The $49 million Enterprise Agreement Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity contract, or IDIQ, specifically focuses on mission and enterprise applications, staff workflows, records and “reporting that sit above the Army’s systems of record,” a Kaizen release said.

“The Army is changing how it acquires software because missions cannot wait through years of bespoke implementation,” said Nikhil Reddy, co-founder and CEO of Kaizen Labs. “This agreement provides Army organizations a more direct path to the applications essential to their critical operations.”

Though the amount could increase based on demand, the remaining $6 million in the contract could be used to fund software for military readiness, personnel management, installations, logistics or operations, Reddy told Military Times.

For instance, a service member might use a Defense Department web portal under the Morale, Welfare and Recreation program to book lodging for an event.

That reservation platform includes components like data and scheduling mechanisms. But that platform that allows a service member or the Defense Department to manage a particular reservation likely hosts numerous digital properties that apply to other services and platforms soldiers use, Reddy said.

If, hypothetically, the military wanted Kaizen to revamp case management portals, the company could perform that task while addressing multiple areas of need by supplying new application software for multiple portals across the military.

Kaizen is no stranger to helping the Defense Department streamline important processes.

In August, the company built the online counter-unmanned aerial system marketplace that allows verified DoD buyers to purchase autonomous systems.

Kaizen developed the marketplace with Joint Interagency Task Force 401, which spearheads efforts to bridge the gap between government agencies and defense tech companies pushing counter-drone technology.

The biggest problem with fielding technologies is procurement, Reddy told Military Times.

Legal frameworks, contract vehicles and purchasing agreements can take forever at the pace and scale that the Pentagon needs, he said.

So, Kaizen built the Airbnb equivalent for counter-UAS systems, Reddy said.

American companies can now log onto the marketplace, post products and receive procurement contracts from interested DoD-affiliated parties.

Under the $49 IDIQ, the Army and Kaizen’s framework agreement allows the service to order different products now and in the future.

Growing demand for air and missile defense systems amid conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East has strained U.S. weapons stockpiles, prompting the U.S. Army to award Lockheed Martin a contract worth up to $58.6 billion in July to ramp up production of PAC-3 interceptors.

Lockheed Martin said PAC-3 Edge incorporates a new seeker, upgraded flight controls and a multi-pulse rocket motor supplied by Northrop Grumman, enhancing the interceptor’s ability to counter advanced threats, including hypersonic missiles, at longer ranges and higher altitudes.

“The cost of this would be about that of the existing PAC-3 MSE,” Tim Cahill, president of missiles and fire control at Lockheed Martin, told Reuters. “At full production, the annual rate would be about 2,000 units a year, comparable with PAC-3 MSE.”

In January, Lockheed Martin signed a seven-year framework agreement with the Pentagon to expand production of its PAC-3 missile interceptors, aiming to increase annual manufacturing capacity to 2,000 units from about 600.

The $6.3 billion contract, which provides two additional option years, will see Raytheon provide the Defense Department with a continuous supply of Standard Missile-3 Block IB interceptors manufactured primarily in Tucson, Arizona and Huntsville, Alabama.

“SM-3 Block IB has proven its relevance in combat and this contract helps ensure we can replenish inventories and keep pace with the evolving threats the U.S. Navy, MDA and their partners face around the world,” Raytheon President Phil Jasper said in a statement.

The SM-3 Block IB interceptor belongs to a larger family of “hit-to-kill” SM-3 missile interceptors, which seek and destroy incoming ballistic missiles using sheer speed and momentum.

The Block IB type can be used by land forces and ships and is frequently deployed on vessels due to its range and highly flexible steering. The interceptor tracks flying targets with a two-color infrared seeker and propels itself towards them in short bursts, giving it accuracy at high speed as it homes in on targets.

It is designed to knock short- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles out of the sky when they are halfway to hitting their targets, and has long striking reach. It was used in combat for the first time in 2024 when the U.S. Navy destroyers USS Arleigh Burke and USS Carney fired them to intercept Iranian missiles aimed at targets in Israel.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies named the SM-3 Block IB among “seven critical munitions” in an April report detailing ammunition shortages, alongside Patriot missiles, Precision Strike Missiles, Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missiles, Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles and others.

The contract for more SM-3 Block IBs, announced by Raytheon on Thursday, was among five framework agreements the defense giant signed with the Pentagon this February.

The deal comes at a time when the DoD is seeking to avert diminishing munitions stockpiles. National security specialists, defense analysts and foreign policy pundits cautioned in March that the U.S. military’s increased use of missile interceptors during the war with Iran poses strategic risks to integral defense capabilities if fighting spills into a long-term conflict.

Raytheon stated in its release that the contract for SM-3 Block IB supply “supports urgent replenishment of missile defense inventory that has been successfully used in combat and remains central to protecting U.S. forces, allies and critical infrastructure.”

The 4th Multi-Domain Task Force will focus on synchronizing long-range precision fires in the Indo-Pacific region “to deny, disrupt and disaggregate adversary capabilities” and create advantages for other units in the joint force, the Army said in a release.

The task force includes four battalions and is planned to grow to 2,100 soldiers.

Col. Hugh W.A. Jones assumed command of the task force during Thursday’s ceremony. He previously commanded the 2nd Stryker Brigade, 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson, leading the brigade when it deployed to the U.S.-Mexico border last year.

“While we build this formation to deter aggression and preserve peace, if war comes, we must be prepared to fight and win,” Jones said during the ceremony. “We owe those in harm’s way every advantage we can give them, while leaving our enemy nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.”

The task force reports to the 7th Infantry Division at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington.

In June, the Army combined the 7th Infantry Division and the 1st Multi-Domain Task Force at Lewis-McChord into the 7th Infantry Division (Multi-Domain Command-Pacific), which serves as the multi-domain operational headquarters. Its mission is to integrate “maneuver, fires, air defense, cyber, space, electronic warfare, intelligence, unmanned systems, sustainment and command-and -control in support of the joint force across the Pacific,” the Army said in a release.

Maj. Gen. Bernard Harrington, commander of the 7th Infantry Division, attended the activation ceremony at Fort Carson.

“You are driving the change our nation demands today, to meet the changing character of war, to prevent conflict, and to maintain a free and open Pacific alongside our allies and partners,” Harrington told soldiers assigned to the new multi-domain task force.

The establishment of the 7th Infantry Division (Multi-Domain Command-Pacific) and the 4th Multi-Domain Task Force are part of a broader transformation initiative “to counter near-peer adversaries in an increasingly complex global landscape,” the Army said.

The initiative includes the service establishing five multi-domain task forces by 2028, according to a Congressional Research Service report. The Army activated the 2nd Multi-Domain Task Force in 2021 at the Clay Kaserne installation in Germany, and stood up the third in Hawaii in 2022. A fifth is planned for Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

The units are designed to operate across all domains — land, air, sea, space, cyberspace and information — and “provide combatant commanders with a versatile and potent array of options,” according to the Army.

“As we build this formation, we must never forget that technology earns its value in the hands of well-trained and disciplined soldiers,” Jones said Thursday. “A soldier who solves a difficult problem here may make the difference for an American fighting far beyond the horizon.”

Measures to prevent environmental damage were proposed in only 22 of 74 civil works projects the Corps submitted to Congress for approval from 2020 to 2025, according to a report published Wednesday by the Government Accountability Office.

The Corps deemed that no such measures were needed for the remaining 52 projects and failed to provide detailed evidence as to why, the watchdog alleges.

