NATO’s 31 member states have endorsed the Hague Defense Agreement, reached at the alliance’s June summit, which raises the bloc’s collective defence-spending goal to 5% of gross domestic product—more than double the longstanding 2% benchmark.

Secretary General Mark Rutte credited U.S. President Donald Trump’s re-election for the breakthrough, saying the agreement would not have materialised without his pressure and arguing that allies "should be praising him" for strengthening the alliance.

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Indian authorities have finished identifying all 260 people killed when an Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed into a residential area shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad on 12 June. Health officials said DNA matching has been completed for the 241 passengers and crew who died and the 19 people killed on the ground. Only one passenger, a British citizen, survived.

The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, which is leading a probe that also includes U.S., U.K. and UN aviation specialists, is expected to publish a preliminary report by Friday, meeting the International Civil Aviation Organization’s 30-day deadline. The bureau told a parliamentary committee this week that no document has yet been filed, but three people familiar with the inquiry said investigators have narrowed their focus to the movement of the jet’s engine fuel control switches after flight-data recorders indicated a sudden loss of thrust.

Officials cautioned that the initial report may offer limited conclusions and that a full analysis could take months. The findings will be closely watched as Tata Group works to rebuild Air India’s safety reputation and as New Delhi pursues plans to turn the country into a regional aviation hub.

Boeing delivered 60 commercial aircraft in June, its highest monthly total since December 2023 and a 27% increase from a year earlier. The tally included 42 of its best-selling 737 Max narrow-bodies, nine 787 Dreamliners, four 777 freighters and five 767s.

The month marked Boeing’s return to the Chinese market, with eight of the jets handed over to carriers in China after Beijing lifted a delivery ban tied to a bilateral tariff dispute. Analysts view the resumption as critical to restoring the U.S. manufacturer’s cash flow and production cadence.

Read more

The U.S. Navy currently has two Nimitz-class aircraft carriers, USS Nimitz (CVN 68) and USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), operating in the Middle East within the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. The USS Carl Vinson has been deployed for nearly eight months and is expected to begin its return journey soon. Meanwhile, the USS Michael Monsoor is present in the western Pacific, a move that follows China's deployment of two aircraft carriers in that region.

A Reuters investigation of 36 voluntary carbon-offset projects in the Brazilian Amazon found that two-thirds of them involved landowners, forestry firms or developers previously fined by the federal environmental agency Ibama for illegal deforestation offences ranging from unauthorised clear-cutting to falsifying timber-tracking data. In 20 cases, fines pre-dated the projects’ registration with carbon-credit standards bodies, and in seven instances the penalties continued afterwards.

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South Korea has effectively abandoned a long-planned second purchase of 36 AH-64E Apache attack helicopters after lawmakers slashed the project’s 2025 allocation from 10 billion won (about US$7.3 million) to 300 million won (US$220,000) in a supplementary budget passed this week. The reduction leaves the programme without sufficient funds to proceed, according to opposition legislator Yoo Yong-won, who disclosed the figures.

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India’s aviation regulator reprimanded budget carrier Air India Express in mid-March for failing to replace critical components on one of its Airbus A320 aircraft within the deadline set by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency and for falsifying maintenance records to suggest the work had been completed, according to a confidential government memo seen by Reuters.

The EASA directive, issued in 2023 for CFM International LEAP-1A engines, warned that manufacturing deficiencies in seals and rotating parts could lead to high-energy debris release and loss of aircraft control if not remedied. DGCA inspectors found the mandated modification had not been carried out on aircraft registration VT-ATD and that entries in the airline’s Aircraft Maintenance and Engineering Operating System had been altered.

Read more

Families of the 52 Britons killed in the 12 June crash of Air India flight AI 171 in Ahmedabad say the UK government has provided scant on-the-ground assistance, leaving them “utterly abandoned” as they wait to repatriate remains and secure consular support. The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office has acknowledged logistical difficulties and says staff are working ‘around the clock’ in India and London.

Read more

The U.S. Space Force has awarded Boeing a contract worth about $2.8 billion to build two secure Evolved Strategic Satellite Communications (ESS) spacecraft that will underpin the nation’s nuclear command, control and communications network. The agreement includes options for two additional satellites that would further expand coverage and resilience if exercised.

