A shipment of ammunition for the HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems is expected to arrive in Estonia shortly. Hanno Pevkur, the country’s Minister of Defense, announced this, according to ERR. Estonian specialists are currently in the United States, where they are preparing the rockets for shipment. The transport of the ammunition to Estonia is expected to begin immediately after all procedures are completed, and the shipment could arrive as early as September. The Estonian State Defense Investment Center signed the contract for the supply of HIMARS and their missiles in late 2022. Estonia ordered munitions with a range of both 70 km (GMLRS) and 300 km (ATACMS ballistic missiles). According to Pevkur, the U.S. is currently not transferring long-range missiles with a 300-km range to its allies due to the situation surrounding the war with Iran. In April 2025, all six rocket launchers from the first contract arrived in Estonia.

Ukraine’s Navy says its armed Sargan 3000 unmanned surface vessel destroyed a Russian unmanned boat in the Black Sea, in what Kyiv describes as the first naval engagement fought between opposing USVs. The clash signals a shift in maritime drone warfare, with unmanned vessels moving beyond reconnaissance and one-way attack missions toward actively hunting and defeating enemy systems. The Ukrainian Sargan 3000 reportedly used a 12.7 mm Protector remote weapon station to engage the Russian craft, demonstrating that armed USVs can perform direct combat missions at sea. The capability could expand autonomous maritime operations by giving naval drones a role in patrol, interception, force protection, and counter-drone warfare. The Ukrainian Navy announced the operation on September 12, 2026, saying units of Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence Directorate, or HUR, first detected the Russian unmanned boat before the Sargan 3000 attacked it. The Navy released video of the engagement but did not identify the Russian USV (Unmanned Surface Vessel) or disclose the precise location in the Black Sea, and the claim has not been independently verified. The encounter matters because it suggests the increasingly dense unmanned environment over the Black Sea is creating a new mission requirement: counter-USV combat. Ukrainian maritime drones became prominent as relatively inexpensive weapons for attacking Russian warships, naval facilities, and maritime logistics, but an armed Sargan 3000 engaging another unmanned boat points toward a broader role in which USVs can patrol, intercept, and defend maritime areas against other robotic vessels. Instead of relying exclusively on an explosive payload and terminal collision, an armed USV can potentially conduct repeated engagements while remaining available for additional missions, provided its sensors, communications, and fire-control architecture can detect, track, and accurately engage a moving target from a moving hull. The 12.7 mm Protector remote weapon station is central to that transition because remotely controlled machine-gun fire at sea presents a considerably different fire-control problem from engaging a stationary target. Both the weapon and target can move simultaneously in pitch, roll, and yaw, while waves can intermittently mask a small USV and complicate target tracking. Effective counter-USV employment therefore depends not simply on mounting a heavy machine gun, but on stabilized electro-optical sensors, reliable tracking, low-latency communications and sufficient weapon stabilization to generate hits against a maneuvering surface contact. Video released with the Ukrainian Navy statement appears to show the Sargan firing bursts toward the opposing craft before the target is destroyed, although the available material does not establish the engagement range, number of rounds fired, sea state, targeting method, or whether the Russian boat attempted evasive maneuvers.

UAE’s state enterprise EDGE Group has finalized the delivery of six ANAVIA HT-100 Naval rotary-wing unmanned aerial systems (UAS) to the Angolan Navy. The handover compounds a broader 2023 deal worth 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) to supply Luanda with three corvettes modeled after Abu Dhabi’s Baynunah-class vessel. Upon commissioning, two aircraft will be stationed on each of the incoming warships, extending the fleet’s maritime surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities. Reflecting ‘International Confidence’ The shipment follows a series of evaluations to confirm the HT-100’s functions, a part of which involved the aircraft’s maiden flight. It concluded with Factory Acceptance Trials at EDGE Group’s ANAVIA facility in Bilten, Switzerland, where the helicopter drone was demonstrated for the Angolan Navy and Simportex, the Central African nation’s arm for defense and security materiel acquisitions. Following those tests, the UAS will undergo integration aboard Baynunah-class corvettes as the program closes in on operational deployment. The HT-100 System EDGE’s HT-100 combines electro-optical/infrared sensors, flight control redundancy, first-person-view cameras, and signal-denied flight operability. The aircraft measures 3 meters (10 feet) long, has a wing diameter of 4 meters (13 feet), a takeoff weight of 120 kilograms (265 pounds), and a payload capacity of 60 kilograms (132 pounds). It features a shaft turbine and a Flettner double rotor powered by jet fuel, with a tank capacity of up to 60 liters (16 gallons). The UAS flies up to 65 knots (120 kilometers/75 miles per hour), reaches an altitude of 4,000 meters (13,123 feet), and has endurance of six hours.

