Americas
Airbus and Shield AI have signed an agreement to integrate autonomous pilot technology into the MQ-72C Logistics Connector unmanned aerial system. The teaming includes compatibility trials of Shield AI’s flagship artificial intelligence software “Hivemind” with Airbus’ Helionix advanced avionics suite to operate the MQ-72C. The evaluation will focus on levels of autonomy to deploy the aircraft with minimal human intervention, with the tests to include complex unmanned operations in contested logistics settings.
The Golden Dome missile-defense vision is turning up the heat on a long-running fight between the Pentagon and the telecommunications industry for control of certain radio frequencies. “That area of the spectrum is golden, and we need to protect it to maintain national security. And I use the word golden specifically, because the only way we can achieve Golden Dome” is by using frequencies around 3 gigahertz, Katie Arrington, who is performing the duties of the Pentagon chief information officer, told lawmakers Thursday at a hearing of the House Armed Services’ panel on cyber, information technologies, and innovation. “It is critical for national security.”
Europe
The UK Ministry of Defense has revealed it will send five additional Raven air defense systems to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The project, which will increase Kyiv’s Ravens to 13, is part of London’s “Kindred” effort to support Ukraine’s national security through “stockpiles and rapid procurement” amidst Russia’s continued aggression.
Middle East & Africa
Chinese-made weapons supplied by the United Arab Emirates have been identified with Sudan’s paramilitaries, Amnesty International said Thursday, as drone attacks prompted civilians to flee the army-held aid hub of Port Sudan. The Britain-based watchdog said that its research had detailed the use by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces of sophisticated Chinese-made artillery and guided bombs in its war with the regular army, now in its third year.
Asia-Pacific
Russia and China on Thursday slammed US President Donald Trump‘s plan for an Iron Dome-like missile defense system as “deeply destabilizing,” saying it risked turning space into a “battlefield.” Trump ordered an “Iron Dome for America” shortly after his inauguration in January, a program to counter ballistic and hypersonic missile threats. The plan revives parts of a controversial Reagan-era plan nicknamed “Star Wars” that would have placed missile interceptors in space.
The Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) used the island state’s biennial naval exhibition to announce two important acquisitions: one for unmanned mine countermeasure vessels and the other for new, manned submarines. Both buys, announced as part of the IMDEX conference, come as Singapore has embarked on an ambitious naval modernization push.