🎯 “American Shahed”: Griffon’s Low-Cost Kamikaze Strike Drone Pitches Massed One-Way Attack Capacity

📬 In Today’s Defense Brief

💥 U.S. Navy Super Hornet and MH-60R Sea Hawk From USS Nimitz Crash in South China Sea — All Crew Recovered Safely — Read More

⚔️ Türkiye Fields ALPAGU, a Backpackable Loitering Munition for Single-Soldier Use — Read More

🎯 “American Shahed”: Griffon’s Low-Cost Kamikaze Strike Drone Pitches Massed One-Way Attack Capacity — Read More

🚀 Castelion Wins First Integration Contracts for ‘Blackbeard’ Hypersonic Strike Weapon — Read More

🛰️ China’s New ‘Hunter’ Drone Shows Twin-Missile Loadout for Popup Ambushes — Read More

🎱 Plus 8 other news stories you may like

📰 Full Breakdown

💥 U.S. Navy Super Hornet and MH-60R Sea Hawk From USS Nimitz Crash in South China Sea — All Crew Recovered Safely — Read More

• An F/A-18F Super Hornet and an MH-60R Sea Hawk, both assigned to USS Nimitz, went down in separate incidents over the South China Sea within roughly 30 minutes, according to USNI News and U.S. Pacific Fleet statements. All five crew members from both aircraft were recovered and are in stable condition.

• The Navy says both aircraft were conducting routine operations. Investigations are underway; early statements have not identified weather, mechanical failure, or adversary action as the cause. Leadership emphasized there were no fatalities.

• The mishaps come as Nimitz, the Navy’s oldest active carrier, is nearing decommissioning after deployments from the Middle East to the Indo-Pacific. Recent Super Hornet losses across the fleet have raised scrutiny on sustainment and flight safety during high-tempo deterrence patrols near China.

⚔️ Türkiye Fields ALPAGU, a Backpackable Loitering Munition for Single-Soldier Use — Read More

• Turkish defense firm STM has delivered the ALPAGU fixed-wing loitering munition into national service, confirming that the under-2 kg, tube-launched “kamikaze UAV” is now operational with Turkish security forces. The system is designed to be carried and employed by a single soldier.

• ALPAGU can autonomously navigate, visually track a designated target, and execute a one-way precision strike at standoff distance. Reported performance includes roughly 8 km reach and ~15 minutes of endurance, enabling dismounted teams to prosecute point targets without calling in artillery or air.

• STM positions ALPAGU as part of a broader family of tactical attack and ISR micro-UAVs (alongside KARGU and others), arguing that indigenous loitering munitions give Türkiye sovereign strike options in contested, GPS-limited urban fights.

🎯 “American Shahed”: Griffon’s Low-Cost Kamikaze Strike Drone Pitches Massed One-Way Attack Capacity — Read More

• Griffon Aerospace is converting its MQM-172 Arrowhead target drone into a low-cost, one-way strike weapon, pitching a U.S.-made alternative to attritable “Shahed-style” attack drones. The company is marketing the design to U.S. forces for high-volume, disposable deep strike.

• By weaponizing an existing target drone airframe, Griffon aims to cut unit cost and accelerate production, arguing that affordability at scale — not exquisite survivability — is what matters against fixed infrastructure, air defenses, and armor.

• The push reflects a doctrinal shift toward arsenals of expendable UAVs: instead of a handful of exquisite cruise missiles, commanders field swarms of cheap guided munitions that can overwhelm defenses or force an enemy to waste expensive interceptors.

🚀 Castelion Wins First Integration Contracts for ‘Blackbeard’ Hypersonic Strike Weapon — Read More

• Defense startup Castelion announced it has received “multiple awards” to integrate its Blackbeard hypersonic strike weapon onto operational U.S. Army and Navy platforms — the company’s first platform-integration contracts. The Pentagon budgeted $25M for Blackbeard development in FY26.

• Blackbeard is pitched as an affordable, long-range hypersonic weapon, aiming to collapse traditional timelines and costs for boost-glide or air-breathing hypersonics. Castelion says it’s targeting near-term live-fire tests to prove deterrent value.

• Winning Army and Navy integration work this early signals that services are shopping for rapid-turn, lower-cost hypersonics rather than waiting on decade-long flagship programs — a notable opening for venture-backed entrants in strategic strike.

🛰️ China’s New ‘Hunter’ Drone Shows Twin-Missile Loadout for Popup Ambushes — Read More

• Imagery of China’s new “Hunter” tactical drone shows a compact airframe carrying a paired missile loadout under the fuselage, suggesting a short-notice ambush or pop-up anti-armor/anti-ship strike role. The profile aligns with PLA trends toward armed scout drones organic to maneuver units.

• The configuration hints at autonomous or semi-autonomous hunter-killer employment: find, quickly present, shoot, and reposition before counter-fire. Western analysts view this as China iterating on loitering-munition doctrine at the platoon/company level.

• The rollout tracks with a broader global race to arm small unmanned systems with heavier effects — from tube-launched loitering munitions to micro-attack UAVs — blurring the line between “recon drone” and “missile team.”

🌏 Other Important News

✈️ Air & Naval Ops

• USS Gerald R. Ford Conducts High-Profile South America Cruise Amid Regional Diplomacy Push — Read More

• Narco-Submarines Emerge as Key Nodes in Global Drug Trafficking Networks — Read More

🛰️ Space

• Avio Expands to U.S. Market With $400M Move as Leonardo Exits Italian Space Sector — Read More

• Defense Firms See ‘Cautious Optimism’ as Prototype Programs Drive New Demand — Read More

🛡️ Policy

• U.S. and Colombia Advance New Military Aid Framework Including Additional Black Hawks — Read More

• Army Grants Corps Commanders New Authority Over ‘Defensible Cyber Terrain’ — Read More

• Denmark Cancels Planned Purchase of Israel’s Barak Air-Defense System — Read More

• Sweden’s Gripen Fighter Debated as Potential Transfer Option for Ukraine — Read More

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