The British government has awarded a $1.3 billion contract to Leonardo UK for medium-lift helicopters, with the Yeovil facility becoming the global center for production and exports. This deal secures thousands of jobs and sets up export opportunities, while also supporting the UK's Defence Industrial Strategy.
Wisk Aero has completed assembling its sixth-generation air taxi, marking the transition from building to flight-testing. According to Wisk, this marks the beginning of the next phase in proving the aircraft's abilities in the air.
Breaking Defense spoke with Tim Saffold, Vice President, Autonomous and Unmanned Systems, Amentum, about the role of autonomous and unmanned systems in modern logistics. The use of unmanned systems can increase or expand reach, reduce risk to personnel, and enable more distributed, resilient operations.
Defense technology company Saronic is investing $300 million to expand a Louisiana shipyard into a major autonomous vessel production hub. The revamped facility at the former Gulf Craft shipyard in Franklin will add over 300,000 square feet of production capacity and create approximately 1,500 jobs.
Northrop Grumman has unveiled Project Talon, an autonomous combat drone designed to address affordability and manufacturing speed challenges that limited the company's success in the Air Force's first Collaborative Combat Aircraft competition. Developed jointly with Scaled Composites in just 15 months, Project Talon achieves a 1,000-pound weight reduction and 50 percent fewer parts through composite construction, enabling 30 percent faster manufacturing.
Joby Aviation has completed the first flight of its hybrid turbine-electric demonstrator aircraft, marking a significant expansion of its technology roadmap. The aircraft integrates a hybrid powertrain into its existing electric VTOL platform and is equipped with SuperPilot autonomous flight technology.
The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) is seeking companies to develop AI-powered 'orchestrator' control software for whole formations of unmanned air, ground, and water vehicles. The project aims to move beyond the current labor-intensive model by developing an Autonomous Vehicle Orchestrator that can turn plain-English instructions into detailed machine-readable commands.
Dassault Aviation has led a $200 million Series B funding round for Harmattan AI, a defense technology company developing vertically integrated autonomous systems. The investment will support expanding AI-enabled missions across new operational theaters, extending Harmattan AI's product offering into new domains and scaling industrial manufacturing of its ISR, drone interception, and electronic warfare platforms.
Dassault Aviation and Thales have announced a strategic partnership to develop supervised artificial intelligence for crewed and uncrewed combat aircraft. The collaboration, unveiled at Paris's Adopt AI Summit, focuses on integrating AI into mission-critical functions including observation, situation analysis, and decision-making support.
The Army is nearing the release of a request for prototype proposals (RFPP) for its Common Autonomous Multi-Domain Launcher (CAML) program. The initiative aims to bring together nontraditional vendors and adopt a 'teams of teams' approach, which has already been successful in other programs.
The US Army has launched a challenge to find a replacement for its Gray Eagle large drone, with industry invited to submit proposals for short/vertical takeoff and landing (S/VTOL) unmanned options. The RFI seeks systems that meet specific weight and performance requirements, as well as advanced sensors and autonomous capabilities.