Reconciliation Funds Update. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Senate appropriators on July 21 that $75 billion in reconciliation funds for defense approved last year remain unobligated, while estimating that 95 percent of that spending will be placed on contract by the end of the current fiscal year. The Pentagon received a total of $150 billion in last year’s Republican-led One Big, Beautiful Bill, and the department previously detailed a blueprint for allocating those funds over the course of this year for a variety of high-priority efforts.
Historic Award. A $1.6 billion Defense Department contract awarded to Lockheed Martin on July 15 for F-35 spare parts was the” largest such contract” in the program’s history, Jim Taiclet, the company’s chairman, president and CEO, said on a July 23 earnings call. The firm-fixed-price contract covers “initial spares for F-35 production aircraft” for the Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy and partner nations, the contract announcement said. All the funds were obligated at the time of the award. Taiclet said the contract demonstrates DoD’s “heightened focus on keeping the world’s premier fighter fleet operational Our upfront investment in spare parts and consumables has now been translated into immediate inventory that can be shipped to customers the moment their need arises.”
Longer Range Fires. Lockheed Martin and rocket engine developer Venus Aerospace have agreed to jointly evaluate and mature Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine (RDRE) technology for next-generation precision fires requiring greater range, speed and operational flexibility. Venus in May 2025 flew its RDRE, which is designed to enable hypersonic vehicles to take off from conventional runways, double the range of long-range munitions and lower launch costs. Under the agreement, Lockheed Martin could conduct a subsystem demonstration of the technology “for practical missile applications.” Lockheed Martin’s venture capital arm is an investor in Venus.
SPEAR MoU. At the Farnborough Air Show in the United Kingdom last week, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) President David Alexander and Chris Allam, the managing director of MBDA U.K., signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to integrate MBDA’s Selective Precision Effects At Range (SPEAR) miniature cruise missile on GA-ASI’s MQ-9B drone and Gambit 6 collaborative combat aircraft. The companies collaborated on the integration of MBDA’s Brimstone on the Royal Air Force’s (RAF) Protector RG Mk1 drone–the MQ-9B version in the RAF. GA-ASI said that the MQ-9B is in operation or on order in the U.K., Germany, Denmark, Belgium and Poland.
X-Bow C-UAS Entry. X-Bow Systems, which is developing solid rocket motors (SRMs) and sub-orbital rockets, has entered the counter-unmanned aircraft system (C-UAS) space with Buckler, which the startup bills as an affordable supersonic interceptor to defeat Group 3 drones. The six-inch diameter Buckler was successfully flight-tested on July 10 by The Spaceport Company in the Gulf of Mexico, X-Bow said last week, and has performed static fires of the rocket motor, and igniter testing. Buckler has an infrared seeker and is built on an airframe, rocket motor and propellant produced by X-Bow for less than $100,000. “That vertical integration lets X-Bow control cost, quality and surge output on demand,” X-Bow said.
…Opportunities. The New Mexico-based company is submitting two white papers for the Army’s 10-inch Low Cost Interceptor (LCI), one for the rocket motor and another for the all-up round (AUR). X-Bow emphasized that Buckler is an example of its modular rocket motor technology that can meet the Army’s 10-inch LCI needs. “Our modular motor provides improvements to schedule and allows for tailorable performance,” a company spokesperson said. “This is a key feature that X-Bow will demonstrate for the Army. By unveiling Buckler in 2026, X-Bow will build into higher performing 10-inch AUR and SRM variants in 2027 and 2028.”
Nomad 100 Testing. Sikorsky said on July 22 it has completed initial ground and flight testing for its Nomad 100 UAS currently participating in the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency’s Early VTOL Aircraft Demonstration (EVADE) program. “The Nomad 100 is a variant of Sikorsky’s novel rotor blown wing architecture, delivering the vertical lift and hover capabilities of a helicopter with the speed, range and endurance of a fixed-wing aircraft,” Sikorsky said in a statement. “Nomad represents Sikorsky’s entry into the UAS market, marrying decades of advanced rotorcraft and autonomy expertise with AI, advanced manufacturing, and electric propulsion to deliver a high-performance, lower-cost, scalable VTOL platform that extends the company’s legacy into the next generation of uncrewed aerial solutions.” Sikorsky is one five firms participating in the EVADE development effort, and noted the next step will involve “intensive flight test campaign at a government facility, replicating a host of multirole Nomad 100 missions.”
