Sponsored by Galvion
www.galvion.com
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22 Apr 26. Lockheed Martin UK announced that, in collaboration with Indra, MBDA, and Leonardo, we have been down selected for Concept Study 2 (Modularity) by the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA), following our successful work in Concept Study 1 (System Architecture).
This collaboration brings together deep European expertise to provide NATO with innovative, practical, and operationally ready solutions for next-generation Ground Based Air Defence (GBAD). The combined expertise of our team ensures interoperability, cost-effectiveness, and future-ready capabilities aligned to the evolving NATO threat environment.
Key highlights:
- Sustaining momentum on NATO Modular GBAD requirements through Concept Study 2 and beyond.
- Leveraging decades of GBAD expertise to deliver operationally relevant solutions informed by real-world NATO missions.
- A multi-company, European approach that accelerates innovation while ensuring seamless integration and interoperability.
Mark Langley, Head of Complex Systems at Lockheed Martin UK Ampthill, notes: “NATO requires solutions that work seamlessly across allied nation systems. A multi-company approach ensures interoperability is built in from the start “This collaboration enables us to help shape NATO’s future Ground Based Air Defence (GBAD) requirements with a truly European solution. By combining Lockheed Martin’s multi-domain integration expertise with the skills and expertise across Indra, Leonardo, and MBDA, we can deliver a tailored, cost-effective, and future-ready GBAD capability.”
For full details, please see the news release pasted below.
21 Apr 26. Destinus achieves key milestone in next-generation long-range strike capability. Amsterdam, Netherlands – Destinus announces the successful completion of a landmark flight test of its precision deep-strike system, Ruta Block 2. The test validates the next-generation of launch architecture and confirms the performance of two critical enabling technologies: an in-line booster configuration and foldable wings and control surfaces. Onboard footage confirmed successful in-flight wing deployment during the launch-and-transition sequence. As European governments urgently reassess their defenсe posture and long-range strike requirements, Ruta Block 2’s architecture directly addresses the pressing operational challenge of rapidly, flexibly, and at scale deploying powerful, precision-strike systems across diverse conflict environments. Ruta Block 2’s compact design unlocks a new approach to long-range strike deployment. Where previous generation systems required open-platform launchers and pre-attached wings, Ruta Block 2 can be transported, stored, and launched from sealed, containerized modules.
This translates directly into faster deployment timelines, reduced logistical footprint, and the ability to operate from a broader range of platforms. The significance of this test is best understood in the context of the evolution from Ruta Block 1 to Ruta Block 2. Ruta Block 2 builds on the operational credibility already established by its predecessor, Ruta Block 1, providing Destinus with real-world performance data and industrial knowledge. Ruta Block 2 advances this proven foundation by enabling broader launcher compatibility and more scalable deployment for long-range strike systems. The architectural shift is a deliberate redesign that expands where and how quickly this capability can be deployed. Ruta Block 1 has already demonstrated operational relevance and reached serial production at a meaningful scale. Its current architecture uses wings attached before launch, two side-mounted boosters, and launch from an open platform. Tim Moser, Chief Technology Officer of Destinus, commented: “This test validates Ruta Block 2 and marks the transition from the current launch architecture toward a system designed for more flexible deployment and scalable long-range strikes. A more compact launch architecture improves transport, storage, packaging density, and integration flexibility across mobile ground, fixed-site, and maritime platforms. It also supports broader launcher compatibility and more scalable deployment concepts for long-range strike systems. “The successful test also underscores the strategic value of Destinus’ vertically integrated industrial model. Key subsystems were developed and manufactured in-house, enabling the industrial scaling that defence customers increasingly demand. As European governments prioritize sovereign capability and supply chain resilience, Destinus’ model offers a secure, independent path to cutting-edge long-range precision strikes.” Video footage is available via the following link: https://www.destinus.com/post/destinus-validates-key launch-architecture-for-ruta-block-2 About Destinus Destinus is a European defenсe technology company focused on scalable strike and interception systems. The company develops and manufactures cruise missile systems, guided rocket systems, interceptor platforms, and turbojet engines, combining autonomy, system integration, and industrial-scale production. Destinus operates across multiple European countries and is focused on delivering cost asymmetric, mass-producible systems for high-intensity conflict environments.
21 Apr 26. US Army Contracting Command Accelerates Hypersonic Weapon Fielding.
Speed defines the Army’s long-range hypersonic weapon, Dark Eagle. But long before the system moves at hypersonic velocity, precision behind the scenes makes that speed possible.
U.S. Army Contracting Command Redstone Arsenal awarded a $2.7 billion production contract March 31, supporting Dark Eagle, marking a major milestone achieved ahead of an accelerated fiscal year 2026 fielding timeline.
Getting there was anything but routine.
At the command, a six-person team of contracting and pricing professionals played a central role in navigating a compressed schedule, evolving requirements and complex negotiations to support one of the Army’s top modernization priorities.
“This acquisition was different from a typical contract because it was a joint effort between the Army and Navy, and combined both research and development and production under a single effort,” said Paul Daugherty, command contracting officer. “The accelerated timeline compressed proposal reviews, revisions and contractor counterproposals, requiring the team to develop alternative approaches quickly while maintaining acquisition standards.”