Boeing is scheduled to deliver the first of the two space vehicles by 2031. The ESS design promises greater capacity, flexibility and resistance to jamming than existing systems, supporting presidential and national-defense communications in contested environments.

The U.S. House of Representatives narrowly approved President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax, health-care, immigration and defense package on Thursday, voting 218–214 to advance the measure to the Senate.

The legislation authorizes $150 billion in supplemental funding for the Pentagon, earmarked for shipbuilding, the homeland-defense Golden Dome project and restocking precision-guided munitions. Defense officials said the infusion would push military funding close to $1 trillion when combined with the administration’s separate base-budget request.

Tucked into the bill is a $40 million appropriation for a National Garden of American Heroes, a monument Trump first proposed during his initial term and revived by executive order earlier this year. Lawmakers backing the provision said the park is intended to help commemorate the nation’s 250th anniversary in 2026.

Between June 23 and July 5, 2025, multiple naval vessels from the United States and allied countries were observed arriving at and departing from key ports including San Diego, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Pearl Harbor, Boston, Manta, and others. Notable US Navy ships include the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers USS Chafee (DDG 90), USS Pinckney (DDG 91), USS Mustin (DDG 89), USS Bainbridge (DDG 96), USS Mason (DDG 87), USS Donald Cook (DDG 75), USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53), USS O'Kane (DDG 77), USS Gonzalez (DDG 66), USS Mitscher (DDG 57), USS Mahan (DDG 72), USS Delbert D. Black (DDG 119), and the San Antonio-class amphibious transport docks USS Somerset (LPD 25) and USS New York (LPD 21). The USS Normandy (CG 60), a Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser, was also noted leaving Norfolk.

The USNS Comfort (T-AH-20), a Mercy-class hospital ship, arrived in Manta, Ecuador. Additionally, the MV Pacific Collector, a US Department of Defense missile instrumentation ship, departed Honolulu, Hawaii. Allied naval activity included the arrival of the German Navy Braunschweig-class corvette FGS Erfurt (F262) in Rostock, the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force Izumo-class JS Kaga (DDH-184) transiting the Kanmon Strait, the French Navy Mistral-class amphibious assault ship FS Mistral (L9013) and La Fayette-class frigate FS Surcouf (F711) moving westbound in the English Channel, and the British Royal Navy's Duke-class Type 23 frigate HMS Iron Duke (F234) arriving in Portsmouth, England, alongside HMS Duncan loading ammunition at the UK’s UHAF. The Los Angeles-class attack submarine USS Newport News (SSN 750) was spotted in the Faroe Islands alongside a Faroese Coast Guard vessel. Meanwhile, the former USS John F. Kennedy (CV 67) aircraft carrier was undergoing scrapping in Brownsville, Texas, and the former Argentine Navy Type 42 destroyer ARA Santísima Trinidad (D-2) was seen in Puerto Belgrano, Argentina.

Vietnam plans to purchase 50 aircraft from Boeing Co., according to a report by Politico on Wednesday.

The prospective deal would mark one of the Southeast Asian nation’s largest jet acquisitions and add to Boeing’s backlog at a time when U.S. manufacturers are seeking to deepen their presence in fast-growing Asian markets.

The investigation into the Air India Flight AI-171 crash in Ahmedabad, which claimed 274 lives, is ongoing with the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) examining the black box in India. The black box's crash protection module was safely extracted on June 24, 2025, and the memory module was accessed on June 25, with data being downloaded at the AAIB lab. The probe is considering all possible angles, including sabotage, as confirmed by Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol. India initially resisted but later agreed to allow the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) observer status in the investigation to ensure transparency, with strict terms preventing interference in the AAIB's work.

Aviation experts and former officials have expressed confidence in India's investigative capabilities, emphasizing the importance of following proper protocols and transparency. Parliamentary committees have held extensive meetings with aviation officials, including Air India CEO Campbell Wilson and representatives from the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), and Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), to discuss aviation safety and the crash investigation. The preliminary focus of the probe has narrowed to the movement of engine fuel control switches as a potential technical cause. The AAIB has assured that the black box was recovered intact and decoded with assistance from the United States. A crash report is expected within three months. The investigation continues amid calls for a comprehensive safety audit and heightened scrutiny of India's civil aviation sector.

The Trump administration has suspended the U.S. Navy’s F/A-XX program, the service’s planned next-generation carrier-based fighter, according to a report by Axios released on 2 July.

