DZYNE Technologies' Unmanned Long-endurance Tactical Reconnaissance Aircraft (ULTRA) is heading to U.S. Central Command for operational evaluation in a new turbocharged variant that adds altitude and speed while preserving the design's defining feature: an 80-hour endurance ceiling on station. The aircraft is glider-like by design, long and narrow with a lightly powered airframe, and carries a reconfigurable payload bay of over 180 kg (400 lb) at relatively low altitudes. That altitude choice drives the rest of the platform. By operating below the levels where high-power optics and large-aperture RF antennas are required, ULTRA can use off-the-shelf commercial EO/IR and RF sensors, with a corresponding drop in unit and operating cost.

The Air Force Research Laboratory has framed ULTRA as a different point in the ISR design space than larger medium-altitude armed platforms. It trades the strike role and high-altitude reach of the MQ-9 for endurance measured in days rather than hours, with previous deployments reported at operating costs below $2 million per month. The Turbo upgrade widens the flight envelope without abandoning that tradeoff, and the operational evaluation will test the concept under steady tasking rather than experimental flights alone.

The MBDA UK SPEAR 3 air-launched cruise missile flew on an F-35B for the first time with four missiles carried under the wings. SPEAR 3 is a 100 kg (220 lb)-class munition with a stated range above 140 km (87 mi); the F-35B is designed to carry eight internally, which would exceed its current full mixed Paveway IV load. Royal Navy Lt Cmdr Nick Baker flew the test, with future trials expected to integrate the missile into the F-35's mission systems before live drops. Full service entry on the F-35B is expected in the early 2030s, with the UK adopting the GBU-53/B StormBreaker as an interim stand-off capability.

Ukrainian forces have paired a battery-powered AI loitering munition with a tethered aerostat to offload the energy-intensive climb and transit. In the test, the balloon carried a Perennial Autonomy Hornet 42 km (26 mi) before releasing it at about 8 km (5 mi) altitude; the drone reportedly drew only around 5 percent of its battery during the trip. Ukrainian sources frame the outcome as extending the Hornet's reach from roughly 150 km (93 mi) to about 300 km (186 mi), though those claims have not been independently verified. The catapult-launched Hornet is already in US Army service at Project Flytrap and Saber Strike 26 exercises in Lithuania, Poland, and Germany.

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