The US government has signed a $4-billion Foreign Military Financing (FMF) loan guarantee agreement with Poland to support military purchases. This is the sixth FMF loan agreement between the two countries, bringing the total credit obtained by Poland under the program to nearly $20 billion. Poland has used FMF funds to finance US military equipment, including Barbara reconnaissance aerostats, or tethered surveillance balloons, and Apache attack helicopters. The funds have also supported the modernization of F-16 fighter jets and the Wisła air and missile defense system, which includes Patriot systems. Polish Deputy Minister of National Defense Paweł Bejda said the new funds would be used to purchase “very heavy transport helicopters.” He said the helicopters could have dual-purpose applications, including evacuating people during floods and fighting fires. Poland’s Military Spending Spree The signing follows recent US-Poland defense cooperation milestones, including the May 2026 delivery of F-35 aircraft. Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Poland has ordered tens of billions of dollars’ worth of defense equipment, including US-made F-35s, Patriot air defense systems, and Abrams tanks. Separately, Warsaw has signed a loan agreement with the European Commission under the Security Action for Europe program, under which it will receive nearly 44 billion euros ($52 billion) to modernize its military and defense industry.

The U.S. Air Force has officially designated General Atomics’ FQ-42 Vengeance and Anduril Industries’ FQ-44 Fury as its first Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA), with U.S. Air Force Secretary Troy Meink confirming on September 14, 2026, plans to field 500 CCAs by 2032 within a longer-term objective of roughly 1,000 combat-ready, semi-autonomous unmanned aircraft. The move sets a clear path to adding large numbers of uncrewed aircraft alongside F-35s and the future F-47, increasing combat mass while reducing crewed fighters' exposure in high-threat missions. The FQ-42 and FQ-44 are designed to add sensing, weapons, electronic warfare, and mission-support capacity without requiring another pilot in the formation. Their introduction marks a major shift toward human-machine teaming, where scalable unmanned fleets can strengthen survivability, firepower, and operational flexibility in contested airspace. The September 14, 2026 announcement significantly sharpens the scale of the CCA (Collaborative Combat Aircraft) program. On June 17, 2026, the U.S. Air Force awarded engineering, manufacturing, development, and production contracts to General Atomics for the FQ-42 and Anduril for the FQ-44, with more than 150 combat-capable CCAs planned by the end of the decade. Meink’s confirmation that the U.S. Air Force intends to have 500 unmanned aircraft by 2032 means production will have to expand rapidly after the initial tranche, moving human-machine teaming from developmental testing toward a force structure measured in hundreds of combat-ready unmanned aircraft. Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) are semi-autonomous unmanned combat aircraft designed to operate alongside crewed fighters such as the F-35 and future F-47 rather than replace them. Using artificial intelligence and mission-autonomy software, CCAs such as the FQ-42 Vengeance and FQ-44 Fury are intended to perform assigned tasks with limited direct pilot control, potentially carrying sensors and air-to-air weapons, extending reconnaissance and targeting coverage, and operating farther into contested airspace. By distributing these capabilities across large numbers of lower-cost unmanned aircraft, the U.S. Air Force aims to increase combat mass, extend the reach and survivability of crewed fighters, and complicate an adversary’s ability to detect, prioritize, and engage U.S. formations.  

French AASM Hammer precision-guided aerial bombs equipped with rocket motors are being integrated onto Gripen fighter aircraft intended for Ukraine. French Aid to Europe reported on this, citing a publication by Le Figaro. French and Swedish specialists will carry out the integration, primarily Saab, the manufacturer of the Gripen fighter, and the French company Safran, which produces AASM Hammer bombs. Adapting the AASM Hammer for the Gripen will allow the new Western fighter aircraft to employ a munition already in operational use by Ukraine, without the need to develop a separate air-launched weapon. This requires ensuring compatibility between the bomb and the aircraft’s weapon stations, weapon management systems, and target-data transfer interfaces. The integration of AASM Hammer will mark an important step in expanding the weapon portfolio available to the Gripen fighter jet, which has previously had limited strike capabilities. France previously positioned the AASM Hammer primarily as a weapon for its Rafale fighter aircraft, and its employment has been closely associated with that platform. Ukrainian military personnel are already using AASM Hammer bombs. These munitions were previously adapted for deployment from MiG-29 fighter aircraft and later from Su-25 attack aircraft.  