Administration officials cited mounting “industry strain” as the primary reason for shelving the initiative, which had been intended to replace the Navy’s aging F/A-18E/F Super Hornets later in the decade. No timetable was provided for when, or if, development work might resume.

Bombardier has secured a $1.7 billion contract to sell 50 aircraft to an unnamed customer, including a service agreement. This deal has driven Bombardier's shares to their highest level in seven years, rising by 20%. Meanwhile, Boeing has been awarded a $2.8 billion contract by the U.S. Space Force to develop next-generation, nuclear-hardened strategic communications satellites. This SATCOM project, aimed at enhancing secure communication capabilities for U.S. leadership by 2031, could potentially scale up to $12 billion.

A Japan Airlines Boeing 737-800 operating codeshare flight JL8696 (Spring Japan IJ004) from Shanghai to Tokyo experienced a sudden pressurisation alert on 30 June, forcing the jet to dive roughly 26,000 feet and divert to Kansai International Airport in Osaka.

Flight-tracking data show the aircraft dropping from about 36,000 feet to near 10,500 feet in under ten minutes. Oxygen masks deployed and the captain declared an emergency before landing at 8:50 p.m. local time. All 191 passengers and crew disembarked safely, and no injuries were reported.

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Preliminary findings from simulator tests run by Air India pilots indicate that a technical malfunction—potentially a simultaneous failure of both engines—may have caused the 12 June crash of Flight AI171, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner that went down seconds after take-off from Ahmedabad. The recreated flight profiles showed that the aircraft’s configuration with landing gear deployed and wing flaps extended was not, by itself, sufficient to produce the catastrophic loss of lift seen in the accident, steering the inquiry toward mechanical or electrical faults.

Read more

Boeing will assume control of Spirit AeroSystems’ non-Airbus operations in Belfast after efforts to sell the Northern Ireland site to a third party collapsed, a Spirit spokesperson said on Tuesday. The move covers work unrelated to Airbus programs, including components for Bombardier business jets, and follows months of buyer talks that failed to yield an alternative owner.

The hand-over was foreseen in the $4.7 billion all-stock deal unveiled last year under which Boeing is reacquiring Spirit, two decades after spinning off the supplier. Under the same framework, Airbus is already set to take over Spirit facilities tied to its A220 wing, A350 engineering and potentially the A220 mid-fuselage program if no outside purchaser emerges.

Boeing said it "remains committed" to completing the Spirit acquisition and had long considered taking back the Belfast plant a possible outcome. The transaction will leave the U.S. and European rivals operating adjacent programs at the same site, while Bombardier said it is working with all parties to ensure continuity of supply.

Boeing Co. has confirmed company veteran Stephen Parker as permanent chief executive of its Defense, Space and Security division, moving him up from the interim role he has held since September 2024. Parker, who joined the planemaker in 1988 and previously served as the unit’s chief operating officer, assumes immediate responsibility for programs ranging from combat aircraft and helicopters to classified space systems.

The appointment fills a leadership gap created when former defense chief Ted Colbert left the company last year and follows Boeing’s decision on Monday to bring in former Lockheed Martin finance chief Jay Malave as group chief financial officer. Chief Executive Officer Kelly Ortberg said Parker had “stabilized operations” and improved execution during his interim tenure, a period marked by supply-chain challenges and cost overruns on fixed-price defense contracts.

Boeing’s defense arm is under pressure to deliver on major programs such as the KC-46 tanker and T-7 trainer while also integrating its recent win of the U.S. Air Force’s next-generation fighter contract. Parker’s permanent elevation rounds out Ortberg’s senior leadership team as the company seeks to restore profitability and credibility across its commercial and defense portfolios.

Families of several victims of Air India’s 12 June Flight AI-171 disaster are preparing to sue the carrier and aircraft maker Boeing in the United Kingdom and the United States, according to lawyers involved in the case. UK-based Keystone Law said it is readying filings in London’s High Court, while Chicago-based Wisner Law Firm is examining parallel claims against Boeing in a U.S. federal court. Article 33 of the Montreal Convention allows the suits to be brought where the airline operates or where victims had ties, and Articles 17 and 21 offer the possibility of unlimited liability for passenger deaths.