The agency regularly works to improve water navigation channels to prevent flooding and restore aquatic habitats around the country through its civil works program. It is required by statute to make detailed reports to Congress outlining whether its projects will require measures to prevent possible harm to fish, wildlife and the environment.

The engineers are expected “to plan for environmental mitigation — that is, to take actions to avoid, minimize, or compensate for expected losses to fish and wildlife and damage to ecological resources,” which could include reinforcing riverbanks or restoring wetland areas to create new habitats for fish and wildlife, according to the report.

The Corps of Engineers may decide not to undertake conservation measures if it deems certain projects will not cause harm. However, the Army is expected to provide Congress with clear explanations for those decisions.

A chart published by GAO shows a sharp decline in the Corps’ decisions to make mitigation plans for wildlife and habitat protection from 2022 to 2025. In 2024, for example, the agency decided that only one of 13 projects would require measures to safeguard the environment.

The GAO’s chart shows zero mitigation plans made in 2025.

In its findings, the GAO alleges that the Corps failed to provide necessary details to Congress demonstrating the reasons behind its decision-making in cases when it deemed no environmental protection measures were needed.

The watchdog said the vast majority of documents sent to Congress during those five years contained broad and general language that failed to clarify how the Corps reached its decisions.

The GAO recommended that the Army establish clear guidance for the Corps to document how it reaches decisions to keep Congress and the public better informed.

The Army disputed the GAO’s recommendations in a Sept. 16 letter signed by D. Lee Forsgren, the senior official performing the duties of the Army’s assistant secretary for civil works.

“We do not concur with the recommendation in the draft that we need to create more guidance about mitigation decision making on Civil Works projects,” Forsgren wrote.

“The water resources project reports (including associated Chief’s Reports) produced by USACE have sufficient technical information for decision makers and the public and resource agencies to understand when habitat mitigation is or is not included in a final recommendation.”

A new U.S. Army poster depicts a soldier of the Iranian army. The graphics show a bearded soldier wearing sunglasses and a beret, with captions describing the various weapons he might carry and the uniforms he might wear.

That the U.S. Army has a quick-recognition guide for Iranian soldiers doesn’t mean America will invade Iran. The Army’s Training and Transformation Command has a library of graphical recognition posters for the armies of various nations, including China’s People’s Liberation Army.

The U.S.’s ongoing conflict with Iran has lasted nearly eight months. For now, both sides have waged war with aircraft, missiles and drones. But the possibility of American boots on the ground has always been present, such as seizing vital Iranian oil facilities on Kharg Island.

The new guide, published Sept. 24, isn’t focused on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the praetorian guard of the Iranian regime that grabs most of the headlines. The IRGC controls many of the weapons that have been fired at American forces and Iran’s neighbors, including ballistic missiles, drones and fast-attack boats.

Instead, the U.S. Army guide displays a soldier of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army, also known as Artesh. It is a mainly conscript force of 350,000 personnel that is essentially the regular armed forces of the nation of Iran, including armored, infantry, special forces, air defense, aircraft and naval units, according to the research organization the Institute for the Study of War.

In contrast, the IRGC protects an Iranian regime that doesn’t fully trust the regular armed forces, which date back to the days of the Shah. As in many authoritarian nations, such as Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, there is a deliberate rivalry between the regular and politicized armed forces, with the regime’s pet army getting the best equipment.

There have been numerous reports of low morale and harsh conditions for Artesh soldiers, including lack of food and medical care. One draftee said in a 2022 essay for the Atlantic Council, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, that most soldiers do menial work, rather than combat training.

The Artesh soldier in the U.S. Army poster — wearing the green beret of the Iranian special forces — doesn’t appear much different than the infantry in many other armies, with a mix of Soviet, Western and Iranian gear. He is shown carrying an AKM, Masaf-2 or Heckler & Koch G3A6 rifle. He can also be armed with an MG3 machine gun or an RPG-7, plus grenades, body armor, rucksack, canteen and gas mask, among other gear.

The image shows five different camouflage uniforms, including khaki and woodland, as well as three camouflage patterns for the special forces. Also shown are the insignia of officer and enlisted ranks.

As part of its international expansion plans, the company is promoting its unmanned solutions at this year’s AUSA conference in Washington as it seeks to strengthen its presence in the United States.

The company is pushing the project as numerous anti-drone system producers in Ukraine and other European countries are striving to make their interceptors cheaper than the targets they are meant to strike, and also suitable for mass production using readily available components.

Ranno Pajuri, business development manager at KrattWorks, told Defense News the new dummy drone is expected to be presented by the end of 2027.

“We need to obtain a working prototype that is reliable enough. The good thing is that we have software which can be adapted to different hardware quite easily,” he said. “But if the drone becomes so much different from what we have today and so much faster, then there are many variables to consider before it is stabilized and ready for a demonstration.”

The Ukrainian Army, to which the Estonian company has supplied one-way attack drones as well as other products such as its Ghost Dragon ISR drone, is one of the potential users of the new solution. KrattWorks has delivered its UAVs to customers in Europe, and the company is currently making efforts to boost its foothold in the United States as well as various markets in Asia and Africa. KrattWorks says its Ghost Dragon ISR systems have also been deployed in Estonia, Georgia and Moldova, among others.

“We produce our drones in Estonia. We have enough extra capacity to ramp up the production if the demand will grow. Aerial target drones are usually made within quite a short lead time,” Pajuri said. “But we are open to some level of transfer of production if this is necessary and the demand is large enough in the country to which we are selling our products.”

KrattWorks says its product portfolio includes the DART fixed-wing aerial target, which is intended for use against air-defense missiles, heavy machine guns and anti-aircraft cannons, and the DART-R, an aerial target decoy fitted with a radar reflector that can reach a maximum speed of 200 km/h (124 mph), according to data from the company. KrattWorks also makes the PARM aerial target quadcopter.

The manufacturer said it “builds ISR drones with wide frequency band-hopping radios and GNSS-free flight modes to help first responders and servicemen to gain fast situational awareness in situations where every second counts.”

The business cooperates closely with the Ukrainian Armed Forces and studies the UAV attacks that take place in Ukraine and the evolving tactics used there to improve its products. KrattWorks makes efforts to ensure that its aerial target drones mimic the latest operational trends and act in a realistic manner, the company representative said.

In its September 2026 report on Russia’s use of UAVs against Ukraine, the Institute for Science and International Security, a Washington-based think tank, said the Russian military used an estimated 5,166 Shahed-type drones, including decoys, against Ukrainian targets in August alone.

Meanwhile, the Office of the President of Ukraine said on Sept. 28 that the country’s military had reached an overall drone shoot-down rate of 70%, including both piston-powered and jet-powered Shaheds.

“But for jet-powered ‘Shaheds,’ unfortunately, the rate is much lower than it needs to be – 57%,” the office said in a statement. “New interceptors are being actively tested. Some combat teams are already using them, but of course, some details still need to be refined to ensure sufficient effectiveness and deployment at scale. We are pushing the developers to move faster.”

Officials at Fort Bragg and Corvias, the privatized housing company that operates the installation’s housing, recently marked the renovation of the first of 21 historic homes that are ready for military families. They were built between 1928 and 1939, and feature elements including stucco walls, copper gutters, hardwood floors and basements.

Fort Bragg has 230 homes that were built before 1940, and all are designated as historic. But these aren’t even the oldest of Army housing. There are 867 houses built before 1919, located on 19 other Army installations in 13 states and the District of Columbia, according to the Army.

