Author: Defenceline Webdesk

WASHINGTON — The US Air Force has finalized requirements for a drone to replace the service’s General Atomics MQ-9A Reaper, and in the near term is looking to replenish combat losses of the aircraft, officials said Tuesday. Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Airland subcommittee, Air Force Maj. Gen. Christopher Niemi said he “signed out” requirements on Monday for a new platform to replace the Reaper, which has been in service since 2007. The new unmanned aircraft, Niemi said, must consist of open architectures, be easily mass produced and have a higher tolerance for attrition — meaning that it would…

The Fatah-2 (also written Fatah-II) is Pakistan’s medium-range manoeuvrable surface-to-surface missile (SSM) – a quasi-ballistic guided missile with a domestic range of 400 km and supersonic terminal speed exceeding Mach 2. The Fatah-2 missile was developed by Pakistan’s National Engineering and Scientific Commission (NESCOM) and is marketed by Global Industrial and Defence Solutions (GIDS). The Fatah-2 is the second member of the broader Fatah missile family and occupies the medium-range tier of the Army Rocket Force Command’s (ARFC) layered strike portfolio. It also serves as the common platform for the Pakistan Navy’s (PN) SMASH anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM). ARFC training…

Parsons to compete for infrastructure work under $136m Air Force contract. Credit: JHVEPhoto/Shutterstock.com. The US Air Force (USAF) has selected Parsons for a position on a multiple award task order contract to provide architect-engineer services at Hill Air Force Base in Utah. The contract, with a ceiling value of $136m and an 8.5-year performance period, covers a range of infrastructure-related services across the installation. Discover B2B Marketing That Performs Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms. Find out more Parsons will be eligible to compete for task orders to support requirements such…

Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to meet with China’s top leader Xi Jinping in Beijing soon after the China-U.S. summit on May 14-15. Do these back-to-back visits indicate a new phase of triangular diplomacy? Unlike Nixon-era China-U.S. summits, where U.S. and Chinese leaders sought to use their rapprochement to further isolate the Soviet Union, the upcoming meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Xi is unlikely to bring pressure to bear on Russia on Iran or Ukraine.  Trump is no stranger to triangular diplomacy. In April 2017, while hosting Xi Jinping at Mar-a-Lago, Trump revealed that the United States…

Pakistan’s evolving military doctrine reflects a profound recalibration of its approach to limited war under the nuclear shadow. The May 2025 crisis, triggered by the devastative Indian BrahMos missile strikes on around 11 Pakistani air bases, forced Islamabad to confront the constraints of conventional-nuclear entanglement, according to an analysis by Pakistani-based writers on War On The Rocks. Despite possessing the Babur cruise missile, Pakistan deliberately withheld its use, recognising that deploying a dual-capable system would risk signalling nuclear escalation. This restraint highlighted the paradox of South Asian crises: they are defined as much by what is withheld as by what is…

J.W.Huang & Y.H. Chien, Proceedings Over the past 20 years, antiaccess / area denial (A2/AD) has been widely seen as a core defense architecture enabling small states to deter great power… Source link

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon announced today it has reached framework agreements with a handful of vendors to procure over 10,000 low-cost cruise missiles over three years beginning in 2027.  The agreements with Anduril, CoAspire, Leidos and Zone 5 commence the launch of the new Low Cost Containerization Munitions Program (LCCMP), according to a Defense Department release published today.  “In concert with establishing a clear demand signal, these Framework Agreements commit American industry to on-time, on-cost delivery and investment in R&D and facilities,” Emil Michael, the Pentagon’s CTO and under secretary for Research and Engineering, said in the release. “This commercial…

The Fatah-3 is Pakistan’s ramjet-powered supersonic cruise missile (SSCM) – a guided missile system capable of sustained Mach 2.2–3.5 cruise designed for land-attack and anti-ship missions. In a video released on 8 May 2026, Pakistan’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) revealed the Fatah-3 to be a ramjet-powered supersonic cruise missile. The Fatah-3 is the third member of the broader Fatah missile family and sits within the Army Rocket Force Command’s (ARFC) expanding multi-modal strike portfolio. The Fatah-3 SSCM on its road-mobile TEL, as revealed by ISPR in May 2026. Source: ISPR Move earlier than the market does. Get procurement-focused reporting, market…

Senator Lindsey Graham, a close ally of President Donald Trump, has sharply criticised Pakistan’s role as mediator in the US–Iran conflict, declaring he does not “trust” Islamabad amid allegations that Iranian military aircraft were sheltered at Pakistani bases.His remarks have intensified scrutiny of Pakistan’s neutrality and raised calls for Washington to consider an alternative mediator.Republican Senator Lindsey Graham delivered his blunt assessment during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing in Washington, where he questioned Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth about reports that Iranian aircraft had been stationed at Pakistan’s Nur Khan Airbase near Rawalpindi.Graham argued that if such claims were true, they…

Stefano D’urso, Aviationist GA-ASI and the U.S. Air Force tested the MQ-9A Reaper with APKWS laser-guided rockets, firing at both air and ground targets Source link