Weekend TL;DR: GCAP accelerates, UK excludes China from procurement, and the Iran war grinds on.

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Headlines

Leonardo CEO pushes for GCAP service entry two years early. Lorenzo Mariani says the sixth-generation fighter could achieve initial operational capability ahead of its 2035 target by scoping an appropriately limited initial production standard — the clearest schedule-management signal yet from the GCAP industrial leadership. With Singapore now in exploratory talks and Canada as an observer, the programme's momentum stands in sharp contrast to Europe's post-FCAS void. UK Defence Journal

UK bars Chinese suppliers from £2B light vehicle competition. The MoD has formally launched its Land Rover and Pinzgauer replacement tender — and invoked the Procurement Act 2023 to exclude Chinese firms. The move sets a significant precedent for allied nations building similar supply-chain exclusion frameworks into major procurement competitions. UK Defence Journal

Japan fires its first Tomahawk — a new Pacific strike reality. JS Chōkai, a Kongō-class destroyer, conducted the JMSDF's maiden Tomahawk land-attack missile launch. Combined with last week's air-launched Type 12 and Type 25 cruise missile tests, Japan has activated three stand-off strike capabilities in days, reshaping Indo-Pacific deterrence geometry. The Aviationist

Poland embeds drone companies into mechanised battalions. Under the "Model 44" pilot programme, one of four combat companies in two Polish mechanised battalions is being replaced by a dedicated unmanned systems company — a structural integration of Ukraine war lessons into NATO's eastern flank land forces, rather than a bolt-on UAS capability. Hartpunkt

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Germany & DACH

Leonardo in no rush to sell its Hensoldt stake. CEO Mariani cited potential cooperation on Eurofighter and sixth-generation fighter programmes as reasons to hold the ~25% stake — a signal that Leonardo views Hensoldt as a GCAP-era industrial lever, not a disposal asset. Relevant as Germany considers its post-FCAS industrial alignment. UK Defence Journal

Bundeswehr University Munich opens drone research cage. The new indoor UAS test infrastructure expands the university's autonomous systems research capacity — a small but concrete investment in the Bundeswehr's long-term autonomy and human-machine teaming knowledge base. ESUT

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Worth Watching

US Navy pursuing submarine-launched anti-air missile — a modular anti-air arsenal concept that could reshape undersea force design and allied interoperability requirements. The War Zone

Leonardo exploring options for Iveco truck division — a sale to Rheinmetall is now just one of several possibilities; the outcome shapes European armoured vehicle industrial consolidation. UK Defence Journal

Poland plans dedicated Space Command — if established, Warsaw becomes one of very few European nations with a standalone space domain authority, relevant ahead of IRIS² and NATO space integration. Defence24