US Navy’s Virginia-class fast-attack submarine has returned to the fleet ahead of schedule. The nuclear-powered USS Colorado (SSN 788) was undergoing scheduled maintenance at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard (PHNSY) and the Intermediate Maintenance Facility (IMF).

The submarine completed its maintenance 29 days ahead of schedule on June 10. It has rejoined the fleet and is now ready to serve in the Submarine Squadron 7 to ensure dominance in the Pacific.

The nuclear-powered vessel is capable of supporting various missions, such as anti-submarine warfare; anti-surface ship warfare; strike warfare; special operations forces support; and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance.

Maintenance of Navy vessels at PHNSY and IMF

The PHNSY and IMF are located in the heart of the Pacific to ensure a comprehensive fleet repair and maintenance facility. It is one of the most comprehensive facilities of its kind between the U.S. West Coast and the Far East. Its mission is to keep the US Navy’s fast-attack submarines and surface ships ‘Fit to Fight’.

Effective and timely maintenance helps keep the Navy vessels lethal, ready to defend the country, and also maximizes their lifespan. The maintenance of the USS Colorado was completed ahead of schedule by the combined efforts of the crew from the shipyard and the vessel.

“Finishing ahead of schedule is not about rushing; it’s about hard work and persistence,” said U.S. Navy Capt. Ryan McCrillis, commander of PHNSY & IMF. “It’s producing first-time, high-quality work and attacking every roadblock with urgency.”

McCrillis further said that the early completion was a result of team effort, “from the newest apprentice to senior shipyard leaders, the ship’s force, the project team, and support from the fleet and headquarters.”

More about the nuclear-powered USS Colorado submarine

USS Colorado was commissioned on March 17, 2018, at Naval Submarine Base New London. It is the 15th Virginia-class fast-attack submarine and fifth Block III submarine of the class.

Displacing approximately 7,800 tons with a length of 370 feet, Virginia is longer but lighter than the previous Seawolf-class submarines. It can sail at speeds exceeding 28.7 miles per hour (25 knots) and can operate at a maximum depth of over 800 feet.  For propulsion, it relies on a S9G reactor, which produces over 40,000 shaft horsepower (SHP).

The nuclear-powered vessel has effectively limitless range and the ability to operate submerged for months. The range is limited only by the food and supplies that the crew needs to carry.

Colorado is a part of the Virginia-class’s third, or Block III, contract, in which the Navy redesigned approximately 20 percent of the ship to reduce acquisition costs.

The submarine features a redesigned bow, which replaces 12 individual Vertical Launch System (VLS) tubes with two large-diameter Virginia Payload Tubes (VPTs), each capable of launching six Tomahawk cruise missiles. There are other design changes that reduced the submarines’ acquisition cost while maintaining their warfighting capabilities.

It also has special features to support Special Forces – which include a reconfigurable torpedo room that can accommodate a large number of personnel and their equipment for prolonged deployments.

Boeing has unveiled a new version of its MQ-28 Ghost Bat drone, which offers extended combat capabilities. The new version has been showcased at the ILA Berlin Air Show in Germany.

The MQ-28 Ghost Bat is an uncrewed collaborative combat aircraft that uses smart human-machine technology to act as a force multiplier for the crewed jets. In December 2025, Boeing and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) made headlines by executing a force-integrated air-to-air autonomous weapon engagement from an MQ-28 Collaborative Combat Aircraft.

The mission involved the Ghost Bat teaming with a RAAF E-7A Wedgetail and F/A-18F Super Hornet to destroy a fighter-class target drone. It was the first time an autonomous aircraft completed an air-to-air engagement with an AIM-20 missile.

The feat had established the Ghost Bat as a “mature combat capable CCA.”

Added capabilities of Boeing MQ-28 Ghost Bat Block 3

The new Block 3 Ghost Bat drone from Boeing features an increased wingspan, allowing it to carry an additional 2,000 pounds of fuel, stores, and mission payloads. Moreover, the drone can now also carry two AMRAAM missiles or four small-diameter bombs (SDBs) internally, and there is also an option to carry three external weapon stations if needed.

