Saudi Arabia has confirmed operational use of the Jaser loitering munition after it was displayed on the official Saudi Armed Forces stand at World Defense Show 2026 in Riyadh. The public placement signals the Kingdom’s growing confidence in domestically produced precision strike systems and their role in modern battlefield operations. At the World Defense Show 2026 in Riyadh, Serb Advanced Industries publicly presented the Jaser loitering munition on the official stand of the Saudi Armed Forces, effectively confirming the system’s active service with the Kingdom’s military. Displayed alongside other in service platforms, the Jaser’s presence suggests it has moved beyond testing and evaluation, marking a notable step in Saudi Arabia’s efforts to field locally produced precision engagement capabilities. The Jaser is an electrically powered loitering munition launched from a pneumatic platform. It is designed to loiter over the battlefield before engaging designated targets, distinguishing it from reusable reconnaissance drones. The system is capable of engaging both fixed and moving targets, including vehicles traveling at speeds of up to 90 kilometers per hour. Its mission profile combines real-time operator control with the ability to strike pre-programmed coordinates, allowing flexible employment depending on operational requirements.

Vietnam’s Ministry of Defense has reportedly signed a $250-million contract with Rafael Advanced Defense Systems to locally produce the Spike Firefly loitering munition, known as the Maoz in Hebrew. According to Intelligence Online, the system will be produced at a facility in Vietnam, supported by technology transfer from Israel. A Vietnamese company will operate the facility after receiving the necessary production licenses from Israeli authorities, the French outlet reported. For Urban Warfare Spike Firefly is a 3-kilogram (6.6-pound) tactical loitering munition designed for urban combat environments, where restricted situational awareness and the risk to noncombatants limit the use of traditional fire support. The Israel Defense Forces have previously employed the system operationally during fighting in Gaza following the October 7 Hamas attack.

Somalia Monday signed a defense agreement with Saudi Arabia, as the Horn of Africa becomes an arena for proxy wars between Gulf monarchies, with Abu Dhabi at loggerheads with Riyadh. The region, strategically located between the Indian Ocean and the Suez Canal on one of the world’s busiest trade routes, has increasingly attracted the interest of the Gulf states. The agreement comes a month and a half after Israel recognized Somaliland, a self-proclaimed republic that seceded from Somalia in 1991 but which Mogadishu still considers to be under its control. Somali Defense Minister Ahmed Moallim Fiqi and his Saudi counterpart, Prince Khalid Bin Salman, signed a “military cooperation agreement” on Monday, according to a message on X from the Somali defense ministry. The UAE is widely accused of arming the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitaries in Sudan, who have been fighting the regular military since 2023 and are accused of massacres against the civilian population.

During the Singapore Airshow, Saab said it had offered the Gripen E to the Government of India with an industrial plan covering design, production, and sustainment involving more than 300 companies. As reported by The Economic Times on February 9, 2026, at the Singapore Airshow, Saab said it has offered the Gripen E fighter jet to India as part of a combined aircraft and industrial plan covering design, production, and sustainment involving more than 300 companies. Saab positions the Gripen E to complement existing Rafale and Tejas fighters while addressing force structure gaps and long-term modernization needs, as deliveries could begin as early as the third year after contract signature. During the Singapore Airshow, Saab’s Chief Marketing Officer for Gripen and Vice President of Business Area Aeronautics, Mikael Franzén, said that Saab had proposed to the Government of India the induction of the Gripen E fighter jet as part of a broader plan combining aircraft acquisition with the creation of a multi-layered aerospace industry in India. Saab said the offer covers design, production, and maintenance activities, with aircraft initially built in Sweden and production then shifting to India at a rapid pace. The plan includes a delivery timeline starting as soon as the third year after contract signature, followed by a steep ramp-up in capacity. Saab also stated that the industrial framework is intended to involve more than 300 tier 1, tier 2, and tier 3 companies, including MSMEs. Franzén said that Gripen could fit in the Indian Air Force (IAF) as a complementary fighter positioned between the Dassault Rafale and the HAL Tejas, as the Rafale represents the high-end multirole fighter optimized for deep strike, heavy payload, and long-range missions, while the Tejas is intended to rebuild numbers at the lighter end and support domestic production. Saab explicitly frames the aircraft as capable of being inducted quickly and in larger numbers than heavier fighters, which is directly relevant to an air force operating well below its sanctioned 42-squadron strength. Therefore, the Gripen E is positioned by Saab to increase the IAF's mission-ready fighters available to commanders, improve daily sortie numbers, and reduce pressure on higher-cost assets during routine air defense and tactical missions.

