AUSA 2026: Protecting ground troops from aerial threats 21/10/2026 | Wilder Alejandro Sanchez (Reporting from Washington DC) Drones, loitering munitions, and one-way attack drones. The sky is now full of aerial threats that ground forces need to be protected from. At the… [read more]

F-35C starts compatibility trials aboard carrier JOHN F. KENNEDY 21/10/2026 | Michele Cosentino On October 13, 2026, off the US Atlantic coast, integration trials began for the F-35C LIGHTNING II aboard the new carrier JOHN F. KENNEDY (CVN-79), second ship of the FORD class, not yet formally in service with the US Navy. The trials involve F-35Cs assigned to Air Test and Evaluation… [read more]

Chinese Navy builds motherships for Extra-Extra Large Unmanned Underwater Vehicles 20/10/2026 | Massimo Annati Satellite imagery has revealed a new unit under construction at the HUDONG-ZHONGHUA shipyard in Changxing, Shanghai, where amphibious ships and frigates for the Chinese Navy (PLAN) are normally built. The hull was initially interpreted as a new LPD, 205 m long and 30 m wide — dimensions similar to the… [read more]

Lockheed Martin unveils PAC-3 EDGE interceptor 19/10/2026 | Fabio Di Felice Lockheed Martin unveiled PAC-3 EDGE, a new interceptor intended to counter hypersonic and other advanced missile threats. Derived from the combat-proven PATRIOT PAC-3 MSE, the missile is the company’s entry in the U.S. Army’s Future Interceptor program, which is still in competition. The Army’s decision to move Lockheed Martin into… [read more]

Equipping the Expeditionary Force of tomorrow 16/10/2026 | Wilder Alejandro Sanchez (reporting from Washington DC) Expeditionary forces require very specific equipment: it must be easy to transport, often in a container that can be airdropped by parachute from a C-130 or carried by helicopter, and it must be just as easy to assemble in the field as it is to pack up when the mission… [read more]

USMC deploys NMESIS and MADIS near Taiwan 16/10/2026 | Fabio Di Felice During exercise KEEN SWORD, the largest biennial joint military exercise between the United States and Japan (scheduled from October 19 to 29), the Marines will deploy the Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) land-based anti-ship missile system and the Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) short-range air defense system to… [read more]

At AUSA, the US Army’s M-8 rifle debuts: a commentary 15/10/2026 | Eugenio Po During the 2026 Annual Meeting of the Association of the United States Army (AUSA), held on October 12-14, Sig Sauer unveiled the new M-8 rifle for the US Army, chambered in 6.8x51 mm, the new US cartridge developed for the Army under the Next Generation Squad Weapon (NGSW) program.  

First flight test for the AHM-4 Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM) 15/10/2026 | Francesco Bossi Between late September and early October, the US Air Force (USAF) and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) conducted the first flight test of the AHM-4 Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM), presumably at the RAAF Woomera test range in southern Australia.

Houthis intensify attacks on Saudi airports 14/10/2026 | Luca Bruzzone The military campaign waged by the Houthis against Saudi airports saw a significant escalation in the first half of October 2026, in parallel with the resumption of Saudi operations in Yemen. Strikes against the airports of Riyadh and Abha (in the country’s southwest) demonstrated the Yemeni group’s ability to hit… [read more]

Beijing opens in Laos its third overseas military base 14/10/2026 | Fabio Di Felice China’s Ministry of National Defense has announced the activation of a new China-Laos Joint Support and Training Center and a Friendship Aviation Academy at Ban Keun airport, roughly 45-50 km north of Vientiane, Laos. According to analyses circulating online in recent days, however, the facility is in effect a Chinese… [read more]