Air Force divests its A-29 fleet, Breaking Defense reports

The Army is "ready to move in on the ‘27 [plan to] award a production contract" for its High Accuracy Detection and Exploitation System (HADES) spy jet, Andrew Evans told Breaking Defense. "We cannot do that … until we clear a CR," he said. Evans, who directs the Strategy & Transformation Office under the Army's deputy chief of staff for intelligence (G-2), said the program is "completely on cost" and "completely on schedule."¹

Lawmakers have not approved a fiscal 2027 defense spending bill, and the CR funding the government runs through Dec. 11, Breaking Defense reported.^1–2 Under a CR, the Department of War cannot begin funding new programs, known as new starts. Breaking Defense's search of fiscal 2027 budget documents found two HADES new starts, including $131.7 million the Army requested for platform and system integration.²

Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) won HADES in August 2024 with a $991.3 million multi-year contract to deliver aerial intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance jets to the Army.³ A team of L3Harris, Leidos and MAG Aerospace also bid to replace the Army's RC-12 Guardrail turboprops, and the Government Accountability Office denied L3Harris's protest in December 2024, Breaking Defense reported.⁴ So far the Army is developing three prototypes, government-furnished Bombardier Global 6500 jets that SNC is outfitting with different tech packages.^{1, 3} Production aircraft were to come after those prototypes, under the deal Evans says the CR blocks, the outlet reported.¹

Estonia's new defense minister, Martin Herem, said the country should consider buying light jet aircraft to shoot down Russia's faster, jet-powered attack drones, Defense News reported Wednesday.¹ Herem told The Baltic Sentinel and the daily Postimees that Estonia should study the option, calling air-to-air weapons the most effective counter to the drones, according to Defense News. He spoke after meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv.^1–2 Herem took office Sept. 16 after leading the Estonian Defence Forces from 2018 to 2024 and then advising defense industry companies.³

Estonia, like Latvia and Lithuania, has no fighter fleet of its own and relies on NATO allies policing its skies on rotation, Defense News reported. Herem pointed to the pilots, air-control expertise and L-39 trainers Estonia already has.¹ Estonia uses two of them, at Ämari air base.^{1, 4} They are leased, and a former head of Estonia's air force said in April that their civilian status and lease terms would complicate arming them, according to the outlet.¹

Jets are one option on a longer list. Herem told The Baltic Sentinel he is also looking at computer-controlled cannons, heavy machine guns and fast, jet-powered interceptor drones, Defense News reported.¹ Jet-powered drones fired at Ukraine rose from a few hundred to several thousand a month between July and August, the outlet reported. Ukraine's defense ministry puts their speed at more than 400 kilometers per hour.¹