International, says that several NATO members not flying the F-35 have come to the company with questions about what it would take to set up repair options for the jet at their own bases. This logic is straightforward: when an F-35 has to divert because of weather or combat damage, the crew shouldn’t have to wait for a transport plane or move the jet over a border just for repairs.

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.

A new alliance between Bechtel Plant Machinery Inc. (BPMI) and Pittsburgh-based Gecko Robotics was unveiled on July 15. Announced during a White House technology round-table in Pittsburgh, the arrangement places Gecko’s autonomous inspection robots and data-analytics software inside BPMI’s nuclear-propulsion supply chain. Senior Navy officials describe the move as a direct response to slipping submarine-delivery schedules and mounting maintenance backlogs.

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.