AI Investment. The White House on July 22 announced plans to invest $5 billion into its new Genesis Mission initiative to leverage artificial intelligence for science-related efforts. The Pentagon is involved in several lines of effort under the initiative, to include working with other government agencies on AI projects to advance biological discoveries, partnering with the National Nuclear Security Administration to use AI to “compress the design, testing and certification of conventional and nuclear weapon components” and joining the Department of Energy to accelerate quantum computing efforts. “President Trump has mandated that the United States be the dominant global leader in AI, and the Genesis Mission represents an unprecedented opportunity to unlock our nation’s scientific might,” Emil Michael, the Pentagon’s chief technology officer, said in a statement. “The Department of War is scaling investments across AI, quantum computing and biotechnology to turn our decades of data into a catalyst for scientific discovery to support the American warfighter.”
E-2D Awards. Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) awarded Northrop Grumman an undefinitized contract worth up to $1.2 billion for production, delivery and support work for three E-2D Advanced Hawkeye Block II airborne command and control aircraft. Congress funded these aircraft in the FY 2026 defense appropriations law. At the time of the award, $583 million was obligated and work will be split between Melbourne, Fla. (30 percent), St. Augustine, Fla. (18 percent), Liverpool, N.Y. (14 percent), and various other locations in the U.S. as well as small amounts of work in France and the United Kingdom. Work is expected to be finished by December 2031.
…Incoming Updates. On July 16, NAVAIR posted a federal notice that it also intends to issue an Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity with Northrop Grumman for the procurement, storage, assembly and installation of E-2D Block II retrofit kits for older E-2D Advanced Hawkeye aircraft. The Navy expects to award the contract in the second quarter of FY ’28 with a five-year period of performance. The notice did not disclose the number of aircraft it intends the contract to retrofit or the total cost.
Icebreaker Casualty. The Coast Guard’s lone medium polar icebreaker, the Healy, suffered an engineering casualty on July 13 during operations northwest of Port Angeles, Wash., and was towed safely back to its Seattle homeport for an incident investigation and “major repairs,” the service said on July 24. The 27-year-old, 420-foot ship had not begun its annual mission to the Arctic region for scientific research and national security operations. “The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Healy acted with speed and skill in responding to this casualty,” Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Kevin Lunday said in a statement. The service has not disclosed what went wrong. The Healy in recent years has suffered propulsion motor and transformer fires. The service has one heavy polar icebreaker, the Polar Star, that has also had challenges, and a commercially-designed polar icebreaker, the Storis.
DDG-135. HII on July 15 announced it installed the first grand blocks made by outsourcing partners for a Flight III Alreigh Burke-class destroyer, the future USS Thad Cochran (DDG-135). The three units making up the grand blocks were built by Gulf Copper and Eastern Shipbuilding, having arrived at the HII Ingalls Shipbuilding shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss., ahead of the October 2025 keel authentication. HII said this sequencing demonstrated “successful early-sequence production by qualified offsite partners and enabling increased throughput at Ingalls.” The company noted outsourced work is also underway with five partner companies on the future USS John F. Lehman (DDG-137) and Telesforo Trinidad (DDG-139). HII said all off-site production contracts have been awarded for 32 structural and pre-outfitted units for DDG-137 and is finishing awarding 37 units for DDG-139. HII underscored early delivery is continually occurring, with the first two outsourced units for DDG-137 have already arrived at Ingalls ahead of the July 1 fabrication ceremony for the ship.
New PAE. On Aug. 3, Air Force Brig. Gen. Joshua Williams is to succeed Brig. Gen. Jason Voorheis as Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s (AFLCMC) next portfolio acquisition executive (PAE) for command, control, communications and battle management (C3BM). Voorheis, who has served as PAE for C3BM since February, is to become the next head of AFLCMC. From December 2023, until last December, Voorheis was the program executive officer (PEO) for fighters and advanced aircraft before stepping in until February as the Air Force’s acting military deputy for acquisition. Last September, Williams became the PEO for cyber and networks and then, this month, the PAE for cyber and networks at Hanscom AFB, Mass. From 2022 to 2025, Williams was the PEO for intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and special operations forces at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. In his new role as PAE for C3BM, Williams will manage more than 50 programs of record, the Air Force said.
NNSA C-UAS Award. The Department of Energy has awarded Kratos Defense & Security Solutions a potential $156 million contract to provide a mobile counter-unmanned aircraft system (C-UAS) platform to protect shipments of nuclear weapons, weapon components and special nuclear materials. The indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract is with the DoE National Nuclear Security Administration’s Office of Secure Transportation (OST) under the Project Solar Shield effort. Kratos said OST needs a “mission-ready mobile platform capable of detecting, tracking, identifying and responding to potentially hostile unmanned aircraft system in real-time” wherever it is operating. The solution uses commercial and government C-CUAS technologies for a layered defense posture.
