2023 Military Aviation News
06/05/2023
An unresponsive airplane flying over Washington, D.C., on Sunday prompted military fighter jets to intercept the plane at hypersonic levels, causing a loud sonic boom heard around D.C. and Virginia, officials said. The plane later crashed in Virginia and no survivors were found.
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06/05/2023
A handful of former German fighter pilots are reportedly working as military trainers in China and receiving enormous salaries, indicating yet another incident of “poaching” by China after similar patterns were recorded in the US, the UK, and France.
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06/05/2023
China’s defense minister defended sailing a warship across the path of an American destroyer and Canadian frigate transiting the Taiwan Strait, telling a gathering of some of the world’s top defense officials in Singapore on Sunday that such so-called “freedom of navigation” patrols are a provocation to China.
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06/03/2023
The Russian-occupied Azov Sea port city of Berdyansk in Zaporizhzhia Oblast was struck by a Ukrainian missile on Friday, an occupation official said. Located about 60 miles from the front lines, Berdyansk is the latest example of long-distance targets Ukraine can now hit thanks to donated weapons. This is at least the fourth attack on the port city in the past few weeks.
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06/03/2023
The US Air Force (USAF) is denying reports that an unmanned aerial system (UAS) powered by artificial intelligence turned against its operators during an exercise. Recent comments by a USAF test pilot at a Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS) summit in London appeared to indicate such an event had occurred during a training exercise simulation.
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06/03/2023
The blazing Langkawi sun did little to deter the crowds that had gathered on the tarmac to catch a glimpse of the ear-busting action unfolding above them at the Mahsuri International Exhibition Centre, right beside the island’s airport.
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06/02/2023
Team Misawa hosted the latest iteration of a PACIFIC WEASEL exercise over Draughon Range near Misawa Air Base, Japan, May 26, 2023. PAC WEASEL is a recurring air combat exercise that allows joint and bilateral partners to discover innovative solutions for any given mission. This exercise series supports the U.S. commitment to defend a free and open Indo-Pacific region by enhancing the readiness and tactical capabilities of U.S. Forces Japan and Japan Self-Defense Forces.
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06/02/2023
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that Poland will help Ukraine train F-16 combat aircraft pilots, After speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and several other European officials at the meeting of European leaders in Moldova.
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06/02/2023
Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI) had the distinction of signing the largest contract for an export sale to the armed forces of Malaysia during the May 23-27 Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition (LIMA). The Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) will acquire 18 of the FA-50 Block 20 “Fighting Eagle” trainer/light combat aircraft, a jet jointly developed by KAI with Lockheed Martin in the US. These aircraft will replace the BAE Systems Hawk 208 light fighters already in service.
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06/01/2023
U.S. defense officials are warning of an "alarming increase" in aggressive intercepts from Chinese military aircraft and vessels following a close encounter between a Chinese fighter jet and a U.S. military plane in international airspace over the South China Sea last week. These "risky" intercepts have the "potential to create an unsafe incident or miscalculation," said two U.S. defense officials who spoke about the incident on the condition of anonymity.
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06/01/2023
A Navy F-5N Tiger II crashed about 25 miles off the coast of Naval Air Station Key West, Fla., at 9:20 a.m local time., the service announced on Wednesday. The pilot of the fighter, assigned to the “Sun Downers” of Fighter Squadron Composite (VFC) 111, was recovered by the crew of a MH-60S Knight Hawk. The pilot was flown to a Miami hospital for further treatment, according to a service statement.
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06/01/2023
Over the next two weeks, more than two dozen US Air Force jets and tankers will participate in the drills, which began on May 29 and will last through June 9. The Arctic drills will feature 150 aircraft from 14 nations and take place at bases across Sweden, Finland, and Norway.
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06/01/2023
The Biden administration is poised to sign off on a deal that would allow General Electric Co to produce jet engines powering Indian military aircraft in that country, according to three people briefed on the decision. A deal finalizing the joint production of the engines is expected to be inked and announced by the time President Joe Biden hosts Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for an official state visit on June 22, the people said on condition of anonymity because the decision has not been
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05/31/2023
Aiming to secure support for Sweden's bid to join NATO, U.S. President Joe Biden signaled a transactional approach in his engagement with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The newly reelected Turkish leader has been one of the most consequential yet complicated members of the transatlantic military alliance.
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05/31/2023
Poland plans to purchase at least two Swedish early warning aircraft to complement additional tethered warning systems, but they’re perhaps not the planes some observers had been expecting. Early last week Poland’s defense minister, Mariusz Blaszczak, announced that he and his Swedish counterpart, Pal Jonson, had been in discussion, and Warsaw was “very advanced in acquiring early warning aircraft from Sweden.
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05/31/2023
The Botswana Defence Force is in talks with India’s state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) with a view to acquiring several of its Tejas fighter planes. In a move aimed at enhancing its defence capabilities, the Botswana Defence Force (BDF) is currently engaged in talks with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), India’s state-owned aerospace and defense company.
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05/31/2023
A People's Republic of China J-16 fighter pilot performed an unnecessarily aggressive maneuver during the intercept of a U.S. Air Force RC-135 aircraft, May 26, 2023. The PRC pilot flew directly in front of the nose of the RC-135, forcing the U.S. aircraft to fly through its wake turbulence. The RC-135 was conducting safe and routine operations over the South China Sea in international airspace, in accordance with international law.
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05/30/2023
Josh Lospinoso’s first cybersecurity startup was acquired in 2017 by Raytheon/Forcepoint. His second, Shift5, works with the U.S. military, rail operators and airlines including JetBlue. A 2009 West Point grad and Rhodes Scholar, the 36-year-old former Army captain spent more than a decade authoring hacking tools for the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command.
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05/30/2023
The trilateral drills will be done off Bataan province that’s facing the South China Sea from June 1 to 7, according to a Philippine Coast Guard statement Monday. The exercises will “strengthen interoperability” and will include maritime law enforcement training and maneuvering drills, it said.
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05/30/2023
The Ministry of Armed Forces tabled the amendment earlier this month to provide more information about the Rafale program’s upcoming efforts, particularly those related to the new F5 version that will be developed under the Military Planning Program (LPM) 2024-2030.