Read more

NATO’s 31 member states have endorsed the Hague Defense Agreement, reached at the alliance’s June summit, which raises the bloc’s collective defence-spending goal to 5% of gross domestic product—more than double the longstanding 2% benchmark.

Secretary General Mark Rutte credited U.S. President Donald Trump’s re-election for the breakthrough, saying the agreement would not have materialised without his pressure and arguing that allies "should be praising him" for strengthening the alliance.

Read more

Indian authorities have finished identifying all 260 people killed when an Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed into a residential area shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad on 12 June. Health officials said DNA matching has been completed for the 241 passengers and crew who died and the 19 people killed on the ground. Only one passenger, a British citizen, survived.

The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, which is leading a probe that also includes U.S., U.K. and UN aviation specialists, is expected to publish a preliminary report by Friday, meeting the International Civil Aviation Organization’s 30-day deadline. The bureau told a parliamentary committee this week that no document has yet been filed, but three people familiar with the inquiry said investigators have narrowed their focus to the movement of the jet’s engine fuel control switches after flight-data recorders indicated a sudden loss of thrust.

Officials cautioned that the initial report may offer limited conclusions and that a full analysis could take months. The findings will be closely watched as Tata Group works to rebuild Air India’s safety reputation and as New Delhi pursues plans to turn the country into a regional aviation hub.

Boeing delivered 60 commercial aircraft in June, its highest monthly total since December 2023 and a 27% increase from a year earlier. The tally included 42 of its best-selling 737 Max narrow-bodies, nine 787 Dreamliners, four 777 freighters and five 767s.

The month marked Boeing’s return to the Chinese market, with eight of the jets handed over to carriers in China after Beijing lifted a delivery ban tied to a bilateral tariff dispute. Analysts view the resumption as critical to restoring the U.S. manufacturer’s cash flow and production cadence.

Read more

The U.S. Navy currently has two Nimitz-class aircraft carriers, USS Nimitz (CVN 68) and USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), operating in the Middle East within the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. The USS Carl Vinson has been deployed for nearly eight months and is expected to begin its return journey soon. Meanwhile, the USS Michael Monsoor is present in the western Pacific, a move that follows China's deployment of two aircraft carriers in that region.

A Reuters investigation of 36 voluntary carbon-offset projects in the Brazilian Amazon found that two-thirds of them involved landowners, forestry firms or developers previously fined by the federal environmental agency Ibama for illegal deforestation offences ranging from unauthorised clear-cutting to falsifying timber-tracking data. In 20 cases, fines pre-dated the projects’ registration with carbon-credit standards bodies, and in seven instances the penalties continued afterwards.

Read more

South Korea has effectively abandoned a long-planned second purchase of 36 AH-64E Apache attack helicopters after lawmakers slashed the project’s 2025 allocation from 10 billion won (about US$7.3 million) to 300 million won (US$220,000) in a supplementary budget passed this week. The reduction leaves the programme without sufficient funds to proceed, according to opposition legislator Yoo Yong-won, who disclosed the figures.

Read more

India’s aviation regulator reprimanded budget carrier Air India Express in mid-March for failing to replace critical components on one of its Airbus A320 aircraft within the deadline set by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency and for falsifying maintenance records to suggest the work had been completed, according to a confidential government memo seen by Reuters.

The EASA directive, issued in 2023 for CFM International LEAP-1A engines, warned that manufacturing deficiencies in seals and rotating parts could lead to high-energy debris release and loss of aircraft control if not remedied. DGCA inspectors found the mandated modification had not been carried out on aircraft registration VT-ATD and that entries in the airline’s Aircraft Maintenance and Engineering Operating System had been altered.

Read more

Families of the 52 Britons killed in the 12 June crash of Air India flight AI 171 in Ahmedabad say the UK government has provided scant on-the-ground assistance, leaving them “utterly abandoned” as they wait to repatriate remains and secure consular support. The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office has acknowledged logistical difficulties and says staff are working ‘around the clock’ in India and London.

Read more

The U.S. Space Force has awarded Boeing a contract worth about $2.8 billion to build two secure Evolved Strategic Satellite Communications (ESS) spacecraft that will underpin the nation’s nuclear command, control and communications network. The agreement includes options for two additional satellites that would further expand coverage and resilience if exercised.