Dark Eagle represents a significant leap in capability in a complex War Department effort requiring close coordination across development, testing and production.
To meet an aggressive goal of awarding the contract by the end of the second quarter of fiscal year 2026, the command adjusted its approach by engaging with partners early and working through challenges as they emerged.
The milestone reflects a synchronized effort across contracting centers, program executive offices and industry partners, with ACC-Redstone Arsenal at the center of executing the acquisition strategy.
“This effort marked a significant milestone as the first production contract for the common hypersonic glide body program, transitioning from an to a part 15 contract,” said Eric Blystone, command pricing branch chief. “With limited historical cost data available, the team coordinated closely with partners, including and , to conduct detailed analysis and support a fair and reasonable outcome for the government.”
The effort shows how disciplined execution and early alignment can accelerate complex acquisition programs while maintaining standards.
“This development and production contract provides the Army and Navy the ability to achieve optimized pricing across base and option years, allowing the government to buy to budget while maximizing every taxpayer dollar,” said Vince Dickens, command branch chief of hypersonic missile and counter-unmanned aerial systems. “The close partnership across contracting, pricing and stakeholders was critical to delivering a successful outcome for the warfighter.” (Source: U.S. DoD)
22 Apr 26. Tiberius Aerospace achieves world-first in artillery: liquid-fuelled ramjet ignition successfully achieved from a NATO-standard 155mm howitzer.
Tiberius Aerospace, a modern defence technology company built to empower the UK, US and their global allies with next-generation weapon systems and AI-powered solutions, has successfully demonstrated, for the first time, that a liquid-fuelled ramjet projectile can be launched from a NATO standard 155mm howitzer, achieve ramjet ignition and perform as intended in flight. This liquid fuel breakthrough, achieved during recent test firings of its Sceptre system in New Mexico, represents a fundamental shift in what artillery systems are capable of delivering on the modern battlefield.
Sceptre is a 155mm precision-guided munition designed for full compatibility with existing NATO-standard artillery systems. The latest round of testing confirmed that it can reach ranges of up to 150 kilometres, travel at speeds of approximately Mach 3.5 and operate at altitudes exceeding 65,000 feet beyond typical jamming range. It delivers a 5.2kg payload with a circular error probability (CEP) of less than 5 metres, even in GPS-contested environments, and requires no modifications to current artillery platforms. The system is designed with a modular, open architecture that allows for continuous upgrades and uses widely available fuels such as diesel variants (JP-4 and JP-8), reducing the logistical burden associated with deployment.
A critical milestone in these trials was the successful ignition of the liquid-fuelled ramjet following exposure to launch forces of approximately 18,000 g, alongside the validation of stable flight dynamics, controlled rotation and the effective deployment of in-flight stabilisation systems. Together, these results demonstrate that the technology is not only viable in theory but can function reliably in operationally relevant conditions. In practical terms, this successful test firing shows that it is now possible to combine the long range and speed typically associated with missile systems with significant cost savings, flexibility and the deployability of traditional artillery. This creates a new category of capability that sits between conventional artillery and high-end missile systems, addressing a long-standing gap in military capability.
While missile systems provide range and accuracy, they remain expensive and constrained in supply. Conventional artillery, by contrast, is scalable and cost-effective but limited in range and capability. Sceptre bridges this gap by offering missile-like performance while retaining the production advantages and flexibility of artillery systems. When enabled by Tiberius Aerospace’s AI-powered GRAIL platform, Sceptre has the potential to materially increase the volume of precision firepower available to allied forces, reduce reliance on high-cost missile inventories and enable faster, more scalable production at a time when industrial capacity is under strain. Crucially, the system is designed to support licensed domestic manufacturing, enabling allied nations to produce Sceptre within their own industrial base, strengthening sovereign capability, shortening supply chains and accelerating time to field. It also supports a shift towards more resilient, sovereign and distributed manufacturing models across allied defence ecosystems.
Chad Steelberg, Founder and CEO of Tiberius Aerospace, said: “This is a genuine world first breakthrough. These tests prove not only the technology, but a new way of delivering capability at pace, at scale and at significantly lower cost. Having successfully proved our design and engineering methodologies, we now need to move to much larger ranges to deliver the next phase of testing, validation and certification. Sceptre is an ambitious and complex project, but these successful US test firing results prove we are quickly advancing along the right trajectory.”
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About Galvion:
Galvion designs, develops, and delivers mission critical head, face, and torso protective solutions as well as intelligent power and data management systems for the world’s most demanding military and tactical teams. Founded in 2002 as Revision Military, a foundational belief in calculated investment and capability expansion led to a strategic refocus, resulting in the divestiture of the protective eyewear business, along with the Revision name, in 2019. Rebranded as Galvion, the company’s products and technology continue to evolve beyond purely passive protection, focusing instead on active systems that enhance performance and survivability, with an eye to the ever-changing demands of the modern battlefield. Through advanced design, keen end-user insight and intelligent integration, Galvion engineers uniquely customized solutions that go beyond what was once thought possible.
Privately owned with ISO 9001:2015 certified facilities in Vermont, Massachusetts and New Hampshire in the US, Montreal in Canada and Bristol in the UK, Galvion’s team of 400+ employees work proactively to solve the problems left unsolved by others.
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