Author: FlyMarshall Newsroom

VIENNA — NATO’s Support and Procurement Agency has selected Sweden’s Saab and Canada’s Bombardier to replace the alliance’s aging fleet of Boeing E-3A Sentry airborne warning and control system aircraft with the GlobalEye platform, according to French defense publication La Lettre and confirmed independently by the German press agency DPA. The decision, if formally announced, marks the first time since 1982 that a non-Boeing aircraft will serve as NATO’s common airborne surveillance backbone, and caps a procurement saga defined by American industrial dysfunction and growing European appetite for strategic autonomy.The outcome was far from inevitable. As recently as November 2023,…

PARIS — ArianeGroup, the French maker of the Ariane 6 space launcher and the M51 submarine-launched ballistic missile, is studying the possibility of manufacturing ballistic missiles in Germany, the company’s chief executive officer, Christophe Bruneau, told Les Echos.Bruneau continues to believe in French-German cooperation “more than ever,” despite setbacks around programs for a future fighter aircraft and future main battle tank, he said in a joint interview with the French daily and Germany’s Handelsblatt published Thursday.In areas of mutual interest to the French and the Germans, ArianeGroup “as a French-Germany company can bring joint solutions, particularly in defense,” according to…

Three U.S. aircraft carriers are operating simultaneously in the Middle East for the first time since 2003, U.S. Central Command said on Friday, marking the largest concentration of naval power in the region in decades. The USS Abraham Lincoln, USS Gerald R. Ford and USS George H.W. Bush are currently operating in the area’s waterways, the command said on social media, in addition to their carrier air wings and over 15,000 sailors and Marines. Together, the three carriers bring together over 200 aircraft with capabilities ranging from electronic warfare to stealth striking. Some of the aircraft include the EA-18G Growler,…

ROME — The Italian government is giving up a chance to grab an extra €12 billion ($14 billion) in defense spending as it shifts its focus to keeping energy bills down ahead of national elections next year.Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has been toying with the idea of triggering a European Union scheme to exempt a quantity of defense spending from calculations of annual deficit spending to allow extra arms purchases without breaking EU deficit rules.The so-called National Escape Clause (NEC) would have boosted Italian defense spending by about €12 billion over three years if used, sources have told Defense News…

Piaggio Aerospace has secured the first customer order for the P.180 Avanti NX, marking the initial sale of the newest version of the Italian manufacturer’s distinctive twin turboprop. The company announced the order on April 23, 2026, at AERO Friedrichshafen 2026. A European operator agreed to purchase two Avanti NX aircraft in an executive business configuration. The aircraft will also include stretcher modules, allowing the operator to convert them for air ambulance missions. Piaggio did not identify the customer or disclose the value of the contract. The order gives Piaggio an early commercial win for the Avanti NX, which the…

Editor’s note: This story originally appeared on Laser Wars, a newsletter about military laser weapons and other futuristic defense technology. Subscribe here.The U.S. military is once again pursuing flying directed energy weapons to counter threats to American airspace, according to the Defense Department’s missile defense boss.Speaking to members of Congress during a House Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces hearing on April 15 on the Pentagon’s planned missile defense activities for fiscal year 2027, U.S. Missile Defense Agency director Air Force Lt. Gen. Heath Collins stated that his organization was “all in” on “bringing directed energy to the fight,” including…

The U.S. Marine Corps is looking for a new anti-tank loitering munition to field for the Fleet Marine Force. The service wants the kamikaze drone, called the Organic Precision Fires–Medium, or OPF-M, to have a range of at least around 15 miles and be light enough to be carried by two dismounted Marines. “Marines will employ OPF-M at the tactical level to enable engagement of armored targets beyond the range of direct fire weapons while minimizing collateral damage and exposure to enemy direct and indirect fires during distributed operations,” a Request for White Paper from Marine Corps Systems Command states.…

The U.S. Air Force plans to more than double its F-15EX Eagle II fleet to 267 aircraft, up from the previously planned 129, as part of the fiscal 2027 budget request rolled out this week. The revised plan calls for 24 additional Eagle IIs next year at a cost of roughly $3 billion, according to the service’s fiscal 2027 budget request. “This will complete building existing F-15EX units and then begin to recapitalize the aging F-15E fleet,” an Air Force spokesperson told Military Times. The service’s future fighter force “will be comprised of a mix of 4th, 5th and next-gen…

We know that President Trump is working on a plan for the government to bail out Spirit Airlines. The airline hasn’t turned a profit in seven years, and is continuing to hemorrhage money. The idea is to give the airline a $500 million loan, and for that to eventually give the government a 90% stake in the airline. But what’s actually the legal mechanism by which Trump wants this deal to happen? We’re now learning more details about what this will look like… Trump to use Defense Production Act to buy Spirit It’s now being reported that the Trump administration’s…

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine will contract 25,000 unmanned ground vehicles in the first half of 2026, more than double the 2025 total, as the Defense Ministry moves to shift all frontline logistics off soldiers and onto robots.Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov shared the target after meeting with domestic UGV manufacturers last week, where he also announced that the ministry had already begun signing contracts for 2027 to stabilize long-term manufacturer pipelines.“UGVs perform important logistics and evacuation tasks on the front line,” Fedorov wrote in a Facebook post on April 18. “In March alone, the military carried out more than 9,000 missions…