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05/29/2023
Russia unleashed waves of air strikes on Kyiv overnight in what officials said was the largest drone attack of the city but crowds poured into the streets later on Sunday to celebrate the anniversary of the Ukrainian capital's founding. Ukrainian military said it had downed 58 of the 59 launched drones, described by the air force as a record assault with the Iranian-made "kamikaze" drones. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said all 36 drones targeting Kyiv had been destroyed.
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05/29/2023
Tensions between Afghanistan and Iran escalated over the weekend after a heavy exchange of gunfire near a border post that killed at least three people and wounded several others. The clash appeared to have its roots in a simmering dispute over the rights of the two neighbors to their shared water resources.
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05/29/2023
Malaysia’s MoD signed several contracts for aircraft – Italian-built maritime patrol aircraft, Turkish MALE UAVs and South Korean light combat aircraft – at LIMA 2023 in Langkawi on 25 May. The deal for three Anka-S MALE UAVs was worth MYR423.8 million ($91.6 million) to Turkish Aerospace, and it was much awaited given that the two parties signed a letter of intent in around October 2022 after the RMAF had selected the Anka-S.
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05/28/2023
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, have become synonymous with modern warfare. During the early phases of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the latter’s Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2s made international headlines by destroying scores of Russian tanks, armored vehicles, and air-defense systems with seeming impunity.
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05/28/2023
The Canadian defense minister Anita Anand announced at the 12th Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) meeting on May 25 that Canada will supply the Raytheon AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles to Kyiv. The announcement was part of a larger military assistance program for Ukraine.
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05/27/2023
While in Manila, Senator Penny Wong declared that Australia is committed to continuing its presence in the West Philippine Sea and South China Sea to maintain peace and stability in the region. She added that Australia is open to cooperating with all like-minded states to exercise freedom of navigation and overflight over the South China Sea. And in this respect, Australia considers the Philippines a long-standing and important security partner.
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05/27/2023
Egypt is in advanced talks with China for the purchase of around 12 of the latest version of the J-10 Vigorous Dragon multirole combat fighter jet, The New Arab reports. Talks between the two sides started last year and the North African country is expected to send representatives of its Air force to the Chinese state-owned Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group at the International Maritime and Aeronautical Exhibition in Malaysia later this week, the London-based media stressed.
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05/27/2023
Today, Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder explained in further detail that the training, and any eventual transfer of F-16 aircraft to Ukraine is meant to support mid- and long-term defense needs, rather than defense in the short term for an expected counter-offensive against Russian forces.
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05/27/2023
Swedish defense minister has revealed that the Scandinavian country is considering training Ukrainian pilots on its JAS-39 Gripen fighter jets as an international coalition to train and deploy Western aircraft to Ukraine is slowly taking shape.
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05/26/2023
Sweden and Poland are negotiating the sale of the GlobalEye Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft. These aircraft will allow Poland to detect, monitor, and target low-flying objects like Russian cruise missiles. However, GlobalEye provides much more than that; it is a multiplier of combat capabilities for air, land, and sea units.
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05/26/2023
The Air Force has selected the Oregon Air National Guard’s 173rd Fighter Wing as the preferred location to host the service’s next F-35A Lightning II training squadron. The F-35A is the Air Force’s latest and most-capable fifth-generation fighter. The basing decision announced today becomes final when a Record of Decision is signed upon favorable completion of an Environmental Impact Statement on the proposal now underway.
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05/26/2023
The CEO of French group Dassault Aviation, Eric Trappier, is opposed to European countries that have opted for the US F-35 fighter jet – Belgium in particular – joining the Future Air Combat System (SCAF) programme, which links France, Germany and Spain.
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05/26/2023
The National Guard reports the destruction of one and damage to another Russian Su-25 attack aircraft on the Zaporizhzhia front. One of them was shot down by the Hero of Ukraine, a guardsman with the call sign Bandyt, nicknamed Zaporizskyi Mesnyk (Avenger from Zaporizhzhia).
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05/24/2023
Taiwan has equipped its most sophisticated fighter jet, the F-16 Viper, with new air-to-air missiles in what is being seen as a response to People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes routinely flying sorties close to the self-governing island.
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05/24/2023
South Korea has signed a contract with Malaysia for the export of 18 FA-50 light attack jets, with South Korean Minister of National Defense Lee Jong-sup attending the signing ceremony.
Earlier, India’s LCA Tejas and Turkey’s Hurjet were considered key contenders for the Malaysian contract but eventually lost to South Korea.
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05/24/2023
The United States Department of Defense has reportedly turned down Thailand’s request to procure advanced fifth-generation F-35 fighter jets, reported Bangkok Post, citing a Royal Thai Air Force source. However, the US has extended an alternative proposal, offering the Southeast Asian nation the opportunity to purchase F-16 Block 70 and F-15 Eagle fighters, the report said.
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05/23/2023
During a meeting with his European Union counterparts in Brussels, the head of the Portuguese diplomacy considered his nation lacks available combat aircraft to send to Ukraine, although it is open to train pilots for the F-16s, according to television reports. Portugal does not have an unlimited number of combat aircrafts, only the necessary ones, in order to fulfill national defense tasks and commitments within the framework of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the official noted.
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05/23/2023
In December 2022, Japan, Italy and the United Kingdom signed an agreement to partner in the development of a sixth-generation stealth fighter aircraft. The goal of the Global Combat Air Program (GCAP) is to produce aircraft ready for export and deployment by 2035. This represents a new frontier for Japanese weaponry co-development and is a prime opportunity to enhance regional security cooperation.
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05/23/2023
Only one company will be chosen next year as the overall designer and developer of the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) crewed fighter, despite years of prototype work on different designs by several companies, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said May 22.
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05/22/2023
The US says it will allow its Western allies to supply Ukraine with advanced fighter jets, including American-made F-16s, in a major boost for Kyiv. National security adviser Jake Sullivan said President Joe Biden "informed his G7 counterparts" of the decision at the bloc's summit in Japan on Friday. US troops will also train Kyiv's pilots to use the jets, Mr Sullivan said.
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05/20/2023
The US Air Force has formally begun the competition for its highly-classified Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) fighter aircraft. A contract solicitation for the program’s engineering and manufacturing phase was recently issued to industry partners. The solicitation marks the start of the source selection process and provides interested vendors with the requirements for the sixth-generation aircraft development.
