World Defense News 27 Oct 2025. . .A recent air show featured the multirole KF-21 Boramae fighter jets manufactured by a South Korean firm that sold FA-50 aircraft to Manila

 

South Korea KF-21 Jet Impresses Philippines at ADEX 2025 Setting Stage for New Fighter Deal.

The South China Morning Post disclosed on October 27, 2025, that Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) said it is in talks with the Philippines following the KF-21 Boramae’s flight demonstrations at Seoul ADEX 2025, where a Philippine delegation watched South Korea’s newest mult-irole fighter perform. 

The company highlighted Manila’s recent move to double its FA-50 fleet, signaling momentum for deeper industrial ties. 

• The story positions KF-21 as a near-term export contender while recalling the Philippine Air Force’s reliance on Korean-made FA-50s for air policing, maritime patrol overwatch, and limited strike tasks. 
• If pursued, KF-21 would add beyond-visual-range punch with Meteor-class missiles and grow into precision strike as Block 2 matures. 

 Read more...

KF-21 Boramae is a twin-engine 4.5-gen fighter with AESA/IRST, Meteor reach, and precision-strike weapons for high-end deterrence (Picture source: KAI).

South China Morning Post

Philippines in talks to buy more South Korean fighter jets, aircraft maker says

A recent air show featured the multirole KF-21 Boramae fighter jets manufactured by a South Korean firm that sold FA-50 aircraft to Manila.

US RQ-4B Global Hawk Spy Drone resumes Black Sea surveillance tracking Russian missiles

A renewed Global Hawk patrol over international waters of the Black Sea marked a fresh round of U.S. long-endurance surveillance, according to flight-tracking reports that have monitored FORTE10’s profile since operations resumed in May. 

The RQ-4B departed and recovered at NAS Sigonella, a familiar hub for HALE missions, with OSINT trackers noting orbits aligned to previous boxes west of Crimea and along Romanian approaches, consistent with the pattern documented in spring and late summer reporting. 

The move fits the broader return of U.S. HALE coverage after an 11-month pause, complementing manned patrol aircraft and NATO command-and-control assets. Read more. 

The RQ-4B Global Hawk is a High-Altitude Long-Endurance (HALE) unmanned aircraft that delivers persistent Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) with 30+ hours endurance (Picture source: Northrop Grumman)
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Posted 54 minutes ago by Rudis04

 

Oct

27

New Zealand Navy and Babcock reactivate offshore patrol vessel Otago for early 2026 return

Babcock and the New Zealand Defence Force say HMNZS Otago’s regeneration is underway at the company’s Devonport facility, where Babcock serves as Strategic Maritime Partner to the NZDF. The scope includes heavy maintenance on propulsion and power generation, plus modernisation of navigation, sensors, and control automation, with handback to NZDF targeted for early 2026.

 

Oct

27

South Korea Goes All In in Canada’s High-Stakes Arctic Submarine Race.

The governmental institution Public Services and Procurement Canada, on August 26, 2025, announced that Ottawa had advanced the Canadian Patrol Submarine Project and named two qualified suppliers for up to twelve conventionally powered boats: Germany’s ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems with the Type 212CD and South Korea’s Hanwha Ocean with the KSS III.

 

Oct

27

Türkiye’s Akinci Drone Shifts to Electronic Warfare Role With Aselsan’s New Pod Suite

On 24 October 2025, Türkiye’s unmanned airpower took a substantive step toward electronic-warfare led air campaigns as announced by Baykar and further detailed by Aselsan, with fresh evidence that the Bayraktar Akinci is flying with a dedicated Electronic Support pod and an Electronic Attack pod. The pairing shifts a HALE-class UCAV from ISR and strike into emitter discovery, jamming and deception roles that traditionally depended on scarce crewed aircraft.

 

Oct

27

US Lockheed Martin Quietly Builds Sixth-Gen Prototypes as F-35 and F-22 Jets Enter New Phase.

According to information published by Air & Space Forces Magazine, on October 21, 2025, Lockheed Martin is now building company-funded prototype aircraft and inserting sixth-generation technologies into the F-35 and F-22, a pivot CEO Jim Taiclet described as a “home-run” approach to independent R&D. The move follows the firm’s NGAD setback and arrives as the F-35 program pushes through the TR-3 computing refresh that underpins Block 4 upgrades.

 

Oct

27

U.S. Navy Destroyer USS Gravely Docks in Trinidad Near Venezuela Amid Drug War Push

According to reports from the Associated Press on October 27, 2025, the USS Gravely’s port call in Trinidad marks one of the most assertive U.S. Navy naval deployments in the southern Caribbean in recent years. Videos circulating on social media show the Arleigh Burke–class destroyer entering Port of Spain under tight security, only about 10 nautical miles (18.5 kilometers) from Venezuelan waters. U.S.

 

Oct

27

Taiwan seeks faster NASAMS from U.S. to plug critical air defense shortfalls

Taiwan has assigned two Air Force officers to the United States to ride herd on the island’s first NASAMS deliveries, according to Taiwan News reporting on Oct. 25 local time. Their mandate covers contract execution, logistics, and spare parts, while a separate six-person delegation is on an eight-day swing to U.S. sites to review production, configuration management, missile sustainment, and training pipelines.

