Defense News Aerospace 2026
Somalia seeks 24 JF-17 Block III fighter jets from Pakistan in $900 million deal
On February 21, 2026, the Somali Guardian announced that Somalia is negotiating the acquisition of up to 24 JF-17 Thunder Block III multirole fight...
U.S. F-22 Stealth Fighters Reportedly Land in Israel amid Iran Tensions and Regional Buildup
On 25 February 2026, media reports from The Economic Times and The Jerusalem Post stated that U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor fighter aircraft had repor...
U.S. Navy Accelerates F/A-XX Sixth-Gen Fighter to Counter China’s Long-Range Missile Threat
The Pentagon has approved $750 million to accelerate the U.S. Navy’s F/A-XX sixth-generation carrier fighter ahead of a critical program milestone ...
U.S. B-2 Bomber and Navy Carrier Fighters Execute Strategic Long-Range Maritime Strike Drill
On February 25, 2026, the U.S. Air Force’s 509th Bomb Wing reported that a B-2 Spirit stealth bomber had joined Navy fighters from Carrier Air Wing...
U.S. Increases B-21 Raider Production by 25% with $4.5B to Counter China, Russia and Iran
The U.S. Department of the Air Force is increasing B-21 Raider production capacity by 25 percent using $4.5 billion authorized in fiscal year 2025 ...
Germany Unveils New Hildegard Jet-Powered Drone for High-Speed Autonomous Precision Strikes
At Enforce Tac 2026 in Nuremberg, Germany (23–25 February 2026), Dronivo GmbH introduced the Hildegard, a next‑generation autonomous jet‑powered un...
U.S. Air Force Deploys MQ-9 Reaper Drone to Test Operations in Contested Battlespace
The U.S. Air Force sent an MQ-9 Reaper from the 174th Attack Wing to Gulfport, Mississippi, for Exercise Sentry South 26-2, placing the remotely pi...
U.S. Tests AI Integration on F-35 Fighters to Enhance Targeting and Threat Detection
Lockheed Martin flight tested an AI-enabled combat identification function on the F-35 at Nellis Air Force Base, demonstrating rapid onboard threat...
U.S. Sends 12 F-22 Raptors from UK Base to Middle East as Tensions with Iran Escalate
Twelve US Air Force F-22 Raptor fighters departed RAF Lakenheath in the United Kingdom on 24 February 2026 under the escort of three KC-46A Pegasus...
Lockheed Martin's F-22 Raptor Model Features Low-Observable Fuel Tanks and Infrared Sensor Pods
On February 23, 2026, a Twitter post published by @AlexHollings52 revealed images of a scale model displayed at the Air & Space Forces Association ...
U.S. Air Force YFQ-48A Talon Blue Enters Flight Testing as New CCA Autonomous Wingman
Northrop Grumman is preparing its YFQ-48A Talon Blue autonomous wingman for first flight as part of the U.S. Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircr...
BAE Systems Unveils Scalable Electromagnetic Warfare Capabilities for MALE and HALE Drones
On 23 February 2026, BAE Systems announced that it had successfully flight-tested a modular airborne electromagnetic attack system with the U.S. Ai...