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05/20/2023
Denmark will train Ukrainian pilots on U.S.-built F-16 fighter jets and is open to discussions on their possible transfer, Acting Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said on May 19. Speaking with Danish media outlets DR and Ritzau, Poulsen didn't provide any further details on the training, saying its format would be finalized with allies during the next month. "We are open to discussing – once we have made the training efforts – whether we should go one step further and donate F-16 fighter jet
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05/20/2023
After months of U.S. insistence that Ukraine did not need F-16s to fight its war with Russia, Washington finally relented to pressure, agreeing not to stop allied nations from sending Kyiv the advanced Western fighter jets it has long desired.
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05/19/2023
The B-2 Spirit is returning to the skies, Air Force officials told Air & Space Forces Magazine. The first aircraft is projected to take off May 22 after a break in flying operations due to a safety pause. The return to flight was recently approved by Air Force Global Strike Command boss Gen. Thomas A. Bussiere, after a roughly six-month safety pause following a mishap in December.
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05/19/2023
NATO Defense Ministers will discuss the issue of a possible transfer of Western fighter jets to Ukraine at a meeting in June, which will precede the Alliance summit, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in an interview with Spiegel. Commenting on the issue of a possible transfer of Western fighter jets to Ukraine, Stoltenberg said the supply of weapons developed as the war progressed, the European Pravda publication said.
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05/19/2023
Adedeji Ebo was briefing the Security Council on the issue of Western weapons supplies to Ukraine, called by permanent member Russia – the fourth time it has been presented for discussion in light of the ongoing conflict. The Deputy to the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs said the transfers of weapons systems and ammunition from Western governments backing Kyiv, was no secret, including battle tanks, combat aircraft, missile systems and helicopters.
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05/19/2023
The plan of the Armada Argentina (Argentine Navy) to reactivate its squadron of fighter aircraft ended. According to Zona Militar, the five Dassault Super Étendard Modernisé jets, bought second-hand from France in 2019, will not be activated. The decision was taken by the Ministry of Defense of the country this week.
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05/19/2023
The U.S. Air Force has formally launched a competition to build its new fighter jet, the Pentagon’s first in two decades, with the winner to be selected next year. The acquisition strategy for the Next Generation Air Dominance, or NGAD, aircraft “incorporates lessons learned from recent Air Force acquisition programs and will leverage open architecture standards,” the Air Force said in a statement released Thursday.
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05/19/2023
Northrop Grumman has once again incorporated what seems to be its notional Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) crewed platform concept into its latest advertisements. This follows another ad from 2021 that teased the same design, although that ad didn’t offer a wide-angle view of it.
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05/17/2023
The historical alliance between South Korea and the United States has led to a reliance on US defence equipment and a considerable market share for US suppliers. However, South Korea’s ongoing indigenous programs indicate its intent to expand its defence capabilities and foster competition within the market.
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05/17/2023
Raytheon Technologies and Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) have partnered to upgrade the FA-50 light combat aircraft’s radar technology. Under the collaboration, Raytheon will equip the jet with its proprietary PhantomStrike radars that provide long-range threat identification, tracking, and targeting. The production will be carried out in the US states of Arizona and Mississippi as well as in Scotland.
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05/16/2023
A People’s Liberation Army Navy surface action group is continuing its circumnavigation of Japan ahead of the annual G-7 summit later this month in Hiroshima. The surface action group – which includes cruiser CNS Lhasa (102), destroyer CNS Guiyang (119), frigate CNS Zaozhuang (542) and fleet oiler CNS Taihu (889) – was sighted at midnight on Thursday sailing southwest in an area 56 miles east of Sumisu Island, part of the Izu Island chain that lies south of Japan’s capital of Tokyo.
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05/16/2023
The UK announced on Monday that this summer country will commence an elementary flying phase for cohorts of Ukrainian pilots to learn basic training. “This is a crucial moment in Ukraine’s resistance to a terrible war of aggression they did not choose or provoke. They need the sustained support of the international community to defend against the barrage of unrelenting and indiscriminate attacks that have been their daily reality for over a year,” British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said.
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05/16/2023
The F-16 Fighting Falcon is a versatile combat aircraft with a long history of being tested and proven effective in air-to-air combat and air-to-surface attack. This compact jet offers a high-performance weapon system at a relatively low cost, making it an attractive choice for the United States and its allies.
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05/16/2023
U.S. fighter jets intercepted six Russian aircraft last week operating in international airspace near Alaska, military officials announced Monday. F-16 and F-22 fighter jets on Thursday intercepted Russian aircraft that included TU-95 bombers, IL-78 tankers and SU-35 fighter jets, according to officials with the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD. The Russian planes remained in international airspace and did not enter U.S. or Canadian territory.
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05/16/2023
Ukraine has no permanent seat at the G7 leaders’ summit. But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has already made sure his talking points will dominate discussions at the G7’s annual get-together in Japan this weekend. Zelenskyy arrived in the U.K. unexpectedly Monday morning after visiting Italy, Germany and France as part of a diplomatic blitz designed to ramp up military support for his country and — crucially — to build the case among Western allies for modern jet aircraft to be shipped
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05/15/2023
U.S. fighter jets intercepted six Russian aircraft operating in international airspace near Alaska, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said on Sunday. NORAD described the interception as "routine" and said they happen roughly six or seven times per year in the so-called Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone.The Russian planes included TU-95 bombers, IL-78 tankers and SU-35 fighter jets, NORAD said in a written statement.
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05/15/2023
A former Irish Air Corps captain tells Sky News the existence of a deal with the RAF was an "open secret" among Irish pilots - as a 2022 report warned Ireland "has no air defence capability of any significance".
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05/15/2023
The US Air Force updated the Senate Armed Service Committee regarding the status of its top-secret missile project earlier this month, saying that it could be entering production sometime later this year and at an accelerated rate. This next-generation air-to-air missile program, dubbed by the service as AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile, or JATM, has been tightly kept under wraps since it first emerged mid- to late-2010s. It is one, if not the most significant ongoing future weapon projec
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05/14/2023
Located only 200 km from NATO-members Finland and Norway, Olenya Air Base is closely watched by military analysts. The 3,500 m runway normally serves a small fleet of elderly Tu-22M supersonic bombers and a few An-12 military transport planes. Last autumn, however, the role of the air base as a forward deployment field for long-range aviation was activated.
