diff --git a/docs/reference/release-notes.asciidoc b/docs/reference/release-notes.asciidoc
index 77128b4b18c22..9d7211409a7eb 100644
--- a/docs/reference/release-notes.asciidoc
+++ b/docs/reference/release-notes.asciidoc
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ This section summarizes the changes in each release.
 
 * <<release-notes-8.18.0>>
 * <<release-notes-8.17.0>>
+* <<release-notes-8.16.3>>
 * <<release-notes-8.16.2>>
 * <<release-notes-8.16.1>>
 * <<release-notes-8.16.0>>
@@ -82,6 +83,7 @@ This section summarizes the changes in each release.
 
 include::release-notes/8.18.0.asciidoc[]
 include::release-notes/8.17.0.asciidoc[]
+include::release-notes/8.16.3.asciidoc[]
 include::release-notes/8.16.2.asciidoc[]
 include::release-notes/8.16.1.asciidoc[]
 include::release-notes/8.16.0.asciidoc[]
diff --git a/docs/reference/release-notes/8.16.3.asciidoc b/docs/reference/release-notes/8.16.3.asciidoc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..d148bf7a9579c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/reference/release-notes/8.16.3.asciidoc
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+[[release-notes-8.16.3]]
+== {es} version 8.16.3
+
+Also see <<breaking-changes-8.16,Breaking changes in 8.16>>.
+
+[[bug-8.16.3]]
+[float]
+=== Bug fixes
+
+CCS::
+* Resolve/cluster should mark remotes as not connected when a security exception is thrown {es-pull}119793[#119793]
+
+Data streams::
+* Add missing traces ilm policy for OTel traces data streams {es-pull}119449[#119449]
+
+ES|QL::
+* Allow DATE_PARSE to read the timezones {es-pull}118603[#118603] (issue: {es-issue}117680[#117680])
+
+ILM+SLM::
+* Add missing timeouts to rest-api-spec ILM APIs {es-pull}118837[#118837]
+* Add missing timeouts to rest-api-spec SLM APIs {es-pull}118958[#118958]
+
+Ingest Node::
+* Add missing timeouts to rest-api-spec ingest APIs {es-pull}118844[#118844]
+* Expose BwC enrich cache setting in plugin {es-pull}119131[#119131]
+* Fixing `GetDatabaseConfigurationAction` response serialization {es-pull}119233[#119233]
+
+Machine Learning::
+* Fix loss of context in the inference API for streaming APIs {es-pull}118999[#118999] (issue: {es-issue}119000[#119000])
+* Fix spike detection for short spikes at the tail of the data {es-pull}119637[#119637]
+* Fix timeout ingesting an empty string into a `semantic_text` field {es-pull}117840[#117840]
+
+Search::
+* Fix: do not let `_resolve/cluster` hang if remote is unresponsive {es-pull}119516[#119516]
+* Handle exceptions in query phase can match {es-pull}117469[#117469] (issue: {es-issue}104994[#104994])
+
+[[enhancement-8.16.3]]
+[float]
+=== Enhancements
+
+Authorization::
+* Improve handling of nested fields in index reader wrappers {es-pull}118757[#118757]
+
+Packaging::
+* In this release we've introduced an image based on the hardened link:https://github.com/wolfi-dev/[Wolfi] 
+image to provide secure containers to our self-managed customers, help with compliance regulations, 
+and improve our supply chain security posture. {es-pull}118684[#118684]
+
+[[upgrade-8.16.3]]
+[float]
+=== Upgrades
+
+Security::
+* Upgrade Bouncy Castle FIPS dependencies {es-pull}112989[#112989]
+
+
diff --git a/docs/reference/release-notes/highlights.asciidoc b/docs/reference/release-notes/highlights.asciidoc
index c82fd66795a81..a3fefb88019af 100644
--- a/docs/reference/release-notes/highlights.asciidoc
+++ b/docs/reference/release-notes/highlights.asciidoc
@@ -32,13 +32,23 @@ Other versions:
 
 endif::[]
 
-// The notable-highlights tag marks entries that
-// should be featured in the Stack Installation and Upgrade Guide:
 // tag::notable-highlights[]
-// [discrete]
-// === Heading
-//
-// Description.
+
+[discrete]
+[[add_new_experimental_rank_vectors_mapping_for_late_interaction_second_order_ranking]]
+=== Add new experimental `rank_vectors` mapping for late-interaction second order ranking
+Late-interaction models are powerful rerankers. While their size and overall cost doesn't lend itself for HNSW indexing, utilizing them as second order reranking can provide excellent boosts in relevance. The new `rank_vectors` mapping allows for rescoring over new and novel multi-vector late-interaction models like ColBERT or ColPali.
+
+{es-pull}118804[#118804]
+
+[discrete]
+[[8_x_add_new_experimental_rank_vectors_mapping_for_late_interaction_second_order_ranking]]
+=== [8.x] Add new experimental `rank_vectors` mapping for late-interaction second order ranking
+Backports the following commits to 8.x:  - Add new experimental
+rank_vectors mapping for late-interaction second order ranking (#118804)
+
+{es-pull}119601[#119601]
+
 // end::notable-highlights[]