At Fort Bragg, about 2,300 of the base’s 6,104 homes were built before 1960, officials said.

The Army manages the largest inventory of historic housing in the federal government, with more than 30,000 historic homes that are more than 50 years old. These homes are subject to the requirements of the National Historic Preservation Act, according to the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.

That federal agency’s mission is to promote the preservation of America’s historic places and has worked with the Army and the other services as they prepare plans to renovate these houses, making sure they preserve the historic character while meeting the needs of families.

“These residences are an important part of Fort Bragg’s history, but their greatest value is continuing to serve soldiers and families who live in these homes,” said Col. Luke Wittmer, the installation’s garrison commander, in an announcement. “This renovation preserves history while ensuring we continue to meet the needs of today’s families.”

Historic homes have long been a challenge to preserve and maintain for military families, with a variety of issues such as lead paint and asbestos, which are both hazardous and costly to remediate.

Most of the military’s historic homes were included in the inventory of military housing that was turned over to private companies to operate and maintain, starting in the early 2000s.

According to the Army, historic homes currently take an average of 18 days to prepare between occupants, compared to 15 days for a standard home. The average cost is $4,342, compared to $3,681 for a standard home.

Fort Bragg was designated a permanent Army post in 1922, and construction of the first permanent party officers’ family quarters along Alexander and Hunt streets began in 1927, officials said. Construction of noncommissioned officer family housing began in 1928.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., visited the Middle East this week on a Congressional Delegation trip, speaking with Gulf region leaders and visiting American facilities to assess damage done by the Iran war. Murphy was denied access to Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, which had suffered damage from drone strikes during the conflict.

“They are using every tool they can, including withholding information about damages, slow walking the pace of reports about casualties and denying us access to see the damage as part of a campaign of cover-up, so as to mask the true cost of the war,” Murphy told reporters on Thursday.

The “unprecedented” base denial prepared Murphy, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Defense Appropriations Committee, in the coming days to draft language that would explicitly require the Department of Defense to grant members of Congress access to military bases overseas under all circumstances if needed.

“I don’t have any illusions that that’s going to pass between now and the end of the year, but I think that’ll be a really important part of the discussion around an appropriations bill next year and the defense authorization bill,” he said during the press call.

Prior to his trip, Murphy requested access to the base through a letter and direct appeal to U.S. Central Command leadership. But he was denied access even as the Department of State supported his trip to the region, with the Defense Department saying it was due to previously imposed travel restrictions.

“Senator Murphy’s office was informed before his trip to the Middle East that he would not receive Department of War support to access Al Udeid Air Base, consistent with the Secretary of War’s directive on travel restrictions in the region ordered on March 3, 2026,” a senior Defense Department official told Military Times on Thursday.

“That decision was communicated in advance by the Office of the Secretary of War for Legislative Affairs,” the official continued. “The Department applies the Secretary’s guidance evenly.”

In early March, the State and Defense departments issued travel guidance, calling on Americans to depart areas in the region and updating its travel advisory to recommend against visiting certain countries, including Qatar.

“It is absolutely ordinary for members of Congress to travel to areas of conflict and get to talk directly to the military leaders and the soldiers that are involved in the conflict and see for ourselves the damage that has been done to our bases and equipment,” Murphy said, highlighting how during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars he was able to visit operating bases.

He argued that since Congress decides funding and authorization for war, it is necessary to see the consequences, but he was unable to visit Al Udeid or have a briefing on the war with American military officials while in the region.

On the same day the travel advisory was issued in March, the U.S. embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was hit ​by two Iranians drones, resulting in building damage and a fire. Murphy said that the drones impacted multiple floors of the embassy and part of the space is now “uninhabitable” with permanent damage.

The U.S. previously announced in 2023 plans to build a new embassy compound in Riyadh, which Murphy attributes the lack of repairs to.

Even though no injuries or casualties were reported from the strike, Murphy said that if the attack happened during the day it would have killed many Americans.

“[Secretary of Defense Pete] Hegseth is determined to hide the cost and the consequences of this war from the American public, and it is absolutely outrageous that I and Republican senators are being denied the ability to see the damage for ourselves,” he said.

The M8, a compact alternative to Sig’s much-criticized M7 Next Generation Squad Weapon rifle, appears poised to take the M7’s place as the new standard weapon for soldiers, with significant weight reduction and key modifications that address troops’ concerns.

Among those changes is a 25-round magazine to replace the 20-round mag that shipped with the M7, said Josh Shoemaker, Sig’s product manager for defense.

The NGSW program marked a transition from the legacy M4 rifle’s 5.56mm ammo to the 6.8X51mm Common Cartridge, an internally designed caliber used both by the rifle and the coming M250 light machine gun. For some soldiers accustomed to the M4’s 30-round magazines, this has represented a major concern.

“Guys are coming from the 5.56mm system, where they’re used to being able to carry seven 30-round magazines into combat, so they have 210 rounds, roughly, going into a fight,” Shoemaker said in an interview. “Well, now that they’ve gone to this larger caliber, there’s 20-round magazines, so you’re reducing the volume of rounds that you have.”

Previously, Sig Sauer and the Army have emphasized that the 6.8mm round is heavier and carries greater kinetic energy and power, allowing troops to use fewer rounds to achieve the same effect on a target.

Last year, Brig. Gen. Phil Kinniery, commandant for the Army’s Infantry School and Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning, Georgia, told Task and Purpose that the 6.8mm ammo “stops the enemy at one round” versus the several rounds the legacy system would require.

Regardless, Shoemaker said, that purported difference can’t be seen in training; paper targets respond the same to bullets of either caliber.

Early criticism has cited ammo-management challenges in training with troops who find themselves with only 140 rounds to fire instead of the 210 they’re used to.

“Guys are having to think, ‘OK, well, how much ammo do I have left?’” Shoemaker said. “Sig has already, in a year’s time, developed a 25-round mag solution to extend some of that mag capacity out of the gate.”

It’s not clear if that 25-round magazine will immediately ship with the M8 carbine when fielding of that weapon begins in December.

Shoemaker said the alternative magazines were in early soldier evaluations and feedback and had to complete a full Army evaluation before they could be approved for use by soldiers.

“But in terms of production and manufacturing, we’re pretty much ready to go here in the next few months, to start spitting those out,” he said.

Soldier feedback also pushed Sig Sauer to design a more rigid handguard on the M8, eliminating some of the flexibility in the M7 that had presented a problem for soldiers.

“We saw that with the guys jumping out of planes, and they were like, ‘Hey, man, we’re getting a lot of flex, and then our lasers don’t line up, and we can’t hit targets at night,’” Shoemaker said. “That’s a real problem.”

The new handguard uses a newly developed insert and additional screws to reduce unwanted movement to a minimum. It will come standard on the M8.

“The M4 was in service for over 60 years, and it had a lot of iterations in between that,” Shoemaker said. “There will be continuous improvements and evolutions of that as we go along. … And as the system matures, some of that feedback gets more and more nitpicky, you know, and we love it. The smaller stuff is just as important to us as the big stuff.”

In particular, a Congressional Research Service report, released Tuesday, pointed to the war in Ukraine, where armored vehicles have largely been driven from the battlefield by unmanned aerial vehicles and guided munitions.

“As ACVs are intended to provide organic, direct fire support to dismounted Marines in the attack, how vulnerable to these threat systems are ACVs during amphibious operations and when operating ashore to support combat operations?” the research service asked in its report. “Are the Marines considering additional ACV survivability modifications based on lessons learned in Ukraine?”