The operation includes Mission Master SP autonomous terrestrial systems and kits so that they can operate in marine environments The U.S. subsidiary of leading German defense company Rheinmetall, called American Rheinmetall, has been awarded a $7.28 million contract to supply the Marine Corps with a dozen Mission Master SP unmanned autonomous ground vehicles (A-UGVs), associated marine kits to facilitate their use as amphibious vehicles and support equipment. This procurement is made through the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), with the U.S. firm ADS acting as prime contractor in support of the U.S. Marine Corps War Laboratory (MCWL). The works, led from the United States by American Rheinmetall, have the support of Rheinmetall Canada, which acts as a technical partner of this platform of which it is the original manufacturer and technical development center. The configuration of the vehicles ordered for the Marines is the most advanced of the Mission Masters developed so far by Rheinmetall. These vehicles will be evaluated for operability, experimentation, and "ongoing capability development as the Marine Corps expands its autonomous logistics and expeditionary mobility initiatives," according to the manufacturer. American Rheinmetall CEO Matt Warnick stresses that they have been working "side-by-side with the Marines for more than four years to mature, refine, and improve autonomous ground capabilities." The Mission Master SP vehicle, he notes, "captures the full breadth of those lessons learned."  

The US State Department has approved a $140-million foreign military sale of four Sikorsky UH-60L Black Hawk helicopters and ancillary equipment to Argentina. The package includes two T700-GE-701D engines, communication and navigation systems, rescue hoists, and logistical support. Buenos Aires also requested training equipment, sustainment, and spares for the aircraft. Sources project the package to be distributed to the Argentine Army, which announced an effort to replace its aging Bell UH-1H and Huey II fleet in 2024. Washington highlighted that the potential acquisition will reinforce the South American country’s capability to manage border security, counter-transnational crime, and execute humanitarian and disaster-response operations. The transaction requires no additional US government or contractor representatives to deploy to Argentina. Officials confirmed it will not impact the defense readiness of the US Armed Forces.

The French defense procurement agency has awarded Safran Electronics & Defense and MBDA a contract to deliver their Thundart long-range land-strike system. Selected among several domestic contenders, the system will replace France’s Unitary Rocket Launcher (LRU), a version of the M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System. Around nine LRUs are currently operational and are scheduled to be replaced with Thundart by 2030. To manage the program, Safran and MBDA will establish a joint venture in Paris in January 2027. The venture will support the development, production, and in-service support of Thundart, as well as its future adaptation for other environments and allied export markets. “Faced with the critical challenges of jamming and access denial of GNSS signals, Safran Electronics & Defense brings its proven leadership in inertial navigation and optronics technologies to guarantee accuracy in all circumstances,” Director of the Global Business Unit for Defense at Safran Electronics & Defense Alexandre Ziegler said. Thundart Thundart is designed to extend France’s long-range strike capability to 150 kilometers (93 miles), while offering greater firepower and saturation capability, cross-country mobility, and improved survivability in contested environments. In comparison, the existing LRU has an operational range of around 80 kilometers (50 miles). The system uses hybrid Inertial Navigation System/Global Navigation Satellite System (INS/GNSS) guidance with resilient positioning, allowing it to engage static and moving targets in jammed or GNSS-denied conditions. Its launcher carries two pods of four guided rockets and supports rapid “shoot-and-scoot” operations. Thundart is also designed to integrate with existing C3I (Command, Control, Communications, and Intelligence), including the French Army’s ATLAS fire-control system.

Deliveries to the different units of the Mexican Army will be completed over the next few months The Second Activity Report 2025-2026 of the Ministry of National Defense states that on February 20, 2026, a contract was formalized for the acquisition of 1,200 multipurpose non-armored tactical vehicles, as part of the project to replace Humvee vehicles with more than 15 years of service. The new vehicles, called Holkan, are a development of the General Directorate of Military Industry and were presented on February 19, 2026, during the ceremony for the 113th anniversary of the Mexican Army, held at the La Celular venue, in Oriental, Puebla state, where the military industry is headquartered. The programme, developed jointly with the Directorate General of Military Transport, includes the incorporation of 1,200 multipurpose light tactical vehicles to progressively replace the Humvees. The objective is to provide the territorial commands with a platform for the transport of personnel for operations and reconnaissance missions in different geographical environments and urban areas, with the capacity to transport up to 12 occupants. German chassis and Mexican bodywork Among its main features is a Mercedes-Benz diesel engine with a power of 222 HP, eight-speed manual or automatic transmission, 4x4 traction and a load capacity of 4 tons. The vehicle also has a 145-litre fuel tank and an air brake system with ABS. The Holkan will have a chassis of German origin and a Mexican-made body. The Mercedes-Benz Special Trucks FGA 9.5 off-road specialized chassis has been selected for the platform, designed for vehicles intended for troop transport and tactical operations. This chassis, derived from the Unimog family, is designed to serve as a base for tactical vehicles and features gantry axles, thrust tubes and coil springs to enhance its off-road mobility capabilities.