 

Oct

27

How Australia’s counter-drone surge reshapes Europe’s defense market

On October 27, 2025, ABC’s business coverage spotlighted a quiet shift in Europe’s arms market: European customers are turning to Australian counter-drone companies for gear they can field now, not later.

 

Oct

27

Romania Activates New F-16 Squadron to Reinforce NATO’s Eastern Air Defense Posture

On 27th October 2025, Romania’s Ministry of National Defence announced that a new F-16 Fighting Falcon unit is operational for NATO air policing. The activation of the 48th Fighter Squadron at the 71st Air Base “General Emanoil Ionescu” in Câmpia Turzii, effective 20 October, strengthens defensive posture over the Black Sea region and along the Alliance’s eastern frontier.

 

Oct

27

South Korea’s KF-21 Jet to Gain European Strike Edge With MBDA’s SPEAR Missile Integration.

MBDA announced on October 22, 2025, that the company and Korea Aerospace Industries signed a memorandum of understanding at Seoul ADEX to integrate the SPEAR precision air-to-surface missile on the KF-21 Boramae, expanding the fighter’s loadout beyond its already-proven Meteor beyond-visual-range missile.

 

Oct

27

STM ALPAGU Drone Enters Türkiye’s Arsenal Advancing Scalable and Precise Strike Capabilities

On 24 October 2025, STM announced that its fixed-wing loitering munition ALPAGU has completed acceptance tests and formally entered Türkiye’s inventory, a milestone that crowns several years of national development and early export traction in 2023. The announcement frames ALPAGU as the latest addition to a maturing family of tactical UAVs conceived for high-precision effects at low logistical cost.

 

Oct

27

Spain to launch construction of two Meteoro-class patrol ships to strengthen maritime security

With the execution order signed in early October, Madrid has moved the Meteoro expansion from approval to construction planning. Design starts now, and production is expected to begin in the first half of 2027 at Puerto Real. Valued at €716 million and totaling approximately four million work hours, the program is structured to enhance availability for law enforcement missions, streamline decision-making cycles at sea, and sustain an average of 2,000 jobs per year through 2030. Read more.

 

Oct

27

French Navy Falcon 50M Triton maritime patrol aircraft deploys to Indo-Pacific

Paris confirmed on 24 October 2025 that a Falcon 50M Triton from Flottille 25F is on Indo Pacific tasking for Mission Himantura, with a stop at Exercise Sama Sama hosted by the Philippines and the United States earlier this month and a follow-on detachment to Okinawa for ECC coordination of United Nations sanctions monitoring against North Korea.

 

Oct

27

Textron Pitches AT-6 Wolverine as Modular Aircraft for Counter-UAV and Close Air Support Roles

On 22 October 2025, on company channels, Textron outlined a proposal positioning the AT-6 Wolverine as a multi-mission answer to proliferating drones and low-intensity air threats. As announced, the light-attack turboprop would assume counter-UAV, light air defense patrol, close air support and related roles by exploiting its modular weapons and sensor suite.

 

Oct

27

Pentagon Backs Castelion Blackbeard Hypersonic Missile with U.S. Army Integration Awards.

Castelion announced on October 24, 2025, the award of multiple U.S. Army and U.S. Navy contracts to integrate its Blackbeard hypersonic strike weapon on operational platforms, with live fire demonstrations planned to prove capability and accelerate adoption of affordable long-range conventional deterrence.

 

Oct

27

UK Raven Air Defense System Proves Its Frontline Role After Downing Russian Missiles in Ukraine.

A fresh statement on the Ukrainian Air Command West social media, posted Oct. 24, names the British-built Raven short-range air defense system as the launcher that has already destroyed four Russian missiles, three Kh-59s, one Kh-101 and 24 Russian strike and reconnaissance drones. The post quotes the Raven crew commander, identified as Artem, recounting a first intercept in November 2023 and rapid follow-on kills as the unit pushed the system beyond its original counter-drone role.

 

Oct

26

Türkiye’s FNSS develops PARS ALPHA 8×8 combat vehicle to counter new battlefield threats

Istanbul, Türkiye, October 26, 2025 - Turkish-based Company FNSS has developed the PARS ALPHA, a new generation 8×8 armored fighting vehicle designed to operate in increasingly lethal, technology-driven combat environments. The company describes the vehicle as a response to lessons learned from recent conflicts, where conventional armored platforms have faced greater vulnerability from precision munitions, drones, and electronic warfare.

 

Oct

26

UK and Ukraine Agree to Jointly Produce Thousands of Octopus-100 Interceptor Combat Drones

On 25 October 2025, Ukraine and the United Kingdom confirmed a new phase of cooperation with an agreement between the two countries’ ministries of defense to jointly produce thousands of Octopus-100 interceptor drones, as announced by Rustem Umerov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, with manufacturing to take place in the UK under the “Build with Ukraine” program.