Boeing is scheduled to deliver the first of the two space vehicles by 2031. The ESS design promises greater capacity, flexibility and resistance to jamming than existing systems, supporting presidential and national-defense communications in contested environments.

The U.S. House of Representatives narrowly approved President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax, health-care, immigration and defense package on Thursday, voting 218–214 to advance the measure to the Senate.

The legislation authorizes $150 billion in supplemental funding for the Pentagon, earmarked for shipbuilding, the homeland-defense Golden Dome project and restocking precision-guided munitions. Defense officials said the infusion would push military funding close to $1 trillion when combined with the administration’s separate base-budget request.

Tucked into the bill is a $40 million appropriation for a National Garden of American Heroes, a monument Trump first proposed during his initial term and revived by executive order earlier this year. Lawmakers backing the provision said the park is intended to help commemorate the nation’s 250th anniversary in 2026.

Between June 23 and July 5, 2025, multiple naval vessels from the United States and allied countries were observed arriving at and departing from key ports including San Diego, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Pearl Harbor, Boston, Manta, and others. Notable US Navy ships include the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers USS Chafee (DDG 90), USS Pinckney (DDG 91), USS Mustin (DDG 89), USS Bainbridge (DDG 96), USS Mason (DDG 87), USS Donald Cook (DDG 75), USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53), USS O'Kane (DDG 77), USS Gonzalez (DDG 66), USS Mitscher (DDG 57), USS Mahan (DDG 72), USS Delbert D. Black (DDG 119), and the San Antonio-class amphibious transport docks USS Somerset (LPD 25) and USS New York (LPD 21). The USS Normandy (CG 60), a Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser, was also noted leaving Norfolk.

The USNS Comfort (T-AH-20), a Mercy-class hospital ship, arrived in Manta, Ecuador. Additionally, the MV Pacific Collector, a US Department of Defense missile instrumentation ship, departed Honolulu, Hawaii. Allied naval activity included the arrival of the German Navy Braunschweig-class corvette FGS Erfurt (F262) in Rostock, the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force Izumo-class JS Kaga (DDH-184) transiting the Kanmon Strait, the French Navy Mistral-class amphibious assault ship FS Mistral (L9013) and La Fayette-class frigate FS Surcouf (F711) moving westbound in the English Channel, and the British Royal Navy's Duke-class Type 23 frigate HMS Iron Duke (F234) arriving in Portsmouth, England, alongside HMS Duncan loading ammunition at the UK’s UHAF. The Los Angeles-class attack submarine USS Newport News (SSN 750) was spotted in the Faroe Islands alongside a Faroese Coast Guard vessel. Meanwhile, the former USS John F. Kennedy (CV 67) aircraft carrier was undergoing scrapping in Brownsville, Texas, and the former Argentine Navy Type 42 destroyer ARA Santísima Trinidad (D-2) was seen in Puerto Belgrano, Argentina.

Vietnam plans to purchase 50 aircraft from Boeing Co., according to a report by Politico on Wednesday.

The prospective deal would mark one of the Southeast Asian nation’s largest jet acquisitions and add to Boeing’s backlog at a time when U.S. manufacturers are seeking to deepen their presence in fast-growing Asian markets.

The investigation into the Air India Flight AI-171 crash in Ahmedabad, which claimed 274 lives, is ongoing with the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) examining the black box in India. The black box's crash protection module was safely extracted on June 24, 2025, and the memory module was accessed on June 25, with data being downloaded at the AAIB lab. The probe is considering all possible angles, including sabotage, as confirmed by Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol. India initially resisted but later agreed to allow the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) observer status in the investigation to ensure transparency, with strict terms preventing interference in the AAIB's work.

Aviation experts and former officials have expressed confidence in India's investigative capabilities, emphasizing the importance of following proper protocols and transparency. Parliamentary committees have held extensive meetings with aviation officials, including Air India CEO Campbell Wilson and representatives from the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), and Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), to discuss aviation safety and the crash investigation. The preliminary focus of the probe has narrowed to the movement of engine fuel control switches as a potential technical cause. The AAIB has assured that the black box was recovered intact and decoded with assistance from the United States. A crash report is expected within three months. The investigation continues amid calls for a comprehensive safety audit and heightened scrutiny of India's civil aviation sector.