In fact, the Marine Corps did award a contract last month to Anduril for a counter-UAS system to protect the ACV from small drones. Anduril’s Pulsar-L is a sensor and jammer package designed to stop small Group 1 and 2 radio-frequency drones.

“The system is currently in use by the Special Operations Command due to the system’s low weight, proven performance in engaging multiple UASs, and simultaneous execution of the full kill-chain while static or on the move,” noted the Marine contract award.

The Congressional Research Service also questioned whether a possible plan to expand the Marine Corps would, in turn, require more ACVs, which cost about $6 million each, depending on the variant.

Last month, a Force Structure Review suggested adding more than 6,500 personnel by 2032, including additional slots in 19 infantry battalions and two Littoral Combat Teams.

If the plan is implemented, “would additional ACVs be required to accommodate growth in Marine infantry units?” CRS asked.

The ACV comes in multiple variants, including the ACV-P troop carrier, ACV-C command vehicle, ACV-30 fire support model armed with a 30mm cannon, and the ACV-R armored recovery vehicle.

Initially, the Marines envisioned buying 1,122 ACVs. But the current plan is for 608 vehicles, comprising 389 ACV-P, 33 ACV-C, 152 ACV-30 and 34 ACV-R, Marine Corps officials told CRS.

BAE was just awarded a $230 million contract modification for 32 ACV-Rs, which will be the final ACV variant. The order is scheduled to be fulfilled by November 2028.

For fiscal 2027, the Navy is requesting $237 million for ACV upgrades.

The ACV has already experienced teething pains. After two ACVs tipped over in 2022 while operating in surf up to 10 feet high, the Marines briefly suspended ACV operations in the open ocean, as long as significant breaker height doesn’t exceed four feet.

One issue is the weight of the ACV, which now stands at around 35 tons. In 2025, a Navy Small Business Innovation Research solicitation called for reducing the weight of all ACV variants, and particularly the heavier ACV-30 and ACV-R. The goal is to slim down at least 2,000 pounds per vehicle.

“Components identified as having potential for weight reduction include engine access covers, drive shafts, ramp door, ramp, hatches, external fuel tanks, external metallic and metallic/composite add-on-armor components, suspension, turret exterior panels, and bow plane,” the 2025 solicitation stated.

Saltwater corrosion of ACV struts has also created problems.

“The high deployment schedule combined with the high training tempo of the United States Marine Corps creates an extremely corrosive environment for the ACV not typically experienced by other vehicles,” claimed a January 2026 Sources Sought notice for more than 5,000 corrosion-resistant struts.

In addition, the weight reduction SBIR specified that any solution “must address corrosion issues expected from use in and around salt water. Weight reduction will improve fuel efficiency and can lower the Center of Gravity and Center of Buoyancy.”

Now, the Air Force says it’s considering a similar move. In a forum hosted by the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies on Tuesday, the commander of the Air Force Test Center, Brig. Gen. Mark Massaro, said service leaders were “actively working with the Army” to understand how they could apply the concept.

“We’re … looking at how the Army has opened up some of their ranges to commercial access and understanding what it is that we can do, on the Air Force side, to maybe move forward in that direction,” Massaro said.

The Air Force, he said, has had discussions with leaders from Army Test and Evaluation Command to “understand where they have gone with their access to ranges … to open up opportunities for contractors,” he said. He added that in a previous posting as commander of the 96th Test Wing at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., he had worked with Air Force officials and contractors to arrange smaller-scale test range access for specific tests. That experience, he said, had yielded “a lot of lessons” for how the arrangement could work.

He acknowledged the threat from adversaries gathering imagery from above – an existing and growing risk with the rise of drone incursions that such a move might exacerbate.

“We do understand that we have critical capabilities that we’re testing and we need to protect them,” Massaro said. “We do understand that there is a threat from an information security standpoint that we do pay attention to when we execute our tests, and we do work to design our processes and our ways of testing to account for that.”

But the advantages, he said, are also evident.

“Industry really is leading the way in a lot of ways on exploration and development, using their own internal research and development,” Massaro said. “And allowing them the ability to gain access to capabilities like the ranges helps … them to accelerate that learning to a point when it may become a useful, relevant technology for our military to consider using … So to to help them along that process in ways that we can through range or other assets, enable some of that work to help move the needle forward.”

Former Army Secretary Dan Driscoll made the opening of service test ranges to industry one of the centerpieces of his work to eliminate barriers to industry and drive efficiency in innovation. In a January interview with CBS, he described conditions that private companies couldn’t easily replicate on their own, such as a range set up to imitate a Ukrainian battlefield and space to test anti-jamming and hypersonic weapons technology. He also said that opening Army ranges would cut down the traditional range test process from up to 18 months to as little as 30 days.

“A company with a good idea shouldn’t need a team of lawyers and a program of record just to prove their equipment works,” Driscoll said in an August statement announcing the range openings. “So we fixed that. One front door … a real person to walk you in, and on the other side, everything the modern battlefield demands: contested airspace, degraded signals and the space to test at real scale.”

The ranges the Army made available to industry via an online application portal include Dugway Proving Ground, Utah; West Cibola Range, part of Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz.; Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center, Miss.; Camp Grayling Joint Maneuver Training Center, Mich.; and the Multidomain Training Area range complex within the Morocco-based Africa Multidomain Training and Experimentation Center.

The test by software company Intelic, which has a €30-million ($33.5-million) contract with the Dutch Defence Ministry to upgrade its air defenses, is an example of how technology is being developed and provided to Ukraine by European companies to help it defend itself against Russian attacks.

Amsterdam-based Intelic, one of scores of firms operating out of converted hangars at the airbase, now has an office in Kyiv and is helping Ukrainian forces as they face intensified Russian drone and missile barrages in a war in which drones have transformed the battlefield and driven rapid innovation.

In the test in late September, Intelic’s AI-powered software, Nexus, used multiple radars, sensors and cameras provided by other companies to identify the projectile as an enemy attack. A reconnaissance drone then verified it was an enemy drone with image recognition.

Although a human made the final decision to launch the AI-guided interceptor drone, the process could be fully autonomous, said Intelic CEO and founder Maurits Korthals Altes.

“Most of these systems use AI at the edge, so in the drone itself, to be able to hit a target, a flying drone for instance, and then actually get intercepted at high speeds,” he said.

“But you can also have AI for decision support,” for example by assisting a commander in the field, when there is sometimes a window of only a few seconds to decide whether or not to fire on an incoming jet-propelled drone.

The integration between the different systems enables a commander to make such decisions quickly. At high speeds, Korthals Altes said, “you’re not so likely to hit it manually, and you need a more autonomous system.”

The Dutch government’s investment is part of a spending push by the NATO country, which has allocated about €1.4 billion since 2022 to Ukraine’s drone program, making it one of Europe’s leading contributors along with Germany and Britain, figures from the Kiel Institute in Germany show.

‘CONNECTING TISSUE’

Since 2022, the Netherlands has provided military aid to Ukraine worth more than €12.5 billion, including nearly 1 million drones, the Defence Ministry said.

The Kiel Institute, which tracks military spending in Ukraine, said European aid for drones had jumped from €400 million in 2022, the year of Russia’s full-scale invasion, to €1.2 billion in 2025. The figure rose to €1.6 billion in the first four months of 2026 alone, it said.

Kyiv has increasingly sought support from allies to boost its air defenses, but European companies provide many different types of drones, which do not always “talk” to each other.

