On October 13, 2026, the U.S. Navy awarded Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) Newport News Shipbuilding a $56 million contract for engineering and design work supporting the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine program with the United Kingdom and Australia. The award includes a $35 million option that could raise its total potential value to $91 million, with 88% of execution taking place in Virginia through September 2027. This agreement provides essential Foreign Military Sales support to Australia and the United Kingdom while funding U.S. industry support engineering to accelerate technical integration across the trilateral enterprise. Read full defense news at this link... The future SSN-AUKUS nuclear submarine, jointly developed by Britain, Australia, and the United States, is intended for anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, intelligence collection, surveillance, and conventional land-attack missions. (Picture source: BAE Systems) Read more... from World Defence News ...
China has unveiled the YJ-9ER extended-range air-launched anti-ship missile, reportedly doubling the engagement distance of its existing YJ-9 weapon system to strengthen the People's Liberation Army's ability to strike small, fast-moving surface warships, including Taiwan's Tuo Chiang-class missile corvettes. The upgraded missile is reported to reach 30 km when launched from helicopters and 60 km from fixed-wing aircraft, compared with 15 km and 30 km, respectively, for the earlier version. Read full Naval Defense News at this link … Illustrative image of a Taiwan Tuo Chiang-class missile corvette at sea, with an inset showing a YJ-9 family anti-ship missile. China’s newly unveiled YJ-9ER is reported to double the engagement range of the earlier weapon, potentially increasing the threat to fast, missile-armed surface combatants operating around Taiwan. (Picture source: Army Recognition / AI-generated image) Read More from World Defence News https://ift.tt/jteuz04 via IFT...