The Trump administration has suspended the U.S. Navy’s F/A-XX program, the service’s planned next-generation carrier-based fighter, according to a report by Axios released on 2 July.

Administration officials cited mounting “industry strain” as the primary reason for shelving the initiative, which had been intended to replace the Navy’s aging F/A-18E/F Super Hornets later in the decade. No timetable was provided for when, or if, development work might resume.

Bombardier has secured a $1.7 billion contract to sell 50 aircraft to an unnamed customer, including a service agreement. This deal has driven Bombardier's shares to their highest level in seven years, rising by 20%. Meanwhile, Boeing has been awarded a $2.8 billion contract by the U.S. Space Force to develop next-generation, nuclear-hardened strategic communications satellites. This SATCOM project, aimed at enhancing secure communication capabilities for U.S. leadership by 2031, could potentially scale up to $12 billion.

A Japan Airlines Boeing 737-800 operating codeshare flight JL8696 (Spring Japan IJ004) from Shanghai to Tokyo experienced a sudden pressurisation alert on 30 June, forcing the jet to dive roughly 26,000 feet and divert to Kansai International Airport in Osaka.

Flight-tracking data show the aircraft dropping from about 36,000 feet to near 10,500 feet in under ten minutes. Oxygen masks deployed and the captain declared an emergency before landing at 8:50 p.m. local time. All 191 passengers and crew disembarked safely, and no injuries were reported.

Read more

Preliminary findings from simulator tests run by Air India pilots indicate that a technical malfunction—potentially a simultaneous failure of both engines—may have caused the 12 June crash of Flight AI171, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner that went down seconds after take-off from Ahmedabad. The recreated flight profiles showed that the aircraft’s configuration with landing gear deployed and wing flaps extended was not, by itself, sufficient to produce the catastrophic loss of lift seen in the accident, steering the inquiry toward mechanical or electrical faults.

Read more

Boeing will assume control of Spirit AeroSystems’ non-Airbus operations in Belfast after efforts to sell the Northern Ireland site to a third party collapsed, a Spirit spokesperson said on Tuesday. The move covers work unrelated to Airbus programs, including components for Bombardier business jets, and follows months of buyer talks that failed to yield an alternative owner.

The hand-over was foreseen in the $4.7 billion all-stock deal unveiled last year under which Boeing is reacquiring Spirit, two decades after spinning off the supplier. Under the same framework, Airbus is already set to take over Spirit facilities tied to its A220 wing, A350 engineering and potentially the A220 mid-fuselage program if no outside purchaser emerges.

Boeing said it "remains committed" to completing the Spirit acquisition and had long considered taking back the Belfast plant a possible outcome. The transaction will leave the U.S. and European rivals operating adjacent programs at the same site, while Bombardier said it is working with all parties to ensure continuity of supply.

Boeing Co. has confirmed company veteran Stephen Parker as permanent chief executive of its Defense, Space and Security division, moving him up from the interim role he has held since September 2024. Parker, who joined the planemaker in 1988 and previously served as the unit’s chief operating officer, assumes immediate responsibility for programs ranging from combat aircraft and helicopters to classified space systems.

The appointment fills a leadership gap created when former defense chief Ted Colbert left the company last year and follows Boeing’s decision on Monday to bring in former Lockheed Martin finance chief Jay Malave as group chief financial officer. Chief Executive Officer Kelly Ortberg said Parker had “stabilized operations” and improved execution during his interim tenure, a period marked by supply-chain challenges and cost overruns on fixed-price defense contracts.

Boeing’s defense arm is under pressure to deliver on major programs such as the KC-46 tanker and T-7 trainer while also integrating its recent win of the U.S. Air Force’s next-generation fighter contract. Parker’s permanent elevation rounds out Ortberg’s senior leadership team as the company seeks to restore profitability and credibility across its commercial and defense portfolios.

Families of several victims of Air India’s 12 June Flight AI-171 disaster are preparing to sue the carrier and aircraft maker Boeing in the United Kingdom and the United States, according to lawyers involved in the case. UK-based Keystone Law said it is readying filings in London’s High Court, while Chicago-based Wisner Law Firm is examining parallel claims against Boeing in a U.S. federal court. Article 33 of the Montreal Convention allows the suits to be brought where the airline operates or where victims had ties, and Articles 17 and 21 offer the possibility of unlimited liability for passenger deaths.

Read more