The U.S. Navy, working with AeroVironment and the Army Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO), conducted a live-fire test of the LOCUST palletized high-energy laser (P-HEL) system aboard the Nimitz-class carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) in October 2025, successfully tracking, engaging, and neutralizing multiple target drones in a first-ever demonstration of directed energy from a maneuvering aircraft carrier.

LOCUST's roll-on, roll-off palletized design allowed rapid shipboard installation without structural modifications; the system draws power directly from the vessel or recharges its own batteries, enabling sustained operations with no dedicated logistics tail and establishing a replicable integration model across the fleet.

AeroVironment describes LOCUST as "truly platform-agnostic," having already proven the system on ground vehicles including the JLTV (Joint Light Tactical Vehicle) and ISV (Infantry Squad Vehicle); the carrier validation marks the first time a palletized high-energy laser has operated in the demanding environment of a moving warship, opening a cost-effective path to all-domain counter-drone capability without per-ship integration contracts.

Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition Michael Duffey terminated RTX's GPS Operational Control Segment (OCX) contract on April 17, ending a program 15 years in the making that ran 10 years behind schedule and saw its projected completion cost nearly double from $3.7 billion to $6.27 billion; the Space Force cited "insurmountable" software issues discovered during integrated government testing across "a broad range of capability areas."

The consequence is significant: nine GPS III satellites already on orbit, designed to deliver improved M-Code signal encryption and enhanced jam resistance over older GPS variants, have never been able to fully exploit those capabilities because OCX, the ground system needed to command them, was never delivered.

Lockheed Martin's GPS III Continuation Operations (COps) program and a new $105 million Architecture Evolution Plan (AEP) upgrade contract now represent the near-term path forward; RTX remains on contract for the follow-on OCX 3F program, though the Pentagon's weapons testing office has flagged concerns that the OCX delays will cascade downstream; the cancellation fits a broader administration-level push to penalize contractors for chronic cost and schedule overruns.

Baltimore-based BlackSea Technologies unveiled the Comet unmanned surface vessel (USV) at Sea-Air-Space 2026 in a fully operational configuration armed with a dual-rail launcher compatible with AGM-114 Hellfire surface-to-surface missiles and AIM-9X Sidewinder surface-to-air missiles, enabling both maritime strike and air defense roles from a single crewless platform and marking one of the most aggressively armed unmanned naval systems ever publicly displayed by a U.S. manufacturer.

The 43-foot (13.1-meter) vessel is built on a semi-planing aluminum hull with a 10,000-pound payload capacity, a top speed exceeding 45 knots, a forward EO/IR (electro-optical/infrared) targeting turret, and a Simrad navigation radar; the company presented the Comet as combat-ready and operational rather than a prototype, capable of independently detecting, tracking, and engaging aerial and surface threats without an onboard crew.

The Hellfire and Sidewinder pairing addresses the two primary asymmetric threats facing unmanned surface vessels, using complementary guidance modes to cover both air and surface engagements; combined with a modular design and rapid production model, the Comet positions directly for the Navy's expanding demand for scalable, reconfigurable unmanned surface forces that can be fielded in quantity.

Ultra Maritime has developed a next-generation torpedo countermeasure concept that merges traditional acoustic decoy technology with autonomous undersea vehicle (UUV) capability, producing systems that can be launched from submarines or UUVs, maneuver independently away from the host platform, and deliver real-time tactical updates while actively confusing and diverting incoming torpedoes, blurring the line between expendable decoy and autonomous undersea combatant.

The effort builds on Ultra Maritime's Navy contract for the Acoustic Device Countermeasure (ADC) MK6, designed to defeat modern torpedoes equipped with adaptive homing functions that can re-acquire targets and defeat legacy decoy systems; the ADC MK6 is engineered for rapid deployment with improved acoustic output, high operational readiness, and broad compatibility across surface ships and submarines already in the fleet.

Ultra Maritime has delivered more than 30,000 expendable torpedo countermeasures across a portfolio of designs to allied navies and frames this convergence of countermeasure and autonomous vehicle technology as the next phase of anti-submarine warfare (ASW) defense, shifting from reactive decoy employment to active, maneuvering undersea protection in increasingly contested undersea environments.

Northrop Grumman released a new video of its F/A-XX sixth-generation naval fighter concept at Sea-Air-Space 2026, providing the most detailed look yet at the company's tailless design; the clip reveals rear-set dorsal inlets, a notably broad canopy, wing-fold capability confirming carrier compatibility, and what appear to be dual internal weapons bays on the aircraft centerline alongside prominent landing gear doors.

The release came the same day CNO Adm. Daryl Caudle confirmed the Navy expects a contractor down-select between Northrop and Boeing in August 2026, ending roughly a year of procurement limbo that began when the Trump administration prioritized the Air Force's F-47 in FY2026 due to concerns about defense industrial base capacity; one of the two competing contractors was cited as unable to deliver in the required timeframe.

The Navy's FY2027 budget request includes only $140 million for F/A-XX research and development, a steep reduction from the $1.7 billion the program received in FY2026, the majority through congressional adds; how accurate the released rendering is to the actual design remains unknown, as Northrop would be expected to modify sensitive features before any public release.

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