“Right now in Europe, there are over 700 drone manufacturers, and if we want to stay sovereign within Europe, we need to be able to have a system that is the connecting tissue between those different systems,” said Anika Kempter, a senior software engineer at Intelic.

She said Ukrainian brigades “might have different drones of different types from different vendors with different screens. Nexus solves this problem. So they can connect all of their drones in one system.”

DRONE TECHNOLOGY RACE

During the airbase test, engineers hovered over screens in a mobile command post using an interface that for the first time brings together radar target detection, AI verification and interceptor drones. Each component could be individually selected and operated from the single control panel.

Intelic’s command-and-control system is being rolled out on Ukraine’s battlefield, where operational decisions are sometimes still communicated via chat apps or phone calls. It supplements Delta, Ukraine’s own advanced battlefield management system.

Replacing human communication with autonomous systems shaves minutes off the time between when a drone is detected and forces try to shoot it down, potentially meaning the difference between life and death, Kempter said.

Russia now uses jet-propelled attack drones that fly at high altitude. In the first three weeks of September, Russia launched 2,100 such drones and 136 ​missiles at Ukraine, killing 288 people, Prime Minister Sergii Koretskyi said.

Drone technology develops so quickly that air-defense hardware can rapidly become obsolete and need upgrading, but Intelic’s software can bridge the gap by adding new weapon systems to the platform, said Korthals Altes.

“That’s very important in an environment that’s unpredictable,” he said. “Because nobody really knows how a war or threat would look ... in two years. We have an idea, but we don’t know for sure. So that adaptability is key.”

The $1.1 billion program is the Pentagon’s effort to rapidly expand the domestic drone industry by having companies submit small unmanned aircraft systems, or sUASs, for competition and then building stockpiles of the systems that perform best for military use.

Erin Cherry, the program’s test lead, told Military Times in an email that DIU is looking to recruit about 100 pilots for the program’s next phase, known as Gauntlet III. But the larger goal is to create a standing registry of drone operators across the military services.

“There’s no cap on the registry,” Cherry said. “We want to hear from any warfighter with FPV experience.”

She explained that service members selected to participate will get “stick time” with some of the newest drones, including systems that are not yet in military service, and some will receive specialized training on one-way attack drones.

“Most importantly, Gauntlet results strongly inform which systems move forward, and these pilots are the ones flying,” Cherry said.

The DIU announcement specifically calls for troops with experience flying FPV drones, which are typically flown manually in “acro” mode and are used for missions ranging from reconnaissance and surveillance to kamikaze attacks and close-quarters combat.

But Cherry said DIU is looking for more than just experienced FPV pilots.

“‘Pilot skill’ isn’t just one thing,” she said. “Flying ability, tactical knowledge, payload experience, and specialized skills like long-distance navigation and urban flight are all distinct, so we look at each one.”

That variety is important because the drones will ultimately be used by more than just the military’s most experienced operators.

“A drone that only performs well in an expert’s hands isn’t ready for the force,” Cherry said, adding that “whether someone has been flying FPV for five years or five months, we want to hear from them.”

For service members interested in participating, DIU is asking them to complete a Pilot Interest Form. Officials will only respond to applicants using a valid .mil email address, and all pilot participation will be coordinated through the individual military services.

The U.S. Army Garrison Ansbach’s Stock Barracks in Illesheim houses the Illesheim Flight Simulator Complex, or IFSC, providing one-of-a-kind training opportunities ahead of the German Armed Forces preparing to field CH‑47F Block II Chinook helicopters next fall, according to an Army release.

The IFSC, which is operated by U.S. Army Europe and Africa, provides the necessary training needed to prepare German forces to receive 60 of the heavy-lift, tandem-rotor helicopters, the release says.

Two German Air Force pilots who will be part of the first cohort to fly the new aircraft once they arrive in fall 2027 recently trained at the IFSC.

“In the simulator you can train all the scenarios you do not want to experience while flying a real aircraft,” said Lt. Col. L, a visiting pilot whose name was withheld, as is standard in the German Air Force, or Bundeswehr Luftwaffe. “Emergency procedures, challenging landings and extreme weather operations can all be practiced safely.”

“Everything you can do in a real flight, you can also do in a simulator,” the other visiting pilot, Maj. H, said.

The fleet will be stationed at two Bundeswehr installations and is meant to boost Germany’s heavy-lift and transport abilities, per the statement.

The two German pilots also trained in the U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence at Fort Rucker, Alabama.

Fort Rucker is the Army’s largest helicopter training institution and trains more than 1,300 U.S. soldiers every year. Beginning in 2028, German Air Force aviators will also trek to Fort Rucker annually for initial helicopter training and complete “track training,” including the CH‑47 qualification.

The Army did not say how many German aviators are expected to train at Fort Rucker each year, but the release noted that the German Air Force plans to staff more than 200 trained pilots to operate its future fleet.

Germany has already begun sending helicopter pilots for conversion training to the CH‑47 platform, according to the release.

Since the IFSC simulator software is tailored to U.S. Army aircraft configurations and not the Bundeswehr’s, the German pilots will need additional learning to transition to their Air Force’s aircraft.

Instead of German Air Force pilots needing to travel across the Atlantic for advanced simulator training, the IFSC allows them to drive just three to five hours from their home station.

By using the existing U.S. Army facilities in Europe, NATO partners reduce costs by not needing to build their own simulator complex, the announcement says. Even though the IFSC schedule prioritizes U.S. Army soldiers, the complex routinely supports at least five NATO partners’ pilots.

“For NATO partners requiring up-to-date, quality aircraft simulation training, USAG Ansbach’s Storck Barracks continues to prove its value: a small installation delivering strategic impact through world‑class training,” the release reads.

“We are continuing our discussions regarding the combat aviation component, particularly regarding the Rafale,” Vautrin told French lawmakers in response to questions about aid to Ukraine during a 2027 defense-budget hearing here. “From November, we will begin the first training of Ukrainian pilots on Rafale.”

Ukrainian pilots will soon begin training on Rafale aircraft in France, a major step forward for Ukraine’s combat aviation, the country’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a Telegram post on Monday, citing a conversation with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron.

Ukraine in July agreed on a roadmap with France that included a plan to buy 16 Rafale fighter jets together with the accompanying weapon systems. The country has previously received F-16 jets from several European countries, Mirage 2000 fighters from France, and in May agreed to buy 20 new Gripen jets, with Sweden donating 16 units of an older model.

The first Rafale jets are expected to fly in Ukrainian skies in 2028 or 2029, Macron said in July.

Both countries are continuing to work on localizing production of French missiles and aerial bombs in Ukraine, Zelenskyy said on Monday. Vautrin said in her hearing that a licensing process is currently underway for missiles.

“We are fully aware that by supporting Ukraine, we are defending Europe,” Vautrin said.

As part of the July agreement, Ukraine would also acquire an initial batch of SAMP/T NG air-defense batteries with missiles, Macron said at the time. The countries further approved licensing agreements for production in Ukraine of the AASM glide-bomb kit, the Aster 30 air-defense interceptor that arms the SAMP/T, as well as the SCALP/Storm Shadow air-launched cruise missile.

Ukraine has already operated an older version of the French-Italian SAMP/T air-defense system, which relies on the Aster family of interceptors manufactured by MBDA. The country also uses the AASM Hammer precision glide-bomb developed by Safran.

Ukraine in November last year signed a letter of intent to buy up to 100 of Rafale jets manufactured by Dassault Aviation, after a similar letter of intent a month earlier between Ukraine and Sweden for the export of up to 150 Gripen jets, produced by Saab.