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05/14/2023
After spending over twelve years in the shipyard in Newport News, the US Navy‘s largest aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), has recently departed from its naval homeport for its first global deployment. The lead ship of her class, the USS Gerald R. Ford, previously conducted operations and training exercises in the Atlantic Ocean following its commissioning in 2017.
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05/14/2023
In a sensational development, Ukrainian forces reportedly downed four Russian aircraft on May 13, 2023 – two Russian Mi-8 helicopters, one Su-34 fighter bomber, and one Su-35S fighter. No concrete video evidence of the Su-35S shootdown has been released till the time of posting this report.
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05/14/2023
The MiG-21 LanceR was the longest serving fighter jet in Romanian Air Force. After 61 years of career, the iconic MiG-21 LanceR, the longest-lived fighter aircraft in the history of the Romanian Air Force, successfully completed its final flight mission at Boboc, in eastern Romania. The last flight was celebrated with the traditional passage under a water tunnel.
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05/13/2023
The U.S. Air Force has since the early 2010s concentrated a growing portion of its investments into preparations for a potential hot war against a major state adversary in the Western Pacific. The shift followed the Obama administration’s “pivot to Asia,” aimed at reorienting American military and diplomatic attentions toward countering China.
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05/13/2023
Taiwan's air defense capabilities have come into focus in recent weeks, after the Washington Post reported that Taiwan would struggle to handle aerial offensive operations from China, citing classified documents leaked by a 21-year-old American man who was a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard.
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05/13/2023
urkiye hosted the exercise Anatolian Eagle out of 3rd main Jet Base Konya and provided the multinational participants with realistic combat training opportunities in a high-threat environment from May 5 to 12, 2023.
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05/13/2023
Unconfirmed reports in Iran’s press suggest the country may take delivery of the first batch of Su-35 Flanker-E fighter jets it ordered from Russia in the coming weeks. In an article that has since been removed, Iran’s official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported that the jets, also known as “Super Flankers,” will soon arrive in Iran. In light of the article’s deletion and past rumors that the aircraft began arriving in April.
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05/12/2023
According to the report, 12 fighter jets were transferred from the United States to a Polish airbase for military drills in early April. Three of the fighters arrived at Estonia’s Amari airbase near Tallinn this week. The drills include the practice of quickly responding to threats in cooperation with other countries.
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05/12/2023
The UK’s decision to supply Storm Shadow air-launched land attack missiles to Ukraine, offering a long-range, stand-off strike capability with a range of more than 250km, represents that latest evolution of London’s support to Kyiv, ahead of a much-anticipated counter-offensive against Russia.
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05/12/2023
A recent report published in BBC details how the Ukrainian fighter jets are forced to maneuver and fly at very low altitudes to escape an air-to-air missile fired by the Su-35 fighter jet of the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS). When fired on, the fighter pilots know they must abort their mission and do whatever they can to survive.
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05/11/2023
Activities begin this month across 10 countries in Europe and continue through June as part of a U.S. Army-led exercise DEFENDER 2023, which U.S. Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa is supporting in several ways. Six C-17 Globemaster III aircraft from Air Mobility Command’s 62nd Airlift Wing based at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, and three C-130 Hercules aircraft from the Air Force Reserve Command’s 403rd Wing based at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi, will support DEFENDER 23.
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05/11/2023
A dramatic game of cat and mouse has unfurled in the skies over the Black Sea, pitting Western surveillance aircraft against Russian fighter jets. The encounters roughly started when Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, and Ukraine increasingly leaned on Western intelligence to counter the Russian threat. Even since the military operations, the ‘encounters’ have only intensified. Earlier this week, a Russian warplane came dangerously close to a Polish aircraft over the Black Sea.
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05/11/2023
The Czech Republic could give Ukraine some of its L-159 fighter jets to support its planned counter-offensive, Czech President Petr Pavel was quoted as saying on Wednesday. Prague has been among Kyiv's staunchest allies from the outbreak of Russia's aggression last February, providing material from ammunition to tanks worth billions of dollars.
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05/10/2023
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall insists the service needs to modernize rapidly to face the threat of China. But modernization does not just mean fielding new aircraft, Kendall and other service leaders argue—the Air Force also needs to retire its aging airplanes. “The truth is the Air Force needs things like electric warfare, battle management, intelligence, cyber capabilities, all of these things,” Kendall said at the Ash Carter Exchange defense conference May 9. “It doesn’t just need airplan
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05/10/2023
NATO Air Policing troops have been put on high alert after a Russian fighter jet approached a Polish Border Guard aircraft over the Black Sea, the Polish press agency PAP reported on Tuesday. The Polish crew reportedly lost control of the aircraft for a moment but landed safely, said Polish Border Guard spokeswoman??????? Anna Michalska. The plane landed safely at Mihail Kogalniceanu Airport and none of the crew members on board were injured as a result of the incident, she said.
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05/10/2023
The F-35 and F-15EX are so different in so many respects that comparing them might not make sense. Yet, the two aircraft have been analyzed in relation to one another for years, given the ongoing debates about whether it makes sense to add a fourth-generation "plus" plane in more significant numbers and reduce the size of the F-35 buy.
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05/10/2023
Finland is in charge this year as the planes now start to arrive at the four different military air bases in the three countries. Kick-off is May 29 and the exercise will see daily combat training in the skies until June 9. Playgrounds for the war games are from near the border with Russia in the east to the coast of the Norwegian Sea in the west.
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05/08/2023
When it comes to military hardware, nothing quite catches the ordinary person’s imagination like fighter jets. They are, in many ways, charismatic objects elevated often to being sources of national pride. This is doubly the case if the plane in question can be labelled to some degree as being indigenous.
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05/08/2023
The 156th Wing, along with four other Air National Guard Wings, two Air Force Reserve Wings, the U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard and other government agencies partnered to execute Operation Hoodoo Sea, an agile combat training exercise led by the Virginia Air National Guard, which occurred on the southeast U.S. coast, during the first week of May.