US Vice President JD Vance arrived in Armenia on Monday, before a scheduled trip to Azerbaijan, as Washington seeks to consolidate a peace process between the neighbors. Vance is the most senior US official to visit Armenia, where he is also expected to advance a flagship project to improve road and rail infrastructure in the region. His visit to Armenia — until recently a close Russia ally — comes as Moscow’s influence has dwindled in the region since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. At a White House summit in August 2025, US President Donald Trump brokered an agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan that saw the two countries commit to renouncing claims on each other’s territory and refrain from using force. The arch-foes have fought two wars over the Karabakh region in recent years. On Monday, Vance held talks with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and will head to Azerbaijan’s capital Baku on Tuesday. “We are not just making peace for Armenia. We are also creating real prosperity for Armenia and the United States together,” Vance told a news conference alongside Pashinyan. He announced a US drone technology sale to Armenia worth $11 million. Pashinyan called the visit “truly historic” and said he had “great hope” that President Donald Trump would “rightfully” receive the Nobel Peace Prize for mediating the Armenian-Azerbaijani peace process. The two also signed a civil nuclear energy agreement, which Pashinyan said “will open a new chapter in the deepening energy partnership between Armenia and the United States.”

During the Singapore Airshow on February 4, 2026, Leonardo announced a Letter of Intent with Indonesia’s Ministry of Defence and PT ESystem Solutions concerning the potential supply and support of M-346F Block 20 advanced training and light combat aircraft for the Indonesian Air Force. On February 4, 2026, the Italian company Leonardo signed a Letter of Intent with PT ESystem Solutions and the Indonesian Ministry of Defence covering potential supply, support, and industrial cooperation for the M-346F Block 20 aircraft for the Indonesian Air Force. The non-binding agreement supports Indonesia’s requirement for advanced jet training and light combat capability as part of its ongoing fighter and trainer fleet recapitalization. The announcement specifies that the aircraft is intended to meet both advanced training and light combat requirements, placing it directly within Indonesia’s ongoing fighter and trainer fleet recapitalization effort. The Letter of Intent does not constitute a procurement contract but defines the industrial, operational, and support framework required to move toward one. Indonesia would become the third Asian operator of a M-346 variant and the second operator of the Block 20 standard after Austria, which finalized a contract in December 2025 for 12 M-346FA Block 20 aircraft. The Indonesian Ministry of Defence selected the M-346 to address a combined requirement covering pilot training, lead-in fighter training, and limited operational combat tasks. This choice is explicitly linked to the replacement of aging British Hawk Mk 109 and Mk 209 advanced trainer aircraft, which entered Indonesian service from the late 1980s onward and remain in use for jet training and secondary attack roles. The Letter of Intent states that the parties will now move into the next phase of discussions with the stated objective of achieving a procurement contract signing soon. No aircraft quantity has been released, and the agreement does not define squadron assignments or basing. A central component of the Letter of Intent, however, is the localization of activities in Indonesia, including establishing domestic maintenance and overhaul capacity for the airframes and systems, training Indonesian technicians and instructors, and developing in-country training infrastructure. The announcement follows a major shift in Indonesia’s wider fighter planning. On February 3, 2026, Boeing confirmed that Indonesia’s planned acquisition of the F-15EX Eagle II would not proceed and was no longer an active campaign. Indonesia and Boeing had signed a Memorandum of Understanding on August 21, 2023, covering a possible sale of 24 aircraft, following earlier approval for up to 36 F-15EX.  

The German government plans to order strike drones worth 536 million euros ($638 million) from German startups Helsing and Stark Defence, part of a rearmament push after Russia's attack on Ukraine. The contracts for loitering munitions - drones that hover over a potential strike area before flying into targets - are part of a larger framework deal worth 4.3 billion euros. The contracts, outlined in documents seen by Reuters, are widely expected to be rubber-stamped by the lower house of parliament's budget committee. They were first reported by Spiegel magazine. The drones are initially intended to support Germany's 45th Tank Brigade, which is deployed in Lithuania. According to the documents, the contracts with the two companies are to have a term of seven years. The initial batch is scheduled to be delivered by early 2027.