…More Kratos News. Kratos last week also said it will manufacture Elroy Air’s Chaparral hybrid-electric, vertical takeoff and landing autonomous cargo aircraft at its Sacramento, Calif., facility. The Chaparral has range up to 450 miles and can carry more than 500 pounds of payload for commercial “middle-mile” logistics and autonomous resupply for military operations. Kratos said its is the exclusive U.S. manufacturer of the aircraft, with the first production unit planned for late 2026.
P550 UAS. AeroVironment announced on July 20 it was awarded a $117.3 million deal from the Army for its P550 Group 2 drones, with the order facilitated through the service’s new UAS Marketplace. AV said it will deliver 82 P550s under the contract, which it said “represents the initial full-rate procurement of the P550 system and reflects the Army’s commitment to rapidly fielding proven commercial capabilities that enhance long-range reconnaissance, autonomy and distributed operations.” “Purpose-built for dynamic, contested environments, AV’s P550 enhances situational awareness and force protection with integrated targeting and precision strike capabilities. Its AI-driven autonomy enables smarter, safer operations while reducing operator workload in complex mission sets. Designed for maneuver forces, it delivers a multi-role capability that can be reconfigured in minutes to meet evolving mission demands,” AV said in a statement. AV announced in August 2025 that the Army had selected the P550 to inform the Long Range Reconnaissance program, with the platform to be delivered to select units under the Transforming in Contact rapid fielding initiative.
GPS Receivers. BAE Systems and Trimble Military and Advanced Systems are to help develop a next-generation Maritime and Aviation Receiver Card (MAVRC) Military GPS User Equipment (MGUE) receiver, according to U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command (SSC). “These agreements will support requirements development, risk reduction studies, and documentation for a design concept review milestone,” SSC said last week. “The effort is the first phase in a two-part approach that will inform future prototyping, demonstrations, and integration and testing to produce a GPS M-code receiver for maritime and aviation platforms.” The MAVRC receiver for MGUE, Increment 2 is to include Regional Military Protection (RMP). GPS-III Follow-On (GPS-IIIF) satellites by Lockheed Martin are to use powerful spot beams to transmit RMP signals and use their combined RMP signals on a focused area, thus amplifying the signal up to 63 times to deter any jamming effects on allied forces. The first GPS-IIIF satellite is to launch in May next year.
AMPV Multi-Year Authority. The House adopted an amendment from Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.) during floor debate on the fiscal year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act that would authorize the Army to issue a multi-year procurement contract for BAE Systems-built Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicles. AMPV is the Army’s replacement for its legacy M113 armored personnel carriers, with BAE Systems having received a full-rate production contract in 2023.
More Humvees. The Army on July 21 awarded AM General a $98.7 million order the more Humvees. The deal brings the total cumulative value of AM General’s current Humvee contract to $3.2 billion, according to the Pentagon. Work on the latest production order is expected to be completed by the end of August 2027.
MRO Partnership. Enterprise readiness firm Air, rebranded from Govini, and AI machine infrastructure security company Fathom5, on July 20 announced a strategic partnership that aims to help transform the Navy’s maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) capabilities. Previously, Fathom5 was selected a winner in the Defense Innovation Unit’s NextMRO Prize Challenge Phase III that aims to replace antiquated and siloed logistics frameworks with integrated software. Fathom 5 said it would turn real-world Navy data into “intuitive, sailor-facing applications at the tactical edge.” The companies said they now plan to scale up the solution for enterprise-wide Navy procurement by combining Fathom5’s warship-deployed Condition-Based Maintenance AI with Air’s Enterprise Readiness platform. The companies said the Air platform is purpose-built and combines predictive analytics, supply chain visibility, and repair cycle forecasting into a unified system that operates across organizational, intermediate, and depot maintenance.
European Defense Growth. Honeywell Aerospace last week reported from the Farnborough Air Show that international defense demand for its products is increasing, in particular through its Italy-based Civitinavi Systems inertial navigation systems business it acquired in 2024. Civitinavi has customers in Ukraine, Poland, Italy, and the United Kingdom. “Across Europe, localized defense investment has shifted from policy commentary to accelerating procurement activity,” Matt Milas, president of defense and space at Honeywell, said in a statement. “European defense customers are building programs for the long term, and they need partners with the capabilities, the supply chain, and the manufacturing scale to match that ambition.”