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05/08/2023
Türkiye does not ask the United States to allow Ankara to return to the F-35 fighter jet program but just wants reimbursement of its money already paid for the project, the Turkish foreign minister has said on May 7. “We are not saying ‘Let’s go back to the F-35 [program] right now.’ We are saying ‘Give us our money back.’ Because we produce our own national combat aircraft,” Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavusoglu said in a televised interview.
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05/08/2023
On Friday, a Russian Su-35 fighter jet performed a dangerous interception of an L410 TURBOLET aircraft belonging to the Polish Border Guard Service, which was on a scheduled patrol mission under the auspices of Frontex over the Black Sea in international airspace in cooperation with Romanian services. The incident happened around 13:20, 60 km to the east from Romanian airspace.
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05/07/2023
An F-16 Fighting Falcon assigned to the 8th Fighter Wing at Kunsan Air Base, South Korea, crashed in an agricultural area about 11½ miles from Osan Air Base at approximately 9:45 a.m. Saturday. The pilot ejected safely and was transported to the Osan Air Base Urgent Care Center for evaluation, according to a news release from the 51st Fighter Wing, the host unit at Osan. The pilot is in stable condition and no other injuries, including civilians, have been reported.
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05/07/2023
Ukraine said it has shot down a Russian hypersonic missile over Kyiv using newly acquired US-made Patriot defense systems. Ukrainian Air Force commander Mykola Oleshchuk announced the operation on Telegram on Saturday. He said that a Kinzhal-type ballistic missile was intercepted in an overnight attack on May 4.
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05/06/2023
For most of the past year, one of the central mysteries of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has been the question of why the Kremlin’s much-vaunted air force didn’t show up to the fight. Russia’s fifth-generation Sukhoi fighter jets were even absent from the Kremlin’s last Victory Day parade commemorating the end of World War II, and U.S. defense officials believed that the war had ground down the defense industrial base churning out fighters and bombers.
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05/06/2023
We can assume that the F-22’s new integral ladder means that Raptor’s CONOPs have changed and that the aircraft can be now operated out of unprepared locations. Five Air National Guard wings are conducting agile combat training as part of an exercise called Operation Hoodoo Sea in the coastal southeast of the US. Airmen from multiple job specialties will be tasked to operate as multi-capable Airmen, supporting the F-22, KC-135, C-17 and strategic bomber aircraft active in the exercise.
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05/06/2023
Taiwan’s National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology President, Zhang Zhongcheng, said he can “unmanned” the F-5 fighter jets being retired by the Taiwan Air Force to deal with frequent incursions of People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft into Taiwan’s airspace.
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05/06/2023
Ukrainian aviation industry to start producing aircraft for military purposes in cooperation with Czech colleagues. During his visit to Kyiv on April 28, 2023, President of the Czech Republic Petr Pavel announced his intention to develop cooperation with Ukraine in the defense sector in six areas. The President noted that this cooperation could include partial or complete transfer of technologies and production to Ukraine, as well as an appropriate level of localization.
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05/05/2023
Commandos and pilots with the US Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) successfully landed a range of aircraft on a rural highway in Wyoming during recent training exercises. The drills on 2 May near Rawlins, Wyoming, included a Lockheed Martin MC-130J Commando II multi-role special operations transport, Fairchild Republic A-10 ground attack jets, a General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and two Boeing MH-6M Little Bird helicopters from the US Army.
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05/04/2023
A Russian surface-to-air missile came close to striking an American MQ-9 Reaper drone over Syria in November, passing and detonating within 40 feet and damaging the aircraft, according to new details disclosed by a U.S. official to Air & Space Forces Magazine. The U.S. had already revealed the launch of a Russian SA-22 Pantsir surface-to-air missile against the drone but previously did not disclose the damage or how close the missile came to downing the aircraft Nov. 27. The drone was able to re
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05/04/2023
Colonel Yuriy Ihnat, the spokesperson for the Air Force, disclosed this information at a press conference held at the Ukraine-Ukrinform media center, according to local media reports. The Air Force spokesperson claimed the Russian military possesses two advanced aircraft – the Su-57 Felon and Su-75 Checkmate. He added that these advanced planes, dubbed “super-planes,” are considered sixth-generation fighters and have been showcased at exhibitions.
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05/04/2023
On Sunday, RAF Lossiemouth based Typhoon fighter jets were scrambled to intercept a Russian Tu-142 Maritime Patrol aircraft that was operating near UK airspace. The aircraft, known by the NATO code name Bear-F, approached from the North-East and was monitored by NATO forces including Norwegian F-35A fighter aircraft. RAF Typhoons were launched as part of Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) procedures to ensure the safety of UK airspace, as per information published by the Royal Airforce.
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05/04/2023
On April 11, General Atomics announced that AI and human pilots had successfully done combat maneuvers with the company's MQ-20 Avenger unmanned combat aerial vehicle. The test involved human operators sending commands to the aircraft through a satellite in low earth orbit. The aircraft were also tracked and maneuvered by AI pilots operating autonomously. Data was collected and used to retrain and redeploy AI pilots via satellite connection while the aircraft was still airborne.
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05/03/2023
Fighter and advanced trainer jets from the Philippine Air Force (PAF) and United States Air Force (USAF) have dominated the country’s skies for the launch of the Cope Thunder Philippines Exercise (CT Ph) 23-1 on Monday, May 1.
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05/03/2023
South Korea’s Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) plans to increase its manufacturing capacity for the FA-50 Fighting Eagle by building two additional production lines in 2024. According to reports from local media, the move seeks to meet the apparent high demand for light combat aircraft. Multiple new customers are reportedly considering the Fighting Eagles due to their competitive price and fast delivery timelines.
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05/03/2023
Combat aircraft designers at Lockheed Martin Corp. will build 126 F-35 jet fighter-bombers for U.S. military services and allies under terms of a $7.8 billion order announced on Friday. Officials of the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md. - the organization handling F-35 aviation technology procurement for all military forces - are asking the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics segment in Fort Worth, Texas, to procure 126 Lot 15 F-35 joint strike fighter aircraft.
