Breaking Defense

Latvian official warns Russia ‘tempted to test’ European readiness, sounds alarm over border issues

Germany changes course on plans to buy MQ-28 drone wingman: Boeing official

Germany has set a target of 2029 to field a CCA, which would make it the first European country to reach such a milestone, but that timeline now looks to be in doubt.

By Tim Martin

Air Warfare

Zone 5 ‘found a spot’ in drone interceptor market with new Eclipse: CEO

CEO Thomas Akers told Breaking Defense that the company’s recent acquisition by Norwegian defense firm Kongsberg offers “an immediate step change” for the startup firm, whose portfolio now spans from a reusable drone interceptor to a low-cost cruise missile.

By Michael Marrow

Land Warfare

Open system architecture will be ‘hyper important’ in downselect of Army’s XM30: Senior official

An open systems architecture allows the Army and its industry partners to plug new and different software and hardware capabilities into the platform.

By Carley Welch

Latest News

Air Warfare

Qatari-Turkish joint squadron to boost interoperability, training and security: Experts

This fleet will enhance the security of Doha and assert Turkey's military presence in the Gulf amid potential destabilization efforts in the region, sending a message to “those who seek to undermine security.” said Ali Bakir.

By Agnes Helou

All Domain

Pentagon’s CJADC2 dreams ‘very aspirational’ right now, Marine Corps general says

"I think we have to be very honest about the trajectory and how long its going to take to get there and the level of investment, because it's going to cost quite a bit," said Deputy Director for Combat Support Brig. Gen. William Wilburn, Jr.

By Lee Ferran

In this episode:

Boeing’s victory caps a significant turnaround for its defense business
A report from western Ukraine on technology and life in wartime

Networks & Digital Warfare

‘AI gold mine’: NGA aims to exploit archive of satellite images, expert analysis

“We're sitting on two big sets of data,” said NGA’s Mark Munsell, referring to an unequalled archive of satellite imagery and all the intelligence analysts’ reports on that imagery – and they’re cross-referenced so an AI can correlate them easily.

By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.

Air Warfare

Thailand’s air force supports buying Gripen fighters over F-16

Saab called it a "positive" step but cautioned that the government will have the final procurement say.

By Aaron Mehta

Land Warfare

‘So far, so good’ on Army’s radio frequency pilot, with industry outreach coming soon

The service announced the pilot in May after lessons learned from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine told the Army that the status of electronic warfare is rapidly changing.

By Carley Welch

All Domain

Army using ‘transformation in contact’ to make case for new weapons, formation decisions

“We cannot [just] rely on ... bring out the laser and it'll fix it all,” said the 101st Airborne Division’s Commanding General Maj. Gen. Brett Sylvia.

By Ashley Roque

Global

US special ops official lays out ‘strategic’ reason for Israel to better protect civilians

Chris Maier, assistant secretary of defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict, said how the Israeli military operates "has concerned us at times."

By Lee Ferran

Networks & Digital Warfare

Building logistics networks for contested environments

Explore how software, edge AI and resilient connectivity can strengthen military logistics in contested environments. Join Breaking Defense on Oct. 21 and earn 1 CPE credit.

By Breaking Defense

Naval Warfare

Austal settles DOJ investigation into former employees, will pay $24M fine

A trial for the three executives alleged to be responsible is set for January 2025.

By Justin Katz

Space

Trump promises to create Space National Guard, demands more NATO spending

Criticizing European allies for not "paying up" to support NATO, Trump also said he would demand that NATO members spend 3 percent of their GDP on defense.

By Theresa Hitchens

Global

Turkey inaugurates naval shipyard, submarine floating dock to service newly built subs

“We are cognizant of the fact that in order to live in peace on our lands, we must have a strong and effective navy in both our blue homeland and distant geographies,” Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said at a ceremony this weekend.

By Agnes Helou

Air Warfare

Marine Corps aviation plan to come in December, ahead of service’s ‘Project Eagle’ changes

Project Eagle is an overarching plan to transform Marine aviation dating back to 2022, but service leaders only recently started discussing it publicly.

By Justin Katz

Air Warfare

It’s time to put American bombers back on alert

The US bomber fleet has been off alert since 1991, but the nuclear threats of China, Russia and North Korea means it's time to go back to the Cold War posture, argue two nuclear power advocates.

By Adam Lowther and Lt Col Derek Williams

Air Warfare

Japan accuses China of violating its airspace, reportedly a first

"I don’t rule out that China did it deliberately, but it is equally possible that the aircraft strayed inadvertently into Japanese air space," Bonnie Glaser, a top China expert at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, said in an email.

By Colin Clark

Air Warfare

After Hezbollah and Israel trade fire in retaliatory strikes, a return to an uneasy status quo

“The retaliation served a political purpose rather than an operational one,” Jean Loup Samaan, a senior research fellow at the Middle East Institute, told Breaking Defense.

By Agnes Helou

Breaking Defense

Latest News

Boeing’s victory caps a significant turnaround for its defense business

A report from western Ukraine on technology and life in wartime

Artificial Intelligence & Autonomy: A New Era in Defense

Pentagon Buzz News Video