🛡️ Northrop Unveils ‘Aion’ Counter-Drone System With AI-Driven Detection and Tracking

📬 In Today’s Defense Brief

🛡️ Northrop Unveils ‘Aion’ Counter-Drone System With AI-Driven Detection and Tracking — Read More

📡 US Drone-Tracking Tech Pushes Toward Real-Time, Automated Airspace Awareness — Read More

✈️ Next Presidential Jet Will Arrive a Bit Earlier Than Projected, Air Force Says — Read More

⚠️ New GAO, Navy Reports Warn of Serious V-22 Osprey Safety Risks, Some Fixes Stretch Into 2030s — Read More

🛰️ DIU, JIATF-401, USNORTHCOM & US Army Announce Winner for C-UAS Low-Cost Sensing — Read More

🎱 Plus 12 other news stories you may like

📰 Full Breakdown

🛡️ Northrop Unveils ‘Aion’ Counter-Drone System With AI-Driven Detection and Tracking — Read More

• Northrop Grumman revealed Aion, a new AI-enhanced counter-UAS platform designed to detect, classify, and track drones using fused radar, EO/IR, and RF sensing. The system aims to provide rapid threat identification for both stationary and mobile units, filling a key gap in short-range air defense.

• The architecture emphasizes modularity, enabling integration with different effectors — kinetic or electronic — depending on mission requirements.

• Aion is built to support contested environments where drones are deployed in swarms or used for reconnaissance, strike, or EW tasks, and is optimized for rapid deployment at forward bases or critical infrastructure.

📡 US Drone-Tracking Tech Pushes Toward Real-Time, Automated Airspace Awareness — Read More

• A new U.S. initiative is enhancing airspace-awareness tools capable of identifying, tracking, and characterizing drones by fusing multiple sensor inputs into a unified operating picture.

• Officials say the goal is to develop automated workflows that detect abnormal flight patterns at long ranges, enabling faster threat evaluation and response options for operators.

• The emerging system is expected to support homeland security, base defense, and national-airspace protection as unmanned traffic becomes more complex and adversaries adopt low-cost, low-altitude UAS.

✈️ Next Presidential Jet Will Arrive a Bit Earlier Than Projected, Air Force Says — Read More

• The Air Force confirmed that the new VC-25B presidential aircraft is now expected to arrive slightly ahead of its most recently projected delivery timeline, despite past delays and supply-chain complications.

• The program has struggled with weight-reduction challenges, subsystem integration, and contractor turnover, but officials now report stronger performance and clearer scheduling stability.

• The aircraft will replace the aging VC-25A fleet and includes upgraded electrical power, defensive systems, communications, and EMP resilience to support secure command-and-control for the presidency.

⚠️ New GAO, Navy Reports Warn of Serious V-22 Osprey Safety Risks, Some Fixes Stretch Into 2030s — Read More

• Newly released GAO and Navy safety reviews cite several persistent hazards in the V-22 fleet, including input-quill-assembly failure modes, drivetrain vulnerabilities, and operational risks associated with brown-out landings.

• Some engineering fixes — including redesigns of key mechanical components — are not expected to be completed until the early–mid 2030s, raising concerns about sustainment of safe operations in the interim.

• Although the V-22 program office has implemented incremental mitigations and training adjustments, lawmakers and analysts question whether they are sufficient given the platform’s accident history.

🛰️ DIU, JIATF-401, USNORTHCOM & US Army Announce Winner for C-UAS Low-Cost Sensing — Read More

• The Department of Defense announced the winner of its C-UAS Low-Cost Sensing competition, run by DIU in partnership with JIATF-401, USNORTHCOM, and the Army, to find scalable, affordable ground sensors for drone detection.

• The effort emphasized commercial-derived technologies that can be rapidly fielded within layered defense networks to counter the rising threat posed by small, inexpensive drones.

• Selected systems will now proceed toward operational testing and evaluation for deployment at key sites in North America.

🌏 Other Important News

✈️ Air

• Australia approves acquisition of MQ-28A Ghost Bat UAV — Read More

• Ukraine fields Ratel ground drone for explosive breaching — Read More

• China flies new “mothership drone” capable of deploying multiple UAVs — Read More

• Europe tests multi-manufacturer drone-swarm interoperability — Read More

• European UGVs advance toward fully autonomous control — Read More

• U.S. Army awards Sikorsky $433M Black Hawk contract for UH-60M and HH-60M helicopters — Read More

• Rep. Adam Smith: Pentagon must accelerate NDAA acquisition reforms, golden-dome oversight — Read More

🛰️ Space

• Senior leaders attend SPACECOM relocation ceremony — Read More

• L3Harris delivers first Meadowlands production unit to USSF — Read More

• Space Force will not partner with NRO for next-generation surveillance satellites — Read More

⚠️ Conflict

• 2 U.S. service members and 1 civilian killed in ISIS attack in Syria — Read More

• China Coast Guard blasts Filipino fishermen with water cannon near Sabina Shoal — Read More

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