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05/03/2023
Türkiye's domestically developed KAAN fifth-generation fighter jet will make its maiden flight after completing high-speed taxi tests, a test pilot of the aircraft said. Gökhan Bayramoglu told Anadolu Agency (AA) that the KAAN is on its way to becoming an effective weapon of the Turkish military with indigenous software and hardware.
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05/02/2023
Poland has struck a landmark agreement with the UK to acquire MBDA CAMM missiles and iLaunchers to equip 22 PILICA+ air defense batteries, as it continues a major military spending spree to deter Russian aggression.
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05/02/2023
Air Combat Command (ACC) told Air & Space Forces Magazine, that if Congress agrees with the US Air Force (USAF) ’s request to retire 32 Block 20 F-22 Raptor stealth fighter jets as part of its fiscal 2024 budget, the aircraft will be used as trainers a while longer, then stored for an undetermined period at the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base’s Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG) “Boneyard” in Arizona.
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05/02/2023
Top guns flying in Britain's new supersonic stealth jet will go to war with a fleet of 'Terminator-style' drones capable of detecting and destroying enemies by themselves, with developers today insisting: 'Nothing is off the table.' The Tempest fighter jets will be the most sophisticated warplanes on Earth, armed with an array of deadly weaponry, including hypersonic missiles and Star Wars-style 'energy-directed' weapons, as well as kit that will help them evade enemy radar.
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05/02/2023
Türkiye’s domestically developed 5th-generation fighter jet will be named "KAAN," President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced Monday. Erdogan’s remarks came after the TF-X, known as the National Combat Aircraft (MMU), made a runway debut and successfully completed its first taxi test after starting its engines for the first time in mid-March. “Türkiye is now in every field, on land, in sea and submarine, in air and space,” Erdogan told the "Century of the Future" event in the capital Ankara.
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05/01/2023
Singapore’s prime minister Lee Hsien Loong recently managed what few other global leaders would be able or willing to do: travel to China and publicly praise a US-led Asian initiative. “Asia should always remain an open region,” Lee said at the Boao Forum for Asia in Hainan. “As Asian countries develop co-operation among ourselves, we should also cultivate our relations with the US, Europe and other parts of the world.”
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05/01/2023
The Air Force expressed condolences for the accident involving a civilian aircraft in which the two occupants lost their lives in the late afternoon yesterday, including the captain Alessio Ghersi, pilot in service with the 313th aerobatic training group “Frecce Tricolori”. The accident took place around 18:30 yesterday, when some witnesses saw the aircraft crash wrapped in a cloud of smoke released after a flame or an explosion.
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05/01/2023
According to Ukrinform, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said this in an evening update published on Facebook. "The Russian Federation continues to use terror tactics. Today, the enemy launched two missile strikes on the cities of Kramatorsk and Kostiantynivka. Also, throughout the day, it launched 15 air strikes and mounted about 30 attacks using multiple launch rocket systems on the positions of our troops and settlements," the update said.
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04/30/2023
The first of Australia’s $368 billion nuclear submarine fleet won’t be operational before the 2040s. But China’s not sitting idly by. Reports suggest it is already actively working to “seal off” Taiwan and the South China Sea from all unwanted underwater intruders.
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04/30/2023
Defense cooperation between India and Bangladesh has made significant progress in the last few years. It is depicted in the exchange of visits between the leaders of the two countries, as well as the conduct of training programs, joint exercises, and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR). India has always cherished its close ties with Bangladesh and at the same time works to strengthen its ties while contributing to Bangladesh’s development agenda.
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04/30/2023
The United States usually sells a good part of its advanced combat aircraft to friendly countries, including fighters such as the F-15 Eagle and even the F-14 Tomcat, whose only foreign customer was Iran, shortly before the fall of its ally, the Xa Reza Pahlavi. There are, however, exceptions. The F-117A stealth attack aircraft and the F-22 Raptor fighter are exclusive to the US Air Force (USAF) as are their strategic bombers.
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04/30/2023
A massive fire erupted at an oil depot in Crimea after it was hit by two of Ukraine's drones, a Russia-appointed official there reported Saturday, the latest in a series of attacks on the annexed peninsula as Russia braces for an expected Ukrainian counteroffensive. Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Moscow-installed governor of Sevastopol, a port city in Crimea, posted videos and photos of the blaze on his Telegram channel.
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04/29/2023
If Congress agrees with the Air Force’s request to retire 32 Block 20 F-22s as part of its fiscal 2024 budget, the aircraft will be used as trainers a while longer, then stored for an undetermined period at the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base’s Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG) “Boneyard” in Arizona, Air Combat Command told Air & Space Forces Magazine.
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04/29/2023
A Chinese uncrewed combat aircraft has flown around Taiwan, the island's defence ministry said, showcasing Beijing's ability to attack its fall-back east coast bases, as a U.S. maritime patrol aircraft transited the Taiwan Strait. China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, has increased military pressure on the island over the past three years as it tries to force Taipei to accept its sovereignty claim.
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04/29/2023
Earlier this month, the U.S. Air Force Central Command released footage of an unsafe and unprofessional intercept conducted by a Russian Su-35 jet on a U.S. F-16 over Syria. The clip, shot by the American aircraft using a targeting pod on Apr. 2, 2023, shows the armed Flanker-E aggressively maneuvering while interacting with the “Viper” (as the F-16 is nicknamed in the fighter pilot community).
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04/29/2023
Ukraine has once again renewed the pitch for F-16 fighter jets, with the Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba telling the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting that the wisest investment in the long-term security of the European continent will be to provide Ukraine with modern combat aircraft. However, a popular air warfare expert has noted that if Ukraine ever receives F-16 fighters from the US, the aircraft may not be very durable.
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04/27/2023
A group of Russian military aircraft, including two nuclear bombers, triggered NATO’s Quick Reaction Alert system on Tuesday as it skirted Norwegian airspace and flew near the north of Great Britain. The Norwegian news organisation iFinnmark was first to report on the group, comprised of two Tu-160 Blackjack strategic bombers, two Il-78 Midas tankers and three MiG-31 fighter jets. The Blackjacks, which date back to the era of the Soviet Union.
