Weapons & Technologies

How Europe Could Co-Build U.S. Collaborative Combat Aircraft After Paris Air Show Reveal

How Europe Could Co-Build U.S. Collaborative Combat Aircraft After Paris Air Show Reveal

PARIS – Collaborative Combat Aircraft, or CCAs, stepped onto the world stage this week at the Paris Air Show. Two full-scale mock-ups – Anduril’s Fury YFQ-44 and General Atomics’ YFQ-42 – drew steady crowds. Executives from both firms stressed one message: Europe can help build the fleet, not just buy it. Defense officials confirm that Washington supports the idea, marking a sharp break from past export cycles that delayed foreign access for years.

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Award of the Contract for the Next Phase of the SCAF Project

Award of the Contract for the Next Phase of the SCAF Project

The French, German, and Spanish defense ministries have committed to the next stage of the tri-national Future Combat Air System. Their signature on Phase 1B unlocks €3.2 billion for a thirty-six-month round of design and demonstration work. The agreement comes two weeks after negotiators settled the final work-share split. The French Directorate General for Armaments notified the prime contractors – Dassault Aviation, Airbus Defence and Space in Germany and Spain, Indra, and the engine joint-venture EUMET.

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Spain pushes back on 5 % defense quota, advocates integrated EU-NATO investment framework

Spain pushes back on 5 % defense quota, advocates integrated EU-NATO investment framework

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has notified NATO headquarters that Spain will not accept a future rule requiring every ally to channel five percent of national output into defense. His letter, delivered late Thursday to Secretary-General Mark Rutte, calls the target “unreasonable” and warns that it would stretch the state budget and disrupt wider European security programs. Defense officials confirm the message reached Brussels in time to feature on next week’s summit agenda in The Hague – guaranteeing formal debate rather than corridor talk.

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A330

Airbus Advances MRTT+ Tanker Production While France Green-Lights VSR700 Naval Drone

Airbus used the mid-week peak of Le Bourget to firm up two programs that matter to every logistics planner on the continent. The A330-800neo Multi-Role Tanker Transport Plus (MRTT+) moved closer to launch as production leaders laid out a clear ramp-up plan. At the same time, the French Ministry of the Armed Forces signed a binding framework for the VSR700 uncrewed helicopter, locking the drone into the Navy’s next spending cycle.

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China’s Expanding Drone Arsenal Reveals Strength of Civil-Military Integration

China’s Expanding Drone Arsenal Reveals Strength of Civil-Military Integration

The first taxi runs of Jiutian’s SS-UAV “drone mothership” at a private airfield in Sichuan on 16 June reflect how far China’s unmanned programs have moved in a single decade. According to industry sources, technicians completed telemetry checks in less than six weeks, after the 15-ton airframe left the final assembly hangar in early May.

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One-Way Drone from MBDA Targets Enemy Defenses with Sheer Volume

One-Way Drone from MBDA Targets Enemy Defenses with Sheer Volume

PARIS — MBDA, Europe’s largest missile maker, has shown a new low‑cost drone called the One‑Way Effector (OWE). The idea is simple: send many cheap drones first, force the enemy to shoot them down, then fire expensive cruise missiles through the gaps. Company engineers began work only six months ago, a pace that matches the urgent need for mass seen during two years of drone‑heavy fighting in Ukraine.

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