Facing a surge in Iranian-made drone threats in the Middle East in 2025, the Air Force rapidly integrated a low-cost guided rocket onto F-15E Strike Eagles, a capability that has since become its primary air-to-air anti-drone weapon in the region.
Air Force Secretary Troy Meink announced on September 14, 2026, that the service intends to field at least 500 Collaborative Combat Aircraft and 500 additional cheap ISR and strike drones within six years—a significant escalation of its autonomous air combat ambitions.
A new procurement effort signals a deliberate shift in how the Air Force intends to defend its forward-deployed installations against drones and missiles.
Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach met with IDF and Israeli Air Force leadership in Tel Aviv to discuss the regional situation and lessons from the ongoing conflict with Iran.
A B-2 stealth bomber successfully fired the Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile against a target vessel, while the Navy simultaneously unveiled a new glide-based torpedo program aimed at hunting enemy submarines from the air.
The Pentagon's first production contract for the extended-range Joint Direct Attack Munition signals a deliberate shift toward keeping aircraft and crews out of dense enemy air-defense envelopes.
The FQ-42 and FQ-44 Collaborative Combat Aircraft designs are both cleared for production in a deliberate dual-vendor structure, with Anduril, Shield AI, and Collins Aerospace separately contracted for the autonomy layer.
