Americas • Page 93 of 881 • The Defense Post

Apr- 2026 -

21 April

30 Knots at Sea: Saildrone Reveals New USV Built for Anti-Submarine Warfare

California firm Saildrone is heading deeper into naval operations with a new long-range unmanned surface vessel designed to hunt submarines.

21 April

Telescopes operated by the 15th Space Surveillance Squadron at the Maui Space Surveillance Complex are shown on Maui, Hawaii, Sept. 16, 2025. The MSSC is located on Haleakala, is the third best place on Earth from which to view space, and the best location for daytime space domain awareness. GBOSS upgrades to the legacy Ground Based Electro-Optical Deep Space Surveillance System at the White Sands Missile Range were completed and reached operational acceptance on June 27, 2025, and the upgrades to the MSSC in Hawaii are currently underway. The GBOSS system was built to continue to meet the Space Surveillance Network mission needs and to increase SDA by more accurately identifying and tracking resident space objects in orbit. Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman noted, “GBOSS improves our ability to map the space operating environment. The upgrade not only improves sensitivity and boosts the number of objects we can track, it also takes advantage of data provided by commercial sensors to help with our unquenchable thirst for more SDA data.” (U.S. Air Force photo by 1st Lt. Laura Anderson)

Rojoef Manuel

US Space Force Expands Orbit Tracking With New Ground Sensor in Hawaii

The US Space Force has approved upgrades for its Ground-Based Optical Sensor System at the Maui Space Surveillance Complex in Hawaii, expanding its ability to track objects across Earth’s orbits.

21 April

Machine gun ammunition is seen stacked at a supply point as Soldiers assigned to the 95th Chemical Company, “Arctic Dragons”, 17th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, U.S. Army Alaska, prepare to execute a gunnery live-fire exercise with M1135 Stryker Nuclear Biological Chemical Reconnaissance Vehicles on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, April 5, 2017. The gunnery tested Soldier’s proficiency with identifying, engaging, and eliminating hostile targets while increasing combat effectiveness. The Styker NBCRV provides Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical detection and surveillance for battlefield visualization, and situational awareness to increase unit combat power. The core of the NBCRV is its on-board integrated NBC sensor suite, and integrated meteorological system. An NBC positive overpressure system minimizes cross-contamination of samples and detection instruments, provides crew protection, and allows extended operation at Mission Oriented Protective Posture. (U.S. Air Force photo/Justin Connaher)

Rojoef Manuel

Pentagon Taps Automakers for WWII-Style Weapons Industry Push

Washington is exploring a World War II-style expansion of US weapons manufacturing, holding early talks with automobile developers, including General Motors and Ford, to repurpose factory capacity for military production.

21 April

Akhsan Erido Elezhar

Northrop’s Talon IQ Switches AI ‘Brains’ Mid-Air in Landmark Flight

Northrop Grumman recently demonstrated how its Talon IQ testbed aircraft can switch AI "brains" mid-flight without interrupting a mission.

21 April

A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Starlink 10-44 mission successfully launches from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, on Mar. 30, 2026. This was the 34th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched CRS-22, Crew-3, Turksat 5B, Crew-4, CRS-25, Eutelsat HOTBIRD 13G, SES O3B mPOWER-A, PSN SATRIA, Telkomsat Merah Putih 2, Galileo L13, Koreasat-6A, and now 23 Starlink missions. (U.S. Space Force photo by Gwendolyn Kurzen)

Rojoef Manuel

Starlink Glitch Leaves US Navy Drone Boats Drifting: Report

A global outage in Elon Musk’s Starlink network disrupted US Navy drone tests, cutting communications and leaving approximately two dozen unmanned surface vessels adrift off California for nearly an hour.

21 April

Ethan M. Encarnacion

Leonardo Brings Full Counter-Drone Kill Chain to Maritime Platforms

An integrated system from Leonardo DRS could give naval vessels a full counter-drone capability, with its Maritime Mission Equipment Package now being embedded into maritime platforms.

21 April

GKN Aerospace’s advancing additive manufacturing technologies.

Giulia Bernacchi

GKN Aerospace, US Air Force Start Aerostructures Additive Manufacturing Program

GKN Aerospace and the US Air Force have launched an $8.4-million initiative to advance additive manufacturing for aerospace structures.

21 April

Christine Casimiro

US Army Selects AV Vapor CLE UAS to Support Medium Range Recon Program

The US Army has awarded AV a $14.6-million contract to produce its Vapor Compact Long Endurance (CLE) drone to support the service’s Medium Range Reconnaissance (MRR) program.

21 April