The Rafale integrates MBDA’s Meteor, considered by analysts to be one of the best long-range air-to-air missiles in service with Western militaries. The aircraft also features a high-end electronic warfare suite and a radar from Thales, both of which were upgraded as part of the Rafale’s F4.1 standard, qualified in March 2023.

Turkey, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement in August, under which an armed attack on one member is considered an attack on all. The three countries have since held political and military meetings in response to the Houthi attacks.

On Monday, the countries said they had agreed to move immediately to implement their collective defense commitments and ensure the “rapid deployment” of military forces and capabilities in Saudi Arabia.

Speaking at a joint press conference with his Hungarian counterpart Anita Orban in Ankara, Fidan stressed that the pact was defensive rather than offensive, saying military officials were assessing possible contributions, particularly in air defense, electronic warfare and technical support.

“Yemen’s legitimate government forces are already continuing the battle on the ground and Saudi Arabia is supporting them,” Fidan said.

“But this is a defensive agreement. When a country party to the pact comes under attack, you stand by it in its defense. This is not an offensive agreement. Turkey will not send troops to another country to carry out attacks on its territory,” he said.

Fidan said military delegations would determine Saudi Arabia’s operational defense needs and what contributions Turkey and Pakistan could make.

On Wednesday, two officials told Reuters that Turkey was sending mainly defensive and technical support to Saudi Arabia to help its fight with Houthi militants.

Turkish officials have said any support provided at this stage would largely be in a bilateral capacity, as Turkey’s parliament has not officially ratified the joint defense pact.

Fidan said on Thursday that work was largely completed for the agreement to be submitted for parliament’s approval and that they aimed to send it “as soon as possible.”

Turkey, which has NATO’s second-largest army and a robust defense industry, has condemned the Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, voiced willingness to help meet Riyadh’s technical military needs, and agreed to join a Saudi-led coalition to ensure navigational safety in the Red Sea.

The Bundestag budget committee had approved the first four vessels July 8, alongside an option for four more. The Defense Ministry said the decision to exercise that option will give the German Navy a single, eight-ship class intended chiefly for anti-submarine warfare.

Delivery of the first vessel is set for 2029, the agency said in a statement. The ships will support NATO missions in the Baltic and North seas, the Atlantic and the High North, according to the announcement.

Berlin selected the MEKO design after withdrawing from its contract with Damen Naval for six F126 frigates, which had initially been intended to supply the Navy’s future anti-submarine warfare capability. The ministry attributed its withdrawal to “considerable performance problems” by Damen, saying it had completed a broader assessment before terminating the arrangement.

The program change has already triggered a costly dispute. Damen is seeking €4.7 billion ($5.3 billion) in damages from the German government, arguing that Berlin’s termination was politically motivated and legally unfounded, Der Spiegel reported last week. The F126 effort had already cost Germany more than €2 billion without delivering a ship, according to public broadcaster ARD.

The initial four-ship MEKO purchase carried a reported €6.3 billion price tag, while the four-ship option was valued at €5.3 billion. Reuters reported that the second tranche, including project support and reserves, would cost roughly €5.6 billion; the projected operating costs for those four vessels through 2045 amount to another €1.55 billion.

The Defense Ministry argued that selecting one ship type should simplify training, maintenance and logistics. It also said variants of the MEKO A-200 are already in service with allied navies.

TKMS described the envisioned eight-ship production run as the company’s largest-ever surface vessel contract.

“With the four frigates already on order, the program has entered the implementation phase,” the shipbuilder said in a statement.

As part of its post-2022 buildup, the German military has put a heavy emphasis on anti-submarine warfare abilities in the Baltic, North Sea and, especially since the crisis over Greenland, in the Arctic. The F-126 was meant to be an integral part of this strategy. Other, more successful, procurements aimed at combating submarines include the Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime-surveillance aircraft, the first of which landed in Germany almost exactly a year ago.

During an official visit to Athens, Rubio said Greece was particularly exposed to the threats posed by mass migration and human trafficking.

“As part of our efforts to combat these common threats to our nations, we’re proud to announce a new memorandum of understanding establishing a joint security program to strengthen the counterterrorism information sharing between our respective law enforcement agencies,” he told reporters alongside Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis.

Greece has been an important NATO ally to the United States, offering key military facilities to safeguard security in the Eastern Mediterranean, and it leads an EU maritime mission to protect commercial shipping in the Red Sea.

Rubio and Gerapetritis presided over the sixth round of a U.S.-Greece strategic dialogue that began in 2018 in which the sides agreed “to deepen defense ties, bolster trade and investment, and promote cultural ties,” according to a joint statement.

Greece, it said, would receive $4 billion to support a long-term defense plan to increase interoperability between the two militaries and to “explore future opportunities for defense industrial base cooperation.”

Gerapetritis said that Greece was willing to cooperate with the United States and offer maritime aid in the Strait of Hormuz if there is a viable peace process there.

Rubio stood by U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle after U.S. senators expressed concerns over allegations that she had threatened that the U.S. could use its influence to undermine the Greek government.

Asked if her conduct was in compliance with State Department ethics, Rubio said: “Suffice it to say, our embassy here is doing a great job. Our ambassador has been a strong ambassador here.”

Embraer’s C-390 Millennium is competing with Lockheed Martin’s C-130J Super Hercules as India seeks to replace its aging military transport fleet that includes the Soviet-era Antonov An-32.

The formal race for one of India’s biggest military aviation contracts set off in August when India issued a Request for Proposal to five Indian companies setting the stage for the bidding. Global aviation companies are partnering with Indian firms because New Delhi has mandated that while the initial multi role aircraft will be delivered ready to fly, the rest must be built domestically.

With India’s focus on building a local aerospace industrial base, Embraer announced on Oct. 1 that the company and its Indian partner, Mahindra Defence, have identified the central Indian city of Nagpur as a production site for the aircraft if they are awarded the contract.

“Identifying Nagpur as a potential location for an assembly facility is an important step in building a robust, long-term aerospace ecosystem in the country,” said Bosco da Costa Junior, president and CEO of Embraer Defense & Security, in a joint statement with Mahindra.

The two companies said they will progressively integrate Indian aerospace companies into the C-390 Millennium ecosystem to deliver manufacturing, training and lifecycle support.

Lockheed Martin already has a presence in India — the Indian Air Force currently operates 12 C-130J Super Hercules aircraft. The company says the aircraft it is now offering, the C-130J-30 in its Block 8.1.2 configuration, will be more advanced than the ones currently with the air force.

If it wins, Lockheed has said that 12 aircraft would be built in the U.S. and 48 in India in partnership with Tata Advanced Systems Limited, with which it has a joint venture.

The American company already has a manufacturing base in India. It makes key components, including the aircraft’s empennage or tail assembly, locally with Tata.

Winning the contract would mean establishing a bigger industrial footprint in India, Dan Tenney, Lockheed Martin’s senior vice president for global business development and strategy, recently told the Press Trust of India.

“We have a long partnership with Tata that produces components and empennages of the C-130J aircraft. It is a very robust capability that will be expanded in our current bid,” he said.

The company has also proposed upgrading the Indian Air Force’s existing fleet of 12 C-130Js.

India has set a requirement of minimum 40% domestic content for the aircraft. Because the country shares long Himalayan borders with rivals Pakistan and China, the aircraft must also be able to operate in high-altitude locations and from temporary or unpaved strips. Besides ferrying troops, vehicles and ammunition, India also uses military transport aircraft for disaster relief and humanitarian assistance.

