Defence Blog

Two Russian Su-35S fighter jets collided in Russia’s Kursk region, according to Fighterbomber, a Telegram channel with reported ties to the Russian Aerospace Forces. Follow-up reports indicate one pilot was killed in the collision and another was seriously injured, though the full circumstances of the incident are still being determined. Neither Russia’s Defense Ministry nor

Sweden has finalized a deal to buy Lockheed Martin’s HIMARS rocket artillery system, Swedish Defence Minister Pål Jonson announced Monday, with deliveries set to begin in 2027. The contract covers roughly 10 M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems along with ammunition, valued at about 7 billion Swedish kronor ($728.8 million), Jonson told reporters. Ammunition for

Russia’s state arms exporter says its Su-57 stealth fighter has proven itself in actual combat, a claim the company is making ahead of an international airshow in Egypt where it plans to showcase the jet and unveil new weapons built for it. Alexander Mikheev, CEO of Rosoboronexport and deputy chairman of the Union of Machine

Boeing plans to offer Japan’s Ministry of Defense a drone it developed jointly with the Royal Australian Air Force, as Tokyo works out a new coastal defense concept built around unmanned aircraft, according to the Nikkei. Boeing’s defense division president, Steve Parker, told Nikkei the company will propose its MQ-28 Ghost Bat drone to the

South Korea’s Navy released footage this week of a combat experiment where a humanoid robot called PIBOT took the helm of a naval vessel, gripping the ship’s rudder controls and holding its heading, the same way a human sailor would. The test ran August 23 at a ship-handling simulator operated by the Navy Education and

Sierra Space has signed contracts with undisclosed national security and commercial customers to fly payloads aboard the first mission of its Dream Chaser spaceplane, the company announced, adding new passengers to a debut flight that has already been delayed for years. Dream Chaser is a reusable, uncrewed spacecraft designed to land on a runway like

L3Harris Technologies has finished building the first 35 units of an electronic warfare system designed to protect F-16 fighter jets from radar-guided missiles and other threats, the company announced, marking the start of full production after years of development. The system, called Viper Shield and officially designated the AN/ALQ-254(V)1, detects and jams enemy radar signals

Israeli drone maker SpearUAV says it has nearly 1,000 Viper 300 loitering munition systems ready for delivery to customers around the world, a production milestone the Tel Aviv-based company announced without naming which countries or units are receiving the systems. The Viper 300 is a small, capsule-launched drone that soldiers can fire either on foot

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev visited the country’s navy on September 6, where officials showed him two unmanned surface vessels now being built inside Azerbaijan through a joint production line with a Turkish shipbuilder. Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva were briefed on the SALVO armed unmanned surface vessel and the KAYRA kamikaze unmanned surface vessel

An F-35B fighter squadron from South Carolina has taken over rotational duty in Japan, replacing a Hornet squadron under a U.S. Marine Corps program that keeps U.S.-based units cycling through the Pacific. Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 533, known as the Hawks, arrived at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni on September 5 under the Unit Deployment