Breaking Defense reports, “The Navy is seeking to purchase P-8A Poseidon aircraft once again, after pausing procurement in fiscal 2025 and FY26, this year’s budget request shows. The FY27 budget request, released in April, requests 12 new P-8A aircraft for just over $4.2 billion. The Navy said that FY27 is the last planned year of production, and that the last aircraft delivery is expected in the first quarter of FY32.”
Full Story (Breaking Defense)
Tag: military aviation
U.S. Air Force Eyes Major Expansion of KC-46A Pegasus Fleet
Aerospace Global News reports, “The Air Force already has around 100 Boeing KC-46A tankers in service, but now it wants to increase that to around 319 eventually. There are rumours it wants to fully replace the KC-135, but that would require an even bigger order. While the aircraft has faced repeated high-profile teething maturation problems, it is the only US tanker aircraft on the market available to replace aging KC-135 and to increase the overall fleet size.”
Full Story (Aerospace Global News)
NATO Ally Taps Red Cat’s Black Widow Drones for Next-Gen Defense
Unmanned Systems Technology reports, “The Black Widow small unmanned aircraft system (sUAS) from Red Cat Holdings has been selected by a NATO ally following a competitive tender process.”
Full Story (Unmanned Systems Technology)
NAVAIR Seeks Industry Input on CV-22 Osprey JTT-NG Integration
Military Aerospace reports, “The Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) is conducting market research to identify companies capable of integrating the Joint Tactical Terminal – Next Generation (JTT-NG) system onto the CV-22 Osprey aircraft, according to a sources sought notice issued on behalf of the V-22 Joint Program Office under the Program Executive Office for Air Anti-Submarine Warfare, Assault & Special Mission Programs.”
Full Story (Military Aerospace)
RTX’s Pratt & Whitney Lands $3.8B F135 Production Contract
Airforce Technology reports, “Pratt & Whitney, part of RTX, has received a contract modification worth $3.8bn for the production of lots 18 and 19 of the F135 engine. The engine powers all three models of the F-35 Lightning II, which recently exceeded one million engine flight hours.”
Full Story (Airforce Technology)
Northrop’s Talon IQ Flies First Mission With Shield AI’s Hivemind Autonomy
The Defense Post reports, “Northrop Grumman’s Talon IQ modular testbed, equipped with Shield AI’s Hivemind as its digital brain, has completed its first partner mission autonomy flight in Mojave, California. Following its single‑day hardware‑in‑the‑loop test, Hivemind successfully directed Talon IQ to execute combat air patrol and target engagement in the flight before the aircraft swapped back to Northrop’s Prism autonomy software.”
Full Story (The Defense Post)
MQ-20 Avenger Demonstrates Advanced Autonomy in U.S. Air Force Exercise
Aviation News Daily reports, “General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) and the U.S. Air Force have successfully completed a groundbreaking autonomy flight exercise, demonstrating critical new capabilities for Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA). The test proves that uncrewed jets can now coordinate complex combat behaviors autonomously, marking a major leap in the integration of AI-driven wingmen for future air warfare.”
Full Story (Aviation News Daily)
Air Force Invests $2.4B in E-7A Wedgetail to Replace Aging AWACS Fleet
Aviation Daily reports, “The United States Air Force has awarded Boeing a massive $2.4 billion contract for the continued development and production of the E-7A Wedgetail. This investment marks a critical milestone in replacing the aging AWACS fleet with a modern airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) platform to maintain air superiority.”
Full Story (Aviation Daily)
Air Force Boosts B-21 Raider Production, Targets 2027 Delivery
Breaking Defense reports, “The Air Force today announced a new agreement with Northrop Grumman to ‘ramp’ production of the in-development B-21 Raider, using $4.5 billion in reconciliation funding to help deliver the bomber by 2027.”
Full Story (Breaking Defense)
General Atomics Names YFQ-42A Collaborative Combat Aircraft ‘Dark Merlin’
Aviation Week reports, “General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI) announced Feb. 23 that its collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) has a name: the Dark Merlin. The GA-ASI YFQ-42A is one of two CCAs being developed for the U.S. Air Force’s first increment of its program, along with the Anduril YFA-44A. After first flights in 2025, both of the prototypes now await a potential production award in 2026.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
Video
The YFQ-42A drone by General Atomics
(Techno Thunder; YouTube)