The bids are due by early December, after which the proposals will go through technical evaluation.

Amid its two decade-long push for greater local production and technology transfer, the government wants the mega aviation contract to deepen the country’s defense manufacturing footprint.

Fielding of the M8 carbine, which appears set to replace Sig Sauer’s M7 as the Army’s standard rifle less than three years after the M7’s initial fielding began, will begin in December with some units at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, company executives confirmed to Military Times Monday.

The NGSW new weapons rollout also includes Sig’s M250 machine gun, which will replace the aging M249 Squad Automatic Weapon and is expected to reach troops in the first half of next year, said Dave Buehler, the company’s vice president of manufacturing.

Both weapons share an ammunition caliber: the 6.8×51mm Common Cartridge developed by Sig Sauer with a hybrid design intended to withstand high chamber pressure.

The M7 stumbled out of the gate, generating complaints from soldiers about its unwieldy weight and length and undue wear they said the high-pressure rounds were putting on components, including barrels and suppressors.

While Sig Sauer pushed back at the time on a number of the most strident complaints, the company is now casting the transition from the M7 to the M8, also previously called the XM8, as a success story that highlights its ability to act quickly on soldier inputs.

“From our perspective [the M8 is] a far superior rifle to the M7,” Buehler said. “On the M7, our hands were kind of tied [with what] the design criteria or characteristics of the contract required – even if we didn’t like them, we had to meet them. So now, the M8 considers our feedback, the soldiers’ feedback. And we can’t wait to get it out there.”

The new rifle is more than a pound lighter than the M7 and sports a barrel that’s 3.5 inches shorter. It replaces a less-popular folding stock with a fixed stock and includes feedback-based adjustments like added rigidity for the handguard. For soldiers who previously received the M7 rifle, the M8 should be a smooth transition, said Josh Shoemaker, Sig Sauer’s product manager for defense.

“The fundamentals are all the same, really,” Shoemaker told Military Times in an interview. “If guys that have had the M7 already are pretty familiar with that, the M8 will be a well-received transition.”

The foremost design challenge, he said, was achieving weight reduction from the M7, which weighed more than eight pounds unloaded, and nearly 10 pounds with the included suppressor – a radical difference from the legacy M4A1 carbine, which weighs 6.34 pounds unloaded.

Shoemaker said Sig Sauer had reduced the weight difference between the M4 and M8 to a little less than a pound, though that doesn’t include the M8’s suppressor.

“We worked really hard to reduce weight where we could and where it matters. So there’s lots of lightening cuts around the receiver. We pulled some weight out of the barrel, but we’re very careful to do that, because a lot of times when you pull weight out of the barrel, you have risks of some performance decreasing, whether that be barrel life or cook-off,” Shoemaker said. “We’re very sensitive to that, so it’s a long process to be able to figure out where your left and right limit is and how much weight [you can] kind of pull off of that before it’s too much.”

Reducing barrel size and thus altering the weapon’s center of gravity helped in that effort, Shoemaker said.

“When you pick up that M8, the balance of it feels a lot better, with that suppressor being on a shorter weapon system,” he added.

As for the M7, budget documents released earlier this year show the Army is curtailing its procurement, with none additional requested for Fiscal Year 2027 and about 50,000 previously delivered to the force.

The Army hasn’t said what it plans to do with the M7s already in inventory, particularly if it opts to put M8s in the hands of all troops who previously got the M7.

Shoemaker said there were “tons of options” for the Army with regard to M7s, including sending the weapons to basic training units or reassigning them to Guard or Reserve units.

But there’s another option, he said: the Army could ask for conversion kits to turn all the M7s already in its inventory into M8 carbines.

“The barrel is two screws that come out, and the hand guard is two more screws … the lower-end serialized item is the same,” he said. “All in, you could probably convert [an M7 to an M8] in under five minutes.”

If that’s an option Army leaders are considering, they have yet to address it publicly.

“There’re lots of options that the Army is well aware of,” Shoemaker said, “and making decisions on what direction they’ll go with that.”

The four systems selected are AeroVironment’s Palletized High-Energy Laser, Epirus’ Leonidas high-powered microwave, Kord’s Firefly high-energy laser and Boeing’s Compact Laser Weapon System, the Defense Department said in a release.

The pilot is run by Joint Interagency Task Force 401, or JIATF-401, the Army-led organization set up last year to coordinate counter-drone work across the military and other federal agencies.

“High-energy lasers and high-powered microwave systems are tools that can be effectively used in a layered drone defense,” Army Brig. Gen. Matt Ross, the task force director, said in the release. “This pilot program will test these capabilities in an operational environment so we can understand how best to integrate and sustain them to defend the homeland.”

The department said the pilot will gather real-time data on how the systems perform, what they cost and what it takes to operate and maintain them.

Ross said in August the pilot will run for a year, with service members operating and maintaining the weapons at the bases. The task force is coordinating the pilot with the services, U.S. Northern Command and the Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA.

In May, JIATF-401 selected five sites for the pilot: Fort Huachuca, Arizona, and Fort Bliss, Texas, both tied to the southern border mission; Naval Base Kitsap, Washington; Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota; and Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri.

Officials said at the time that deployment plans would be worked out with installation commanders over 180 days, with operations expected later this year. Monday’s release does not say which system will go to which installation, how many of each will be fielded or what the systems and the pilot as a whole will cost.

Cost is the main selling point for lasers and microwaves, and one of the things the pilot is meant to test. Firing one costs a fraction of the price of a missile or even a gun round, and neither leaves unexploded ordnance on the ground.

Ross told reporters in August he was skeptical of per-shot math alone. “If I procure that system and it costs me $6 million and I take one shot a year, you can’t tell me that that shot only costs 8 cents,” he said.

Beyond cost, lasers and microwaves address different threats. A high-energy laser dwells on one drone at a time until it burns through. A high-powered microwave can thwart a swarm of drones in a single burst by overwhelming their electronics, though its wider footprint raises concern about effects on nearby systems.

Among the lasers, AeroVironment’s system is the company’s LOCUST laser in a roll-on, roll-off configuration, meaning it is packed onto a self-contained pallet that can be moved by truck or ship and set up wherever needed.

The company said in April that a palletized LOCUST tracked and defeated target drones aboard the aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush in an October 2025 live fire with the Navy and the Army’s rapid weapons development office.

In September, the Army awarded AeroVironment a $464.8 million deal to produce its 30-kilowatt LOCUST X3 under the Enduring-High Energy Laser program, which the company called the first production contract for a U.S. directed-energy weapon. The Pentagon release does not say whether the pilot systems are drawn from that buy.

Boeing’s Compact Laser Weapon System, or CLWS, is a lower-power laser. Lower power generally means a laser must remain on a target longer to destroy it, but the system itself can be smaller and easier to move.

Boeing said in 2024 that a 5-kilowatt CLWS defeated Group 3 drones, which can weigh up to about 1,320 pounds, at the Red Sands counter-drone exercise in Saudi Arabia, using targeting data from the Army’s Forward Area Air Defense network. At the time, the company said the system had defeated nearly 500 drones in testing and demonstrations at ranges from about 200 meters to 2.5 kilometers.

Boeing also said CLWS units had returned from a multiyear overseas deployment with the Marine Corps but did not say whether they engaged hostile drones.

Kord, a KBR subsidiary, markets Firefly as a palletized, mobile laser scalable from 5 to 40 kilowatts. Company officials told reporters at an August demonstration near Guntersville Dam in north Alabama that a truck-mounted version typically needs a few seconds on target to down a small drone.

