Americas
AI technology is set to expand what Microsoft Teams can do to support large, distributed US Air Force units. Unanimous AI has secured a contract worth up to $1 million from AFWERX, the innovation arm of the US Air Force Research Laboratory, to integrate its Hyperchat AI tool into Microsoft Teams. The goal is to enhance large-scale communication, collaboration, and decision-making across the service, where mission-critical choices often require input from widely dispersed teams.
Florida-based firm HEKA has expanded its product portfolio, rolling out new aerospace and defense systems designed to meet today’s fast-moving operational challenges. The company’s internally developed technologies span simulation, navigation, and energy systems, reflecting a broad push to accelerate “mission-ready” capabilities. First in the lineup is HekaLink, a digital twin and six-degree-of-freedom flight controls design environment that enables real-time simulation, hardware-in-the-loop testing, and operational flight program generation.
Middle East & Africa
ACG Systems Inc., Annapolis, Maryland, was awarded a $12,311,202 firm-fixed-price contract for the Ground to Air Transmit Receive (GATR) system and test equipment for the Egyptian Air Force. This contract provides for the purchase of two GATR systems. Work will be performed at Annapolis, Maryland; the United Kingdom; and Egypt, and is expected to be complete by July 31, 2031. This contract involves Foreign Military Sales (FMS) to Egypt. This contract was a sole source acquisition. FMS funds in the amount of $11,960,184 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, is the contracting activity.
Europe
A Ukrainian photojournalist with The Associated Press has shared a photo of an indigenously developed cruise missile, claimed to have a range of more than 3,000 kilometers (1,864 miles). The missile, named Flamingo, has entered serial production, photojournalist Efrem Lukatsky wrote after photographing it at a factory in an undisclosed location. Lukatsky offered no additional details about the missile, developed by the Ukrainian defense company Fire Point.
Asia-Pacific
The Malaysian Armed Forces has called off a plan to buy four UH-60A Black Hawk helicopters following its king’s warning over safety, according to local media. The decision came a day after Kuala Lumpur’s monarch and head of state, Sultan Ibrahim ibni Sultan Iskandar, called the three-decade-old systems “flying coffins” and urged officials not to repeat past procurement mistakes.