On 23 February 2026, BAE Systems announced that it had successfully flight-tested a modular airborne electromagnetic attack system with the U.S. Air Force, using a prototype housed in a weapon pod on a test aircraft representative of a Group 4/5 unmanned aerial vehicle.
According to BAE Systems, the scaled hardware is derived from its high-power electronic attack systems and is designed to neutralize integrated air defenses and disrupt adversary use of the electromagnetic spectrum for battlespace coordination.
- By shrinking this architecture into a UAV-compatible pod that runs proven counter-C5ISRT software, including a third-party application, BAE Systems is effectively transforming large unmanned aircraft into networked jamming nodes.
- For future high-intensity operations in contested airspace, this development points directly to a form of warfare in which control of the spectrum by distributed unmanned platforms becomes as decisive as control of the air itself.
Read Full Defense News At This Link. BAE Systems flight-tested a modular airborne electromagnetic attack pod with the United States Air Force, demonstrating how high-power jamming systems can be scaled for Group 4 and 5 unmanned aircraft to conduct distributed electronic warfare missions
(Picture Source: BAE Systems)
On February 23, 2026, FN America reported fresh progress in the development and testing of its FN MTL-30 30 mm Medium Tactical Grenade Launcher for the U.S. Army Precision Grenadier System prototype effort.
The update signals that industry teams are now moving beyond concept visuals toward integration work that can be measured on a range.
- For the Army, the near-term issue is not simply adding another launcher, but giving small units a controllable precision explosive option for targets that sit behind cover or outside the effective envelope of legacy 40 mm systems.
Read Full Defense News At This Link. FN America announced live testing progress of its MTL 30 30 mm grenade launcher, including evaluation of a new multifunction muzzle device under the U.S. Army’s Precision Grenadier System prototype effort (Picture Source: FN America / Strategic Sciences)
Poland is standing up a new 37th Radiotechnical Battalion to field the Barbara tethered-aerostat radar system and extend early warning coverage hundreds of kilometers toward the country’s most exposed approaches, tightening the sensor-to-shooter loop for Polish and NATO air defense. The unit is being built as a distributed “eyes of the force” formation intended to detect and identify low-flying cruise missiles, drones, aircraft, and even surface targets that routinely exploit ground-radar blind zones created by terrain and Earth curvature. Polish Armed Forces reporting describes the battalion as a uniquely modern formation, already recruiting personnel while infrastructure and network integration work proceed for the aerostat program.
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Barbara is a tethered aerostat early-warning radar that raises 3D air-and-surface sensors to about 4 km, pushing low-altitude detection out hundreds of kilometers to find cruise missiles, drones, aircraft, and sea targets early and cue Poland’s and NATO’s air defenses via IFF-tracked networks
(Picture source: Aerostats Barbara).
Feb 23 The U.S. Marine Corps is reshaping its Aviation Combat Element under Aviation Plan 2026, moving away from fixed-base airpower toward a distributed, unmanned-enabled force built for contested Indo-Pacific operations. The plan expands MQ-9A Reaper use, advances the MUX (Marine Air-Ground Task Force Unmanned Expeditionary) program, and integrates unmanned systems into Distributed Aviation and Command and Control Operations.
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Feb
24
On 23 February 2026 in Marignane, France, Airbus Helicopters unveiled two next-generation military rotorcraft concepts designed for the NATO Next Generation Rotorcraft Capability (NGRC) programme. According to the company, the concepts are intended to meet future medium multi-role requirements while keeping acquisition and lifecycle costs under control.
Feb
24
The U.S. Air Force confirmed that its YFQ-44 Fury, developed under the Collaborative Combat Aircraft program, has begun flying captive-carry missions with an inert AIM-120 beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile, marking the transition from initial flight trials to full weapons integration testing.
Feb
24
Russia’s 90th Guards Tank Division is preparing BMPT “Terminator” crews for combat employment, refining a specialized armored fire-support capability intended to shield tank formations and assist assault troops under the conditions of high-density anti-armor fires and pervasive reconnaissance now defining the war in Ukraine.
Feb
24
The Pentagon is exploring a floating nuclear power plant concept that could give U.S. military bases a rapid, high-output source of electricity to sustain AI-era operations when civilian grids are strained, disrupted, or targeted.
Feb
23
U.S. General Atomics is advancing a multi-variant Collaborative Combat Aircraft strategy known as the “General Atomics Gambit,” building on the proven MQ-9A and MQ-9B lineage to field scalable, autonomous drones capable of teaming with U.S. and allied fighters in contested airspace.
Feb
23
On February 23, 2026, new reporting based on leaked Russian documents indicates that Iran has quietly begun receiving Russian Mi-28NE “Night Hunter” attack helicopters as part of a wider, €500 million arms package with Moscow.
Feb
23
The U.S. Air Force and General Atomics have flown an F-22 Raptor as a command aircraft directing an MQ-20 Avenger unmanned jet, validating autonomy and tactical control methods that would let crewed fighters employ armed collaborative aircraft as extendable sensors and shooters in contested airspace.
Feb
23
On 23 February 2026, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) announced from San Diego that it is developing the addition of long-range standoff weapons to its top-of-the-line MQ-9B SkyGuardian and SeaGuardian remotely piloted aircraft.
Feb
23
On February 20, 2026, the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command published a Sources Sought notice on SAM.gov to survey industry options for a next-generation anti-radiation weapon aimed at contested-spectrum operations. Rather than announcing an award, the notice signals an effort to shape requirements for a missile able to prosecute both surface-based emitters and airborne radar nodes.
Feb
23
The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has staged a combined-arms assault drill that explicitly pairs armored maneuver with short-range air defense, sharpening the force’s ability to push mechanized battalions forward while denying enemy helicopters, drones, and cruise missiles the chance to break the attack. The training is tactically significant because it treats air defense not as a rear-area asset, but as a maneuver enabler that must move, sense, and shoot in step with the assault formation.
Feb
23
Taiwan’s National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology has completed the operational evaluation of the Strong Bow air and missile defense system, clearing the island’s first indigenous upper endo-atmospheric interceptor for mass production.
Feb
23
On 21 February 2026, AH-64E Apache crews assigned to the U.S. Army’s 11th Airborne Division carried out a deep attack operation over the Yukon Training Area in Alaska, according to an official U.S. Army release published on 22 February 2026. Conducted as part of the Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center (JPMRC) 26-02 rotation, the mission was designed to shape the battles