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04/27/2023
Indonesia will order 18 additional Rafale fighter jets from France as part of a $2.3-billion deal, according to a report by La Tribune, citing procurement sources. The order is part of 42 aircraft Jakarta plans to purchase to modernize its air force. According to the report, the Southeast Asian nation has already secured funding for the additional Rafales and to arm them with air-to-air missiles.
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04/27/2023
A Russian MiG-31 fighter jet crashed in a remote part of northwestern Russia on Wednesday, marking the latest in a string of aviation accidents. The aircraft was flying a routine training mission in Russia's Murmansk region — which borders NATO's newest member Finland — when it crashed in a deserted area, state media outlet TASS reported, citing a statement from Russia's defense ministry.
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04/27/2023
The iconic plane will now join the museum’s impressive lineup of exhibits, showcasing the aircraft’s significant role in US military aviation history. After conducting several fly-bys to burn off fuel, Lt. Col. Matthew “Beast” Tanis piloted the F-15C from Barnes Air National Guard Base in Massachusetts to Dayton. He then shared his personal connection to the aircraft and what it signifies to him.
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04/27/2023
Taiwan and the U.S. have signed two deals worth close to $420 million for maintaining fighter aircraft operated by the self-governing island that China considers its own territory.
Based on the agreement, around $323 million will be allocated for a parts contract that runs through March 2028, according to a local news report.
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04/26/2023
On a crisp Tuesday afternoon, four of the most advanced fighter jets in the world emerged like speeding, roaring, dark seeds from banks of silvery white clouds above Truax Field on Madison's North Side.
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04/26/2023
Hurjet, Türkiye's first indigenous supersonic combat aircraft, has made its maiden flight the country’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Twitter. The aircraft is the fruit of an advanced jet trainer and light attack aircraft project that was launched in 2017 by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI).
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04/25/2023
The total defence strategy is defined in Swedish law as the planning and measures required to prepare the country for total war and informs almost every aspect of defence planning. The 2021-25 bill outlines plans to strengthen ‘total defence’ and establish a new agency tasked with reviewing and evaluating all total defence activities to avoid wasteful spending or poor planning.
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04/25/2023
Retired German General Erhard Bühler argues that Ukraine requires not only air defense systems, but also Western fighter jets, Bild reports. Bühler, a former commander of NATO forces in Kosovo, criticized the German government for the inadequate equipment provided to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
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04/25/2023
Vietnam is in talks with the Czech Republic for military supplies, including aircraft, radars, upgrades of armoured vehicles and firearms, a Czech government source told Reuters, as Hanoi aims to diversify its mostly Russian arsenal. Security was one of the main topics discussed with Vietnam leaders by Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala in a three-day visit last week, the official said, noting that security firms were the largest component of the business delegation that accompanied Fiala.
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04/25/2023
The 56th Fighter Wing graduated the 2,000th F-35 Lightning II pilot, U.S. Air Force Maj. Christopher “Blade” Jeffers, April 17th, 2023, at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona. This milestone marks a step forward for the Airmen at Luke in realizing its mission of training the world's greatest fighter pilots.
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04/25/2023
Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense has approved a 12.84-billion New Taiwan dollar ($419 million) deal with the US to provide maintenance services for the island nation’s fighter aircraft fleet. Around 9.9 billion New Taiwan dollars ($323 million) is allotted for spare parts, while the remaining 2.94 billion New Taiwan dollars ($95.9 million) will be used for nonstandard parts and aviation materials.
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04/24/2023
Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND) tracked 13 Chinese military aircraft and three naval vessels around the country between 6 a.m. on Sunday (April 23) and 6 a.m. on Monday (April 24). At 9 a.m. on Monday, the MND said that 13 People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) military aircraft and three People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) vessels had been tracked around Taiwan. Of the detected aircraft, one entered the southeast section of Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ).
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04/24/2023
Germany has begun to evacuate its citizens from Sudan, authorities said on Sunday. The German Defense Ministry said on Twitter that it started a military evacuation operation, in close coordination with the partners. "Our goal is to fly out as many citizens as possible from Khartoum, during this dangerous situation in Sudan. Within the scope of our possibilities, we will also take EU citizens and other nationals with us,” the ministry said.
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04/24/2023
Of late, Russian and Chinese Air Forces have been engaging in dangerous interceptions with Western aircraft, which could result in accidents similar to the mid-air collision between an American P-3 Orion and a Chinese J-8II interceptor over the South China Sea 22 years ago.
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04/22/2023
On Thursday 21 April, two Swedish Jas 39 Gripen and two Danish F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter jets followed a Russian Ilyushin-20 military reconnaissance aircraft over the Baltic Sea. It is the first time that a synchronised effort has been carried out in this way. During the entire operation, the Swedish and Danish airlines were under their own national management.On Thursday 21 April, two Swedish Jas 39 Gripen and two Danish F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter jets followed a Russian Ilyushin-20.
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04/22/2023
South Korea is on the way to joining the ranks of major arms exporters as Russian aggression in Ukraine triggers a global race for arms acquisition, already triggering an indignant response from Moscow, which has issued a stern warning that supplying arms to Ukraine would make Seoul a participant in the conflict, according to a Reuters dispatch.
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04/22/2023
With fighting between the Sudanese government and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia about to enter its second week, the number of aircraft being destroyed or heavily damaged during the clashes has continued to increase. Khartoum International Airport was at the epicentre of the conflict on April 16, 2023, the first day of fighting. In fact, the situation developed so quickly that a Saudia A330-300 (HZ-AQ30) was hit by gunfire while still on the tarmac preparing to depart.
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04/22/2023
NATO allies have already supplied certain types of combat aircraft to Ukraine, such as the Mig-29s provided by Poland, but discussions are underway among NATO allies and their partners to provide Ukraine with other types of aircraft. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said this today in Germany, at the Ramstein military base, before the meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
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04/21/2023
The U.S. has enjoyed superiority in military technology since the end of the Cold War. But this edge is being rapidly eroded by its main rival, China, which seems determined to become a global leader in technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) that could potentially revolutionize warfare.
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04/21/2023
In recognition of the US Air Force (USAF) F-15 Eagle’s legacy, the 18th Wing hosted the Kadena Eagle Sunset Celebration, April 14-15. The event gathered F-15 pilots, intelligence professionals, maintainers, families, and others who directly contributed to the success of the F-15C/D the last 44 years.
