An interceptor that works costs more than the thing it destroys, and there are fewer of them than anyone would like. That exchange ratio has become the organizing problem of modern weapons development. A one-way attack drone assembled for a few tens of thousands of dollars can force the launch of a missile costing several million, and no magazine survives that trade for long.
This section covers the effectors and the software around them. Missiles and munitions, unmanned systems, air and missile defense, electronic warfare, cyber, lasers and high-power microwave, autonomy, propulsion, and the mission software that decides how quickly any of it can be changed.
Demonstrations are treated as demonstrations. A laser that shot down a drone on a range in good weather is not a fielded capability, and coverage says which one it is.
Production rate matters as much as performance. A weapon nobody can build at scale is a briefing slide.
At least five drones were reported over Île Longue on December 4, with some reporting placing the sighting around 7:30 p.m. local time. French officials said the overflight violated a prohibited zone. The site sits on the Crozon Peninsula in western France
A photo that began circulating online in early December shows a Ukrainian F-16AM carrying two seven-shot 70mm rocket pods that match the LAU-131 family, mounted under the wings. A targeting pod appears on the intake station on the right side. The weapons
The U.S. Air Force is soliciting industry white papers for a new Counter-Air Missile Program, or CAMP. The service wants a missile with a unit price under $500,000 and the ability to build it in the low thousands per year. The presolicitation
The U.S. Army plans to move from buying roughly tens of thousands of drones a year to acquiring at least one million in the next two to three years and then more than one million every year by 2028. Secretary of the
Berlin – Germany’s naval laser demonstrator has moved from sea to shore. The Rheinmetall–MBDA system transferred to the Bundeswehr’s Laser Competence Centre at WTD 91 in Meppen after a year of trials on the air-defense frigate Sachsen. Company materials note “fully operational
As of 28 October 2025, Castelion holds U.S. Navy and U.S. Army awards to integrate its Blackbeard hypersonic weapon on operational platforms, with live-fire events in scope. A Navy study conducted in 2024 defined strict size and weight limits for an air-carried
Russia’s leadership announced a new long-range flight for the 9M730 Burevestnik (Skyfall) on Oct 21, describing a subsonic cruise of about 14,000 kilometers in roughly 15 hours. The briefing ran on camera and signaled a push toward preparation for service. No telemetry,
Russian strike aircraft are now dropping jet-powered glide bombs on Ukrainian targets at ranges approaching 200 kilometers, extending the reach of Soviet-era free-fall bombs with bolt-on wings, guidance units, and small turbojet engines. Ukrainian intelligence officers describe a new long-range variant entering
An Air Force official said the Collaborative Combat Aircraft effort continued through the funding lapse with no direct program impacts. “Personnel supporting critical test and development activities were identified as excepted and returned from furlough to ensure continuity of operations and avoid
A concept video at AUSA 2025 showed an MQ-20 Avenger with a rotating nose section that projects a laser through a turreted aperture. General Atomics described it as a rendering rather than evidence of a fielded system, yet the configuration aligns with
Missiles / Drones / Directed Energy carries the effectors: cruise and ballistic weapons, loitering munitions, unmanned systems, and the lasers and high-power microwave now being fielded against them. What all of it is aimed at, and what shoots it down, is in Air & Missile Defense Systems.
