Built for mission success

News and analysis from Breaking Defense. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

/ Weekly Briefing Land Warfare Built for mission success Presented by Boeing With the latest structural and design improvements, the Chinook Block II helps maintain the U.S. Army's mission-readiness and meets our warfighters' constantly evolving needs. Learn more. Pentagon, Lockheed sign plan to boost PrSM missile production  BAE Systems and Honeywell Aerospace have also inked new framework deals designed to boost munition production over the coming years. AV unveils LOCUST X3, latest entrant into laser counter-drone race The unveiling at AUSA's Global Force comes as militaries the world over race for cheaper ways to confront the drone threat. 'Bleeding cash': UK investment plan delay hurting key suppliers, industry groups warn "We have got SMEs [Small to Medium Enterprises] that have had to exit the sector," Samira Braund, defence director at trade body ADS, told British lawmakers. What new weapons could a supplemental buy, plus news on the Army's C5ISR plans Rep. Rob Wittman, plus Pentagon officials Jules Hurst and Joseph Welch, all make an appearance on the Break Out this week. General Dynamics-led team unveils self-driving truck with microwave counter-drone tech  The Leonidas Autonomous Ground Vehicle consists of a commercial Ford F600 model truck tricked out with Kodiak's autonomous driving software and Eprius' high-power microwave (HPM) c-UAS platform. Army receives first autonomous-ready, optionally piloted Black Hawk  The H-60Mx Black Hawk has been in the works for over a decade and derived from DARPA's ALIAS program. Lockheed Martin Australia, Rheinmetall exploring HIMARS sustainment Down Under Though the tie-up isn't complete, if the deal happens Lockheed would see work done on its HIMARS at a Rheinmetall center in Queensland. Israel's Elbit reveals military contract to put high-powered laser weapon on aircraft CEO Bezhalel Machlis revealed the 2025 contract during an investor meeting, while acknowledging the challenges of putting such precise tech in the sky. Air Force counter-drone lab requests ideas to track and kill small UAS Two new Air Force RFIs seek information on systems to detect drones and defeat them with hard-kill systems as the service looks to shore up base defense. Gulf nations 'trying to reach out' for Ukrainian counter-drone capability Kyiv's forces have unique experience in defending against Iranian-made drones, making Ukrainian industry and expertise a hot commodity. Hegseth confirms potential $200 billion request for Iran operations, but figure 'could move' "Obviously it takes … money to kill bad guys so we're going back to Congress and folks there to ensure that we're properly funded for what's been done, for what we may have to do in the future," said US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Italy's Leonardo closes on $1.9B Iveco land vehicle acquisition Leonardo said "available cash resources" will finance the acquisition, which is also planned to leverage "the complementary nature of the two companies' sales networks." Building partnerships as part of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 [Sponsored] The kingdom's aggressive growth strategy will rely in part on outside investment. In new timeline, Army set to take full control of THAAD missile program by 2027 "We're working very closely with MDA right now on that transfer plan and that memorandum of understanding and agreement," Lt. Gen. Frank Lozano said.  Breaking Defense PO Box 901 • New York, New York • 10272 unsubscribe