Turkey has agreed to a $350-million defense cooperation package with Egypt that will expand military supply ties and establish joint defense production capacity in North Africa. The agreement was struck between Turkey’s state‑owned Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation (MKE) and Egypt’s Ministry of Defence during an official visit by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to Cairo to meet President Abdel Fattah el‑Sisi. Under the deal, MKE will export the Tolga short‑range air defense system to Egypt for $130 million, a platform designed to detect and defeat aerial threats including drones and low‑flying aircraft, according to a report by Business Insider Africa. In addition to arms exports, the pact calls for construction of a 155mm long‑range artillery ammunition factory in Egypt and production lines for 7.62mm and 12.7mm ammunition, with the remaining $220 million of the deal financing those industrial investments. Egypt and Turkey also agreed to establish a joint venture company to oversee the new facilities and to bolster Egypt’s potential as a regional military manufacturing hub, including exports across Africa and the Middle East.

Just months after announcing their procurement plans, all three NATO nations started taking delivery of Origin’s BLAZE interceptor systems in January. Origin Robotics, headquartered in Latvia, developed the system with a STANAG‑compliant warhead module and designed it for quick integration and NATO interoperability. Latvia began its order in early October 2025, while Belgium followed in November with a 50-million-euro ($59-million) allocation for counter‑drone systems. Estonia placed its order soon after. Deliveries are being made in batches, and all three countries are now in the initial stages of receiving and integrating the BLAZE systems into their defense networks. Origin says the autonomous interceptor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is operational upon delivery and ready for immediate use, a contrast with traditional procurement cycles that can stretch over multiple years. National evaluation teams — including Latvia’s Autonomous Systems Competence Center — will test and determine how best to integrate the BLAZE capability into existing air defense architectures. Autonomous Interceptor Drones Autonomous interceptor drones are unmanned aerial systems that use onboard sensors and artificial intelligence to autonomously detect, track, and engage other UAVs without requiring direct human control throughout an engagement. These systems contrast with traditional, manually piloted intercept approaches by making in‑flight decisions to counter drone threats in contested environments.

The U.S. Army is moving to rapidly acquire a wheeled 155 mm self-propelled howitzer to replace the M777 in Stryker Brigade Combat Teams, with a contract award targeted for July 2026. The effort reflects growing concern that towed artillery cannot survive in modern counter-battery environments, pushing the Army toward protected, shoot-and-scoot cannon systems. The U.S. Army is preparing to make a fast, consequential bet on cannon artillery mobility, moving to acquire a wheeled 155 mm self-propelled howitzer intended to replace the towed M777 in Stryker Brigade Combat Teams and set the conditions for broader adoption in mobile and infantry formations. What stands out is not just the requirement, but the pace: the Army is driving toward a July 2026 contract award, with prototype proposal documents expected to follow in rapid succession in late February and March, signaling a program built around near-term fielding rather than a long technology marathon. In large-scale combat operations, towed guns have become harder to keep alive. Counter-battery radars, loitering munitions, and persistent intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance compress the time window between firing and being targeted. The Army’s own background language stresses the need for enhanced mobility, survivability, sustainability, and long-range lethal cannon fires, explicitly framing MTC as a replacement pathway for select systems now in service. In practice, that translates into “shoot-and-scoot” as a baseline behavior, not a best-case drill, and it is why a protected, self-propelled platform is being pursued for formations that today rely on a gun that must be emplaced, laid, fired, and then manhandled back onto a prime mover.   The U.S. Army is narrowing the aperture around a wheeled chassis and a modern long barrel. The prototype request specifies a 155 mm class weapon with a caliber length between 49 and 56 calibers, a clear indicator that the service wants the ballistic headroom associated with 52-caliber systems and growth beyond legacy 39-caliber performance. Ammunition compatibility is not being treated as a paperwork exercise. Offerors are pressed to demonstrate interoperability with U.S. inventory rounds and fuzes, from workhorse M795 high-explosive projectiles and modular charges up through precision munitions like Excalibur and the Precision Guidance Kit, plus an explicit growth lane toward high-performance charges and developmental extended-range projectiles such as NGRAP and ERAP. Just as important, the Army wants credible crew protection against counter-battery artillery and kinetic threats during mobility operations, while keeping the vehicle compatible with JP-8 or F-24 fuels to avoid creating a boutique sustainment tail.