Leonidas is the only microwave counter-drone system in the pilot. Built by Epirus, it is the basis for the Army’s prototype high-power microwave for defending troops and sites against drone swarms, part of the Indirect Fire Protection Capability program.

The Army awarded the company $66.1 million in December 2022 for four prototypes and another $43.5 million in July 2025 for a second-generation version.

Epirus said in September 2025 that a Leonidas disabled all 61 target drones across five scenarios at Camp Atterbury, Indiana, including a 49-drone swarm in one burst.

The pilot follows a rough start for lasers in domestic airspace. In February, the FAA briefly closed the airspace over El Paso, Texas, after a counter-drone laser was used near Fort Bliss without coordinating with the FAA, the Associated Press reported at the time.

To address safety concerns, defense and FAA officials held a live-fire demonstration in March at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. AeroVironment later said the system tested was its LOCUST laser, the same family as the palletized system named in Monday’s pilot announcement.

On April 10, the FAA said a safety review found that the laser systems tested, with proper safety controls in place, “do not pose undue risk to passenger aircraft.”

The department said it will continue evaluating other directed-energy technology and will host a shoot-off in December at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah, for additional laser and microwave systems.

Ross, the task force director, said in August the shoot-off is being set up so systems that perform well “can immediately result in a purchase order that allows us to start building the production lines to get these systems into the field.”

The pilot is one piece of a greater, ongoing effort. On Sept. 29, the Army announced that JIATF-401 had awarded 10 contracts worth up to $4.15 billion combined for sensors, optical sights and gun-based systems to support Domestic Shield, the push to protect priority Defense Department sites within the United States.

The nuclear-powered ballistic-missile submarine Le Vigilant fired an M51.3 missile in an acceptance test following the boat’s overhaul, the Ministry of the Armed Forces said in a statement. The missile, which didn’t carry a nuclear warhead, was launched off Finistère in western France and splashed down in the North Atlantic several hundred kilometers from any coastline, the ministry said.

France’s work to upgrade the M51 missile, manufactured by ArianeGroup, is part of a broader modernization of the country’s nuclear deterrence apparatus that also includes the construction of new ballistic-missile submarines and a future upgrade of the Rafale fighter jet that would carry a hypersonic nuclear cruise missile.

“This is a very important moment for our strategic credibility,” Macron told troops onboard a French Navy vessel from which he observed the launch. “Everything that has happened recently and what is happening today will be closely scrutinized by both our allies and our competitors alike, and it already is. Along the course we have set, this is a step forward.”

The modernization of France’s nuclear arsenal comes as the country works with several European allies on what Macron has called “forward deterrence,” a proposal that could involve extending the reach of French nuclear deterrence to those allies, although the details of what that would look like remain vague for now.

Every major overhaul of a French nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine is followed by an acceptance test firing of the M51, the ministry told Defense News in an emailed response to questions.

ArianeGroup and France’s Directorate General for Armament completed a first flight test of the modernized M51 from a launch site in Biscarrosse in southwest France in 2023, and the new missile entered operational service in October last year.

The latest M51.3 variant is estimated to have a range of more than 9,500 kilometers, from more than 9,000 kilometers for the previous version, according to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. The missile carries four to six multiple independently-targetable reentry vehicles, or MIRVs, according to the Bulletin.

While the official range of the missile is undisclosed, ArianeGroup says the M51 reaches an altitude of more than 2,000 kilometers before reentering the atmosphere at a speed of Mach 20.

The missile is equipped with the new TNO-2 oceanic nuclear warhead, and offers better performance in terms of range, accuracy and penetration capability, according to the ministry. The solid-propellant three-stage missile weighs more than 50 metric tons, and each of France’s four ballistic missile submarines can carry 16 of them.

“The M51.3 ensures the long-term credibility of the ocean-based component in the face of evolving adversary missile defenses,” the ministry said. “It reflects the commitment of the President of the Republic to maintaining operational credibility of the nuclear forces over the long term, at the level required by the international environment.”

The first version of the M51 was fired from the Biscarrosse launch site in 2006, with the first submarine launch from the SSBN Le Terrible in January 2010. Today’s launch was the seventh time a variant of the M51 was fired from a French submarine, and the 13th launch of the missile overall, all of them “of course, conducted without a nuclear warhead,” according to the ministry.

Talon Blue executed its first fully autonomous flight in Mojave, California, which included taxi, takeoff, in-flight maneuvers and landing, according to a recent company release.

The modular design, part of the defense company’s internally funded Project Talon portfolio, focuses on advancing manufacturing to lower cost and speed production without decreasing mission capability, per the statement.

Upgrades to manufacturing and design decreased part count and overall weight, which lowered the cost and increased the production timeline to meet the demand for autonomous systems.

“Our customers made it clear they need autonomous systems that can be fielded faster and more affordably without sacrificing mission effectiveness. We listened,” Craig Woolston, vice president and general manager of research and advanced design at Northrop Grumman, said in the release.

“Talon Blue’s first flight is one step toward a new generation of autonomous capabilities,” he continued. “Every flight and lesson strengthens our broader autonomy work and sharpens what comes next.”

The announcement came just weeks after U.S. Air Force officials announced their intention to have 500 autonomous aircraft in service by 2032.

Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink released the names of Anduril’s FQ-44A and General Atomics’s FQ-42A to be dubbed “Fury” and “Vengeance,” respectively. Production contracts for the two companies were awarded in June, a month before Anduril completed its first-ever live-fire test. General Atomics intends to have its live-fire testing this fall.

The Air Force has not awarded Northrop Grumman a contract for CCAs yet, but the company is included in the service’s baseline contract pool for mission autonomy software production.

The service chose six vendors in June for the software’s performance-based competition for Increment 1 with the aim of selecting one by summer 2027.

Subsequently, the US Navy awarded Anduril a contract worth up to $2.9 billion to manufacture submarine components, with payments tied directly to production outcomes and the company assuming most of the execution risk, the defense startup said.

The investment and associated contract, together valued at up to $6.6 billion, come amid a broader push by the United States and its allies to expand arms production following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and conflicts in the Middle East.

The new plant, dubbed Arsenal-2, will be situated in Baltimore County and is expected to be up and running by the end of the decade, creating 3,100 direct jobs and supporting over 11,000 indirect jobs.

Asked about the $2.9 billion government contract, Christian Brose, chief strategy officer at Anduril, said, “It’s really the government buying the results of what we’re able to produce from the facility that we’ve invested in.”

Anduril is already building out a facility in California to manufacture critical Virginia-class submarine components such as torpedo tubes, helping address urgent capacity shortfalls in the U.S. industrial base, Brose said.

The company plans to expand into producing larger submarine modules and hull sections once its Baltimore shipyard becomes operational.

Virginia-class submarines, which can travel at over 25 knots, are the Navy’s latest generation of nuclear-powered attack submarines, designed for anti-submarine warfare, land-attack strikes and surveillance missions.

General Dynamics’ Electric Boat and Huntington Ingalls Industries jointly build the submarines.

Anduril, founded in 2017 by Palmer Luckey, is a defense firm that is best known for its autonomous systems, drones and software built for the U.S. military and its allies.

The startup has, however, expanded beyond drones into maritime and undersea systems and command-and-control software designed to connect military sensors, weapons and other systems.

The new plant comes after Anduril’s $1 billion Arsenal-1 facility in Ohio that began producing autonomous combat drones this year.