Military

Two uncrewed fighter prototypes flew in late 2025, moving the Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft from vision to flight test reality. Here is what flies next, why software and open architectures matter, and how a 2026 decision could reshape airpower.

An October Army-Navy push put Castelion's Blackbeard on a path to ride legacy launchers like HIMARS. Here is how truck-mobile, lower-cost hypersonic rounds could flip magazine depth, A2/AD math, and Pacific deterrence by 2027.

At Fort Sill this summer, the Army's 50 kilowatt laser Stryker moved from showpiece to playbook. Here is how pairing directed energy with kinetic M-SHORAD can upend counter-drone costs and why brigade level coverage by 2027 is within reach.

Five hard milestones in 2025 turned a moonshot into a program: a May 20 White House reveal, a July 17 Senate confirmation, a Sept 17 architecture brief, a June 24 LRDR test, and a Sept 3 record PAC-3 buy. Here is the plan to field by 2028-2029.

FY26 budget lines and 2025 test disclosures show AIM-260 JATM shifting from black program to fieldable reality. Here is how it outranges rivals, reshapes F-22 and F-35 tactics, enables CCA missile trucks, and pressures Super Hornet allies.

With Next Generation Jammer Mid-Band entering service in 2025, the EA-18G Growler shifts from escort to systems hunter. See how the new pod breaks modern air defenses and what the fleet will field through 2027.

A successful May 2025 end-to-end CPS launch proved the Navy’s sea-based hypersonic approach. See why Zumwalt-class destroyers field first, how Virginia-class submarines follow, what it means for Pacific deterrence, and how to close the defense gap.

Australia just opened a Sydney factory to mass-produce Ghost Shark, a containerized extra large undersea drone backed by a multibillion AUD program. The move signals an Indo-Pacific shift toward low-cost, persistent ISR and covert strike at scale.

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With Victus Sol, the U.S. Space Force moves tactically responsive space from one-off demonstrations to an on-call service. A 24-hour launch window, on-orbit maneuver, and faster OSP-4 task orders reshape deterrence and allied operations in the Indo-Pacific.

After a historic cost breach, the LGM‑35A Sentinel is being rebuilt in 2025. This analysis unpacks what the reset changes, how timelines shift, and which FY26–FY27 decisions will speed or stall the reboot.

The Navy’s fall 2025 awards, capped by General Atomics’ carrier‑capable CCA design win, mark the start of uncrewed wingmen at sea. Here’s how deck ops, autonomy, payloads, and production will shift from now to first detachments, with sea trials possible in 2027.

October 2025 marked a turning point for the Integrated Battle Command System. Soldier-run tests, Poland’s live-fire, and Guam’s architecture show air and missile defense becoming software-defined, plug-and-fight, and coalition-ready.

In 2025 the Marine Corps made counter-drone defense standard issue, pairing an AI base-defense program of record with fielded NMESIS and MADIS at Balikatan. See how dismounted tools and smart missile software build a layered, affordable playbook.

Japan quietly took a railgun to sea and hit a real target ship. The milestone points to a future where magazine depth is measured in megawatts and machined slugs, not missile cells, reshaping the economics of naval defense.

2025 is the year resilient positioning, navigation, and timing moves from slideware to steel. With a reprogrammable military nav satellite in orbit, LEO signals maturing, and quantum sensors entering field tests, commanders can harden targeting, autonomy, and blue-water ops.

This summer and fall, the Army’s Janus launch, the Air Force’s Eielson pilot, and Project Pele core fabrication pushed microreactors from concept to calendar. Here is how mobile, HALEU‑fueled power could reshape contested logistics by 2028.

JASSM-XR is nearing flight test while sub-$200k cruise missiles move from concept to production. The U.S. is shifting to range plus mass: diamond-cut precision for hard targets, backed by affordable swarms for volume.