EXCLUSIVE: A U.S. Air Force investigation of a fatal fighter jet crash in 2020 quietly discovered that key components of the pilot’s ejection seat may have been counterfeit. Now his widow is suing Lockheed Martin, Collins Aerospace and Teledyne Defense Electronics. airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-…

Swiss defense leaders today signed the acquisition contract for 36 F-35A aircraft, the government just announced. The 6B euro contract should see F-35s delivered between 2027-2030. This deal hasn't been without drama, I wrote about it recently here: defensenews.com/global/europe/…

28 out of 30 Allies have now ratified Finnish NATO accession protocols. Latest: Slovakia. 🇸🇰🇫🇮

NEW: China has recruited dozens of former British military pilots to teach the Chinese armed forces how to defeat western warplanes & helicopters in a “threat to UK interests”, officials have revealed. 1/

JUST IN: Germany's cybersecurity chief Arne Schönbohm has been sacked following media reports that he had possible contacts involved in Russia's security services.

In the past few years, the DoD has revamped its space acquisition processes, embracing commercial capabilities. Despite growing pains, observers say the new processes are here to stay. Story by Vivienne Machi interactive.satellitetoday.com/via/april-2023…

In this month's cover story, Vivienne Machi examines the bottleneck in the launch market. Read Via Satellite's June edition here:

US has invested in next generation #helicopters, Europe has important decisions to make and waiting too long will be damaging. My two cents in the Tom Kington Vivienne Machi analysis for #DefenceNews: defensenews.com/air/2023/06/12… Istituto Affari Internazionali - IAI Michelangelo Freyrie Alessandro R. Ungaro Andrea Gilli Karolina Muti

My latest for Defense News with Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo, ahead of the Salon du Bourget next week: defensenews.com/air/2023/06/16…

BREAKING from the Paris Air Show: France confirms Belgian has joined the trinational Future Combat Aircraft System (FCAS) program as an observer nation:

For more details, read Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo and my story from Friday about what that actually means for Belgium, and the program as a whole: defensenews.com/air/2023/06/16…

My latest from the Paris Air Show this week:

🧵Latest w/ Vivienne Machi: #Greece's selection of Safran’s Patroller drones puts into perspective Athens’ balancing act between recent efforts to support its local drone industry and a remaining dependency on foreign suppliers for such systems. defensenews.com/unmanned/2023/…

🧵Latest w/ Vivienne Machi: On the sidelines of the PAS, officials met to discuss Europe's proposals for developing new air/missile defense systems, where Macron argued against Berlin-led Sky Shield effort that would combine European & non-European firms defensenews.com/global/europe/…

For decades, the mention of space-faring nations brought to mind major players like the U.S., Russia, China. But that dynamic is shifting. Now, countries with little to no satellite infrastructure are procuring sovereign systems. Story by Vivienne Machi interactive.satellitetoday.com/via/july-2023/…

Latest with Vivienne Machi: Elbit Systems’ partnership with KNDS to jointly produce a European artillery kit could challenge Lockheed Martin and Rheinmetall’s proposal of replacing #Germany’s aging rocket launchers with the “GMARS” system. defensenews.com/land/2023/09/1…

~personal news~ As of this week, I'm no longer a Europe correspondent for Defense News/a Europe-based freelancer writ large. We're now packing up our apartment, ready to move to Los Angeles for my partner's next assignment. As you can see by the pics below, it's been real!

Space operators should brace themselves for tight fiscal constraints & reduced budgets in 2024 & beyond. Service leaders, including Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall and Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space Acquisition and Integration Frank Calvelli, have called for

ULA’s Plans To Meet Vulcan Launch Demands | Aviation Week Network read Vivienne Machi in her first The Debrief

This extremely cool image was first published in my deep dive on the X-37B, an exclusive for Aviation Week, currently ungated: aviationweek.com/space/budget-p…