It also has beyond-line-of-sight (BLOS) communication links, which will enable the drone to be operated from a crewed aircraft, a ground station, or a naval vessel over nearly unlimited distances. The new design features an upgraded modular, missionized nose that provides enhanced payload configuration options and supports the insertion of third-party capabilities.

The drone now has a maximum take-off weight of 12,000 lbs, up from the 10,000 lbs in version two. It can now carry a useful load of over 4,500 lbs. It also receives significant software upgrades, enabling operators to tailor weapons, payloads, command and control, and mission autonomy to suit their operational requirements.  

“That additional capacity gives operators freedom to balance payload and endurance to configure for the mission at hand, whether that means carrying extra fuel for longer-range operations, increasing weapons carriage, or any combination of both,” said Glen Ferguson, MQ-28 global program director.

Upgrades to be rolled out to the entire fleet

Boeing says the upgrades visible in the third iteration will be rolled out to the entire fleet through a spiral upgrade program. Ferguson added that the inclusion of BLOS and other features has occurred because the company has been working with Air Force units to understand their needs and the role the CCA is intended to play in a joint force operation.

It is not clear whether the turbofan engine used in earlier versions of Ghost Bat is being replaced or another engine is being added to the drone for the extra thrust.

The earlier versions of the CCA had a length of 38 feet (11.7 meters) and a height of 6.5 feet (2 meters). It had a top speed of Mach 0.9 and could fly up to 2,000 nautical miles, with a ceiling of 40,000 feet.

According to reports, the Block 3 Ghost Bat will be offered to Germany. Australia has already acquired a number of Block 1 MQ-28 drones.

At the Berlin Air Show, Boeing also welcomed two additional industry partners to expand its German MQ-28 Ghost Bat industry team. These two – namely Diehl Defense and Rohde & Schwarz – will join Rheinmetall in the program led by Boeing Defense Australia.

European aerospace firm Airbus will unveil its latest drone wingman, the U760 Ravenstorm, at the International Aerospace Exhibition (ILA) 2026 in Berlin. The wingman drone for fighter jets has been unveiled alongside a comprehensive suite of uncrewed aerial systems (UAS).

The full suite unveiled by Airbus at the event includes the new autonomous aircraft, named U145, based on its popular H145 helicopter platform. U740 Valkyrie, developed in cooperation with Kratos, is another uncrewed collaborative combat aircraft (UCCA) announced by the company for the German Air Force.

The company is showcasing other cargo drones ranging from 55 pounds (25 kilograms) to 264 pounds (120 kilograms) to provide customers with cutting-edge capabilities for surveillance, intelligence, and operational flexibility.

Another offering is the U680 Bird of Prey, an uncrewed drone interceptor which is designed to counter mass aerial threats at once. The company says it can down multiple one-way attack drones per mission.

Airbus’ U760 Ravenstorm

The U760 Ravenstorm drone from Airbus is designed to operate alongside cutting-edge crewed fighter jets. The missions it can carry out include air-to-air operations, air-to-ground strikes, and electronic warfare.

The company will be displaying a 1:1 model of the uncrewed collaborative combat aircraft at the Berlin exhibition. The model on display has a 32-foot (10-meter) wingspan and a length of 42 feet (13 meters).

According to a press release, the drone wingman is optimized for multi-domain missions, and it will carry precision-guided munitions for surface strikes, as well as anti-aircraft missiles for taking out enemy jets and other uncrewed aircraft. Moreover, the electronic warfare suite has the capability to suppress enemy air defenses and offensive counter-air using non-kinetic jamming.

Airbus believes that Ravenstorm will be available in the early 2030s. It will be powered by MARS – the company’s sovereign mission system, which integrates an AI-supported software core to enable platform autonomy.

The system builds on the Barracuda demonstrator that flew for the first time 20 years ago.

