The Department of War has added $87.4 million to Northrop Grumman's contract for the Integrated Viper Electronic Warfare Suite (IVEWS), lifting the program's total value to $1.92 billion. Designated AN/ALQ-257, the system alerts F-16 pilots when they've been detected by enemy radar, jams those radars, and helps locate and identify threats. It's intended to replace the F-16's older ALQ-131/184 electronic warfare pods, giving the fourth-generation fighter better survivability against modern radar-guided threats as it continues front-line service alongside newer stealth aircraft.

RAF Lakenheath, another British base hosting US aircraft, has been moved to a heightened security posture — FPCON Charlie, the second-highest threat level. This comes amid an incident near RAF Fairford, where several men were arrested on suspicion of explosives offences.

First images have been released of the RAF Fairford suspects being arrested by counter-terrorism police in the town of Whelford on suspicion of explosives offences. A photo has also emerged of the three vans linked to the suspects being defused by the Bomb Squad near the RAF Fairford base. The UK base is used by US bombers in the Iran war.

The Pakistan Navy's newly commissioned submarine PNS/M Hangor has completed its maiden live weapon firing, launching an anti-ship cruise missile that struck its designated target with precision at extended range in the North Arabian Sea. [ 📹 DGPR]

A “major incident” has declared near RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, with homes in the village of Whelford evacuated as several men were arrested under the Explosives Act. Army bomb disposal specialists are examining a number of vehicles at the scene, and police say the situation appears contained. RAF Fairford, which hosts U.S. Air Force B-1B bombers and other aircraft, has been used as a staging base for American bomber deployments since the Iran conflict began on February 28. [ 📹 Archive footage]

The U.S. Navy has released the first flight-test footage of its Blackbeard hypersonic strike missile mounted under the wings of F/A-18E/F Super Hornets. Blackbeard is being developed by Castelion under the Navy's Multi-mission Affordable Capacity Effector (MACE) program, which calls for a missile capable of flying faster than Mach 5 while carrying a payload of roughly 34 kg. The service is aiming to field the weapon in at least limited numbers by 2028, giving carrier air wings a new fast, long-range standoff option, especially for striking enemy ships. Integration with the F-35 is also planned, with the jet able to carry up to four Blackbeard missiles internally. The missile is also meant to be cheap and fast to produce, targeted around $300,000 per unit at a production rate of 500 missiles a year.

NATO member Latvia is moving toward acquiring Anduril Industries' Barracuda family of long-range strike missiles, which would make it the first Baltic state to field a weapon in this category. The likely candidate is the Surface-Launched Barracuda-500M (SLB-500M) which offers a stated range of over 500 nautical miles at speeds of roughly 190 to 500 knots. The Barracuda can be air-launched (U.S. military designation AGM-189A), but since Latvia's inventory consists mainly of a handful of utility biplanes and helicopters, it would instead acquire the containerized, ground-launched SLB-500M. The deal would markedly expand Riga's precision-strike reach as NATO's eastern flank works to build up conventional long-range strike capabilities. [ 📹 Test of a prototype surface-launched Barracuda-500 ]

RIA Novosti, Russia’s state news agency, published and then deleted an article titled “Russia faces another special military operation. It will be very short,” threatening Lithuania with a brief war and potential nuclear strikes. The piece, written by Alexander Nosovich, argued Russia could skip ground troops and use nuclear-armed missiles instead, claiming Baltic geography would make such a conflict short. RIA Novosti pulled the article hours after publication, saying it did not reflect the agency’s editorial stance or Russian state policy.

Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) armament technicians load a live AGM-158C Free Flight Evaluation Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) onto a P-8A Poseidon at Marine Corps Base Hawaii during Exercise Medusa Fury, Jul. 7, 2026. This loading was part of the test campaign that pushed the P-8A beyond its usual maritime-patrol and anti-submarine role into long-range anti-ship strike, a first for the type in RAAF service. During the same Hawaii deployment, the RAAF P-8A went on to successfully fire the missile at a retired U.S. Navy Ticonderoga-class cruiser, USS Mobile Bay, as a target. The LRASM itself is a stealthy, semi-autonomous missile that can hit well-defended warships at ranges beyond 370 km.

The Sudanese Armed Forces Turkish-built AKINCI drone downed two Chinese-made CH-95 drones in a single day, both flown by the UAE-backed RSF, in an air-to-air engagement over Kagam, west of Sawdiri.