Saab unveiled a full-scale model of the A3-001 collaborative combat aircraft at Malmen Air Base in Linköping on August 21, ahead of the Swedish Armed Forces' Jubilee Air Show marking the Air Force's 100th anniversary. The concept is a low-observable, tailless, single-engine, supersonic-capable design with a blended wing-body, compound-delta planform, outward-swept trailing edges, and a serrated exhaust shroud aimed at reducing infrared signature; estimated weight is under one tonne, placing it in the same light-CCA class as the US Air Force's YFQ-42A and YFQ-44A. Saab is developing three prototypes in sequence, A1 as the first demonstrator, then A2 and A3. The A3-001 is designed for electronic warfare, suppression of enemy air defences, and precision strike in contested airspace, operating alongside the JAS39 Gripen E, and Saab's Head of Advanced Programs Peter "Nizze" Nilsson said the platform will be "considerably cheaper than the Gripen."

The Read: The A3-001 closes a geographic gap in what has become a formally global race. The UK has Brontanax, the US has YFQ-42A and YFQ-44A moving toward increment-one production, Australia has MQ-28 Ghost Bat in flight test, Italy and Turkey have Kizilelma inside the K-SWARM programme, and Sweden is now the last major Western aircraft manufacturer to publicly commit to a sovereign CCA design. Rather than fold into Team Gen 6 or GCAP, Saab is building a wingman ecosystem around Gripen and positioning itself as a CCA supplier to any customer already flying Gripens. The 18-month first-flight target is aggressive by any standard, and if Saab hits it, A1 will be airborne before Brontanax completes ground testing at Warton.

The US Navy publicly disclosed the AIM-424 "Malice" Long-Range Air-to-Air Missile (LRAAM) at the Tailhook Symposium in Reno on August 22, revealing a Raytheon-built weapon already in flight testing with an F/A-18E from VX-23 (captive-carry test dated April 2026) and an F-35 fit test completed earlier in August. Malice is roughly 4.11 m (13.5 ft) long with a 0.34 m (13.5 in) diameter and a 0.67 m (26.2 in) wingspan, making it substantially smaller than the AIM-174B Gunslinger revealed at RIMPAC 2024, and it fits inside the F-35C's internal weapons bay with room for an AIM-120 alongside. The stated range is over 250 nautical miles (over 463 km), and the missile is planned for the F/A-18E/F Block III, F-35C TR-3/Block 4, and future F/A-XX, with cross-service integration onto the USAF F-47 also disclosed. Malice is the third new long-range US air-to-air missile revealed in two years, following the AIM-174B Gunslinger and the AIM-260 JATM, and it likely traces to the Long-Range Engagement Weapon (LREW) concept a senior defense official first described publicly in 2017.

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