US Approves Aircraft Munition Sales to Norway and Belgium
The US State Department has approved a AIM-9X Block II/Block II+ sale for Belgian F-35A Lightning II fighters and a GBU-39B sale for Norwegian fighters.
AIM-9X News
Air
Weapon / Missile
Expo and Air Show
Weapon / Missile
Australian Army Tests Pickup-Launched AIM-9X Missiles
Australian MoD announced the firing test of AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles from a Hawkei 4x4 tactical wheeled vehicle as a new short-range air defence option.
Weapon / Missile
Leidos Prepares for Mass Production of IFPC Inc 2 Launchers
Leidos announced the mass production of Enduring Shield modular missile launchers as part of the U.S. Army’s Indirect Fires Protection Capability programme.
Weapon / Missile
USAF Revisits Air-to-Air Use of the APKWS II Guided Rockets
USAF F-16 fighter jets have started using AGR-20 APKWS II laser-guided rockets against Houthi UAVs to pull down engagement costs and deepen the magazines.
Air
Ammunition
Modernisation
New Turkish F-16 Plan Lowers the Budget
Turkiye cut F-16 procurement budgets without giving up on missiles and ammunition. The new plan without modernisation kits is limited to $7 billion.
Weapon / Missile
Netherlands Eyes NASAMS and NOMADS AD Systems
Kongsberg has announced that the Netherlands plans to acquire NASAMS medium-range and the new NOMADS short-range AD systems.
Weapon / Missile
The Netherlands Acquires AIM-9X Sidewinder Block II
The State Department approved a possible FMS to the Netherlands of AIM-9X Sidewinder Block II Missiles for an estimated cost of $691 million.
Weapon / Missile
Expo and Air Show
U.S. Army Eyes New Missile for Enduring Shield
AD System Brigadier General Frank Lozano stated that the service seeks a secondary missile for the upcoming Enduring Shield air defence system.
Weapon / Missile
Romania Acquires AIM-9X Sidewinder Block II
The State Department approved a possible FMS to Romania of AIM-9X Sidewinder Block II Missiles for an estimated cost of $340.8 million.
Navy / Maritime
Weapon / Missile
Unmanned Systems
Russian Helicopter Engages Ukrainian USV Carrying Missiles
Footage of a Russian Ka-29-armed helicopter engaging a Ukrainian USV carrying an R-73 infrared-guided air-to-air missile was shared on social media.
Weapon / Missile
Poland Acquires $3.679 billion worth missile from the U.S.
The U.S. approved Poland’s missile acquisition request for JASSM-ER, AIM-120C-8, and AIM-9X, which will cost $3.679 billion.
Weapon / Missile
AMRAAM-ER Air Defence Missile Completes Flight Test
Raytheon’s latest iteration of AMRAAM-ER medium-range air defence missile for the NASAMS system has completed its flight test.
Weapon / Missile
U.S. Sells SM-6 Blk I and AIM-9X Block II+ to ROK
The U.S. approved a possible FMS to the Republic of Korea of Standard Missile 6 Block I (SM-6 Blk I) and AIM-9X Block II and Block II+ Sidewinder Missiles.
Homeland Security
US Analysts: China Uses Balloons to Test EMP Attack
USAF has recently shot down two aerial platforms in the sky. Each time an F-22 fired an AIM-9X Sidewinder to hit the target.
Weapon / Missile
Bilateral Relations
The Netherlands to Acquire AIM-9x Block II Missiles
The U.S. State Department approved FMS to the Netherlands of AIM-9X Block II Missiles for an estimated cost of $117 million.
Navy / Maritime
Ammunition
Expo and Air Show
G.A. Unveils MQ-9B STOL UAV
GA-ASI unveiled a new MQ-9B UAV variant at INDO PACIFIC 2022 expo in Australia; The MQ-9B STOL designed to operate from amphibious vessel decks.
Global Defence Trend Brief
- 09:00 NATO pushes allies to fill US air and naval capability gaps - Washington is pressing European allies and Canada to provide more manned and unmanned aircraft plus...
- 09:00 AI-driven drone swarms rise as a new NATO planning priority - NATO officials are warning that AI-enabled drone swarms could reshape warfare within five years, pus...
- 09:00 Counter-drone demand expands beyond battlefields into critical infrastructure - Growing drone incursions around airports, ports, oil facilities and data centres are accelerating de...
- 09:00 Europe’s loyal wingman race becomes a core airpower trend - Collaborative combat aircraft took centre stage at Berlin Airshow 2026 as European companies and air...
- 09:00 Ukraine’s drone combat know-how is becoming an export asset in Asia - Ukrainian drone firms are marketing battlefield-proven systems and swarm concepts in Japan, Taiwan a...
- 09:00 NATO accelerates live testing of counter-drone technologies - Alliance members and industry partners are expanding field trials of drone detection and interceptio...
- 09:00 Hypersonic threats keep driving demand for persistent tracking networks - The spread of hypersonic weapons continues to push Western defence planners toward integrated radar...
- 09:00 Military space resilience shifts toward larger distributed constellations - Armed forces are increasingly favouring proliferated satellite constellations over a small number of...
- 09:00 Autonomous maritime systems gain importance in surveillance and strike planning - Navies are broadening interest in autonomous surface and underwater systems for persistent ISR, infr...
- 09:00 Industrial surge capacity is becoming a decisive defence metric - Across missiles, drones and air defence, governments are placing more weight on production scalabili...
