✈️ Boeing wins F/A-XX

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The Navy awarded Boeing a contract worth more than $20B for full-scale development of the F/A-XX, the service's sixth-generation carrier-based strike fighter under the Next Generation Air Dominance program. The contract includes multiple test aircraft for ground testing, airworthiness evaluations, systems testing, and weapons integration.

DIU and USSF's 18th Space Systems Command collaborated to award two GHOST-R prototype contracts, giving commercial firms a faster path to field GEO monitoring satellites that can conduct drive-bys, battle damage assessment, and positive ID of resident space objects. The effort sits under a broader GEO monitoring program called Andromeda, which has a 14-vendor pool and a $1.84B ceiling over the next decade.

The USAF officially named its two Collaborative Combat Aircraft: General Atomics' FQ-42A is now the Vengeance, and Anduril's FQ-44A is the Fury. Both are in Increment 1 production under contracts awarded in June, four months ahead of schedule. The service wants at least 500 CCAs in service by 2032 at roughly $20 million per airframe, a combined $10B program.

GAO. IT systems Annual Assessment: DOD Should Improve IT Fraud Risk Management Practices. GAO-26-108596. September 28, 2026.

With troops pulling back from Africa, AFRICOM is leaning on five technology priorities to maintain its effectiveness across the continent: non-traditional ISR, autonomous aerial resupply, drone and counter-drone systems, AI-enabled CJADC2, and multi-domain autonomy.

At least six NATO countries, mostly on the eastern flank, have bought or are buying the Merops counter-drone system. The $15,000 interceptor uses AI to navigate electronic warfare environments, can be launched from a pickup truck, and has already downed thousands of Russian drones in Ukraine and at least one Iranian drone.

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The FAA already has $12.5B from the One Big Beautiful Bill, and now DOT and FAA are backing the Modern Skies Act, which would add another $30B split three ways: $10B for air traffic control tech, $10 billion for airport infrastructure, and $10B for a new transitional airport grant program.

America.gov was unveiled this week. The website features an AI chatbot powered by Google's Gemini and Elon Musk's Grok that consolidates information from roughly 29,000 government websites into a single search bar. Ask it anything from booking a national park campsite to replacing your Social Security card. Launched Tuesday, the chatbot answers questions and points users to services, with full transaction capability planned for 2027.

NNSA's nuclear laboratories, plants, and sites are FAA-designated no-drone zones, and unauthorized flights are a federal violation. The agency just signed an MOU with JIATF-401 to share counter-UAS test data and research, cutting duplicative testing and accelerating drone defense deployments across the nuclear complex.

REDLattice, an operational cyber intelligence platform serving more than 100 government customers across 23 countries, is going public through a business merger with Bold Eagle Acquisition Corp. at a $1.25B pre-money enterprise value. The company generated $267 million in revenue in the twelve months ending June 30, 2026, up 29% year over year.

Greenbriar Equity Group signed a definitive agreement to acquire Spectrum Control from AEA Investors. Spectrum makes RF and microwave components, modules, and subsystems for aerospace, defense, space, and high-reliability industrial markets, and holds designed-in positions on defense and aerospace platforms. CEO Rich Sorelle and the existing management team will remain in place.

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