Eurodrone and the new ‘U’ prefix

“Whatever uncrewed or ‘drone’ capability our customers need to strengthen sovereign air power, we deliver,” said Mike Schoellhorn, CEO of Airbus Defense and Space. “Our portfolio ranges from rapid-response drone interceptors and various tactical drones, autonomous cargo helicopters, to uncrewed fighter aircraft, UCCAs, operating co-operatively with crewed fighter jets.”

He also commented on the U950 Eurodrone, a high-payload and very-long-endurance ISTAR (Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition, and Reconnaissance) platform. Schoellhorn added that all of the company’s systems come with open architecture and a “mission system compatible with the wider European and international defense ecosystem.”

The Eurodrone, a Medium-Altitude Long-Endurance (MALE) platform, is designed to provide independent, strategic ISTAR capabilities, early warning, and anti-submarine warfare. The program is progressing steadily toward its scheduled first flight in 2029, according to the press release.

China is expanding its nuclear weapon arsenal faster than any other country, according to a report by a Swedish think tank. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s (SIPRI) latest yearbook states that Beijing now has around 620 nuclear warheads.

In what could be a major cause of concern for the US and its allies, the report goes on to state that it is continuing to develop new nuclear systems. It states that China could “potentially have at least as many ICBMs as either Russia or the USA by the turn of the decade.”

Beijing displayed some of the new missile systems during its 2025 military parade.

China’s nuclear warhead stockpile

The SIPRI report says that by January 2026, “China had loaded hundreds of missiles into three large missile silo fields in the north of the country, while working to complete 30 silos in three mountainous areas in the east.”

Moreover, the country now has 34 deployed warheads, up from 24 in 2025. The number of stored warheads has also risen from 576 in 2025 to 586 in 2026, leading to an overall number of 620 nuclear warheads in the stockpile.

It is important to note that the US and Russia still have the highest number of nuclear warheads in their stockpile. While the US has 3,700 warheads, Russia has an estimated 4,400 nuclear warheads in its military stockpile.

Even if China surpasses 1000 warheads by 2030, that will still amount to only about one quarter of each of the current Russian and US nuclear stockpiles, according to the report. However, China has shown the highest percentage growth in the production of these tools of destruction, and recent trends indicate it is not looking to stop.

The global inventory stands at an estimated 12,187 warheads – and of this, around 9,745 are in military stockpiles for use in case of a conflict. Of the total warheads in military stockpiles, roughly 4,012 are deployed with missiles and aircraft, while the rest are in storage.

There haven’t been many additions to the stockpiles of other nuclear-armed nations, such as the United Kingdom, France, and Pakistan, since 2025. India seems to have added 10 warheads, 12 of which are deployed, bringing its total count to 190.

Lack of dialogue among nuclear-armed nations

The report goes on to add that the growth of nuclear programs will very likely be pursued by all countries in the years to come in the post-New START world. It highlights that there is a lack of strategic dialogue or direct communication among certain nuclear-armed states.

SIPRI Director Karim Haggag states that world leaders advocating nuclear weapons as a guarantee against attack by a hostile state could ‘significantly increase nuclear risks.’

“The dangers associated with nuclear weapons are growing due to advances in weapon technology, the breakdown of nuclear arms control and heightened geopolitical tensions, among a range of other factors,” Haggag said.

“Along with the reduction in transparency and the loss of diplomatic channels for crisis management, the drift towards authoritarianism in some nuclear-armed states is contributing to even greater unpredictability,” said Matt Korda, Associate Senior Researcher with SIPRI’s Weapons of Mass Destruction Program and Associate Director for the Nuclear Information Project at FAS.

The report also predicts that for the first time since the end of the Cold War, the pace of gradual dismantlement of retired nuclear warheads by Russia and the USA could slow down, leading to a situation in which the global inventory keeps rising.

There hasn’t been a significant increase in the inventories of Russia and the USA, but the modernization programs being pursued by both countries lead SIPRI to believe that they will likely “increase the size and diversity of their arsenals in the future.”