ABAD Daily NewsAcquisition, military and joint-force developments.

Air Force adds $87.4 million for IVEWS low-rate production and compatibility work

BLUF An $87.4 million modification moves the F-16's Integrated Viper Electronic Warfare Suite further into low-rate production while funding radio-frequency compatibility work. The official notice puts the underlying contract at $1.92 billion and completion at December 2029. Reporting links the effort to an initial 72 Block 50 aircraft, but this award does not establish fleetwide fielding or operational availability.

Air & Space Forces / U.S. Department of War · Specialist reporting traced to an official contract notice

Reported 25 September 2026 · Contract modification announced September 24; report published September 25 and updated September 26, 2026

Sources: U.S. Department of War contract notice · 2026-09-24

Yudh Abhyas culminates with M-LIDS integrated into bilateral live fire

BLUF Yudh Abhyas concluded with M-LIDS supporting a bilateral live-fire sequence alongside Indian Pinaka, Dhanush, L70, Swathi and Apache systems and U.S. HIMARS. This is a substantive step beyond the September 22 operator training previously covered: the counter-drone system was integrated into the exercise's culminating combined-arms event. The report still does not say Indian personnel operated M-LIDS.

11th Airborne Division / DVIDS · Official exercise result

Culminating live fire conducted September 24; official report posted September 26, 2026 at 00:09 without a stated time zone

Sources: Prior M-LIDS range-employment report · 2026-09-25 / Prior ABAD News coverage · 2026-09-26

Acquisition reports expose AIM-9X readiness gaps and a steep JASSM production ramp

BLUF New reporting on July-cleared acquisition reports puts AIM-9X Block II operational availability at 58 percent for the Air Force and 78 percent for the Navy versus an 86 percent requirement, with a processor problem delaying software testing. Separately, JASSM output is planned to rise from roughly 600 a year to 1,880 in fiscal 2032; those are plans, not achieved rates.

Air & Space Forces / U.S. Department of War acquisition reports · Original analysis of official acquisition reports

Reported 24 September 2026 · Reporting published September 24 local time from FY2027 budget-cycle acquisition reports cleared in July 2026

Sources: AIM-9X Block II Modernized Selected Acquisition Report · 2026-07 / JASSM-ER Modernized Selected Acquisition Report · 2026-07

Counter-drone systems dominate Travis AFB's Phoenix Spark industry day

BLUF Counter-drone technology accounted for 18 of 28 vendor displays at Travis AFB's Phoenix Spark industry day, giving Airmen and commanders a direct look at potential base-protection tools. The official report does not name vendors, systems, evaluation criteria, awards or follow-on tests. It therefore documents the installation's demand signal and market exposure—not selection, measured performance or fielding.

60th Air Mobility Wing / DVIDS · Official installation report

Industry day held September 23; official report posted September 25, 2026 at 13:24 without a stated time zone

U.S.-German RAM awards add seeker-test capacity and two years of engineering

BLUF Two coordinated Rolling Airframe Missile actions put $20.09 million into supplier capacity and seeker-head test equipment through January 2030 and $26.56 million into Raytheon design-agent and engineering support through September 2028. U.S. and German cooperative funds are involved. These awards strengthen the production and support base; the notice does not specify additional missiles, delivery quantities or a production-rate increase.

U.S. Department of War · Official contract notice

Two related Rolling Airframe Missile awards announced September 25, 2026

Sources: U.S. Navy RAM fact file

Dahlgren automates Aegis event-data export ahead of fleet expansion

BLUF Dahlgren's automated DRotE plugin is designed to package and export the correct Aegis event data without a sailor manually navigating complex files under pressure. The Navy says it will integrate the tool into ERDDS and expand it across the Aegis fleet in fiscal 2027. This improves data offload and diagnosis; it is not a SPY-1 performance or missile-defense upgrade.

Naval Sea Systems Command · Official service technical report

Automated version completed in fiscal 2026; fleet expansion and ERDDS integration planned for fiscal 2027

Navy funds long-lead material for 67 Lot 7 APG-85 radars

BLUF A not-to-exceed $123.78 million modification buys long-lead parts and components for 67 Lot 7 APG-85 production radars, with work extending to February 2031. The notice is an industrial lead-time action and does not say the radars are complete, installed or operational. It also provides no performance data, schedule by aircraft variant or unit cost for finished sensors.

U.S. Department of War · Official contract notice

Contract modification announced September 24, 2026; work scheduled through February 2031

Navy and Australia add $876.4 million to NGJ-LB development

BLUF A Navy-Australia modification adds up to $876.4 million for continued NGJ-LB engineering, system-demonstration pods, cybersecurity, software, test and logistics work through fiscal 2031. Only $26.69 million was obligated at award. The notice remains an engineering and manufacturing development action for the EA-18G Growler jammer—not a full-rate-production award or operational-fielding declaration.

U.S. Department of War · Official contract notice

Contract modification announced September 23, 2026; work scheduled through fiscal 2031

Sources: Army Recognition contract report · 2026-09-25

Naval Group's Rampart launcher appears aboard a Mistral-class assault ship

BLUF A Rampart launcher has been photographed aboard a French Mistral-class assault ship, moving Naval Group's containerized close-in concept from exhibition imagery to a reported shipboard installation. Naval News assesses that the ship is preparing for an October WildFire counter-drone exercise, but the Navy has not confirmed the schedule, loadout or test result. No at-sea firing is yet reported.

Naval News · Original observation and photography with manufacturer background

Launcher photographed aboard a Mistral-class LHD leaving Toulon during the week of September 21; report published September 22, 2026

Sources: Naval Group Rampart product background

AFRL verifies Barracuda's open weapon architecture across 14 domains

BLUF AFRL's MOATEL independently verified Anduril's Barracuda-M software architecture across 14 Weapon Open Systems Architecture domains. The test supports swapping compliant seekers, navigation modules, software and other subsystems without redesigning the whole weapon. Anduril says production is underway and first deliveries are planned for early 2027; certification is not a delivery, operational test or combat-fielding result.

Anduril Industries / U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory · Manufacturer announcement quoting the independent government test authority

Four-day MOATEL assessment completed before the September 23, 2026 announcement; exact test dates were not disclosed

Sources: Air & Space Forces verification report · 2026-09-25