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04/21/2023
After the world witnessed three days of large-scale combat exercises around Taiwan from China, an area I’ve seen personally during my Navy days, I can say this as a former naval aviator: It was a pleasure to see Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall recently announce that the U.S. Air Force will upgrade the F-35’s current engine rather than switch to an entirely new design — a major win for the Air Force, Navy and our 17 allies and partners.
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04/21/2023
Russia said one of its fighter jets lost ammunition over Belgorod near the Ukrainian border on Thursday, after local authorities reported a blast that injured two people and left a huge crater in the city. Russian jets have regularly flown sorties over Belgorod since the launch of Moscow's offensive in Ukraine in February 2022.
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04/20/2023
Ukraine's defense forces on Wednesday repelled more than 40 enemy attacks in four areas, with the fiercest battles being fought in the cities of Bakhmut and Marinka in the Donetsk region. According to Ukrinform, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said this in an evening update posted to Facebook.
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04/20/2023
The U.S. Air Force and Navy on Wednesday morning conducted a test launch of an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile in California using an airborne control center. The weapon, which contained a test reentry vehicle, was controlled from an Airborne Launch Control System in a Navy E-6B Mercury aircraft, the Air Force said in a statement.
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04/20/2023
Despite a relationship that has been strained following Saudi Arabia’s involvement in the bloody conflict in Yemen, the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) has continued to exercise with the United States Air Force (USAF) and, more recently, with other NATO air forces. RSAF Typhoon and F-15S Eagle aircrews have participated in eight consecutive Red Flag advanced aerial combat training exercises hosted at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.
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04/20/2023
The U.S. based Falcon Air proposed to the Uruguayan Air Force (FAU) the purchase of six BAE Hawk 200 light subsonic fighters and two BAE Hawk 100 advanced trainers for US$110 million. According to the website Defensa.com, Uruguay has received an economically very advantageous offer for the acquisition of eight aircraft of the BAE Hawk family.
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04/20/2023
The Fresno Air National Guard Base at Fresno Yosemite International Airport has been selected as one of three sites across the U.S. deemed as “preferred locations” to receive some of the U.S. Air Force’s newest fighter jets. The selection of the Fresno base and a naval joint reserve base in Louisiana to be the “beddown” sites for the F-15EX Strike Eagle jets was reported Tuesday night by the Air Force in a statement on its news website.
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04/18/2023
We have a direct follow-up to our recent post on a number of advanced MiG-29s belonging to the Egyptian Air Force that were captured by Sudanese militia forces at Merowe Air Base outside the country's capital of Khartoum. Satellite imagery obtained by The War Zone shows at least one of these aircraft destroyed and it is likely that others are badly damaged or destroyed, as well.
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04/18/2023
Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence directorate says it is making good use of a U.S.-made UH-60A Black Hawk helicopter that it has acquired. The directorate says that the Black Hawk, the only one of its type in the country currently, offers important performance advantages over its Soviet-designed Mi-8 Hip and Mi-24 Hind series helicopters, and it is pushing to get more of them. That a UH-60A was in Ukrainian service first emerged in February.
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04/18/2023
THE Royal Air Force intercepted a Russian spy plane and two fighter jets flying close to Nato air space. The warplanes were sent packing by RAF and German Typhoons protecting the eastern flank of Nato’s border, near Estonia.
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04/18/2023
A deactivated squadron got new life as Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 311 in a Friday ceremony attended by scores of combat veterans and an F-35C Lightning II jet sporting the “Tomcats” historic squadron logo.
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04/17/2023
Egyptian MiG-29M2 fighter jets and their crew, which were deployed at Merowe International Airport (Marawi) to participate in bilateral military exercises, were captured by the Sudanese paramilitary group RSF, which opposes the government of the military junta, which came to power after a coup d’état in 2019.
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04/17/2023
Russian President Vladimir Putin met Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu in Moscow on Sunday and both men hailed military cooperation between the two nations, which have declared a "no limits" partnership. Chinese President Xi Jinping met Putin in Moscow last month. Russia and China have moved to further strengthen their economic, political and military ties since Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022.
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04/17/2023
Air Crews, aircraft maintenance, operations, logistics, civil engineering, communications, security forces, and force support teams from the 168th Wing demonstrated the Air Force’s priority of Agile Combat Employment (ACE) during a flyaway readiness exercise April 1-7, 2023.
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04/17/2023
Cope India 2023 (CI23) is a bilateral aerial exercises series between the Bharatiya Vayu Sena (IAF, Indian Air Force) and the USAF. The Cope India exercises began in 2004 as a fighter training exercise held at Gwalior AFS (state of Madhya Pradesh) and have now returned since the last one that was held in 2018.
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04/17/2023
Türkiye’s unmanned fighter jet, the Bayraktar Kizilelma, completed its fourth test, the System Identification Test, a high-ranking official from the developing company said Saturday. Selçuk Bayraktar, Baykar chairperson and chief technology officer (CTO), shared the update on his Twitter account with video footage.
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04/16/2023
P-8 Poseidon is Norway’s new patrol aircraft replacing the older propeller P-3 Orion that for decades have monitored fisheries in the Barents Sea and Russian submarines on patrol in northern waters. This is the first time a report is made public about a Russian intercepter MiG-31 being scrambled from an air base on the Kola Peninsula to meet Norway’s new maritime patrol aircraft.
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04/16/2023
Four thousand student Airmen from the 82nd Training Wing shared the runway with 80 training aircraft from the 80th Flying Training Wing in possibly the largest and most unique “elephant walk” in Air Force history – all to shine a light on the importance of training and partnerships.
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04/15/2023
Allied Air Forces finished the two-day exercise Ramstein Alloy 23-1 (RAAL23) over the Baltic Sea area further enhancing Alliance cohesion and interoperability on April 12- 13, 22. Exercise RALY23 had allied fighters carry out live air-to-air drills and scenarios involving communications loss of civilian aircraft and then escort back to an airfield. These pilots sharpen their skills by practicing real-world scenarios faced by Air Policing personnel deployed in the Baltic region.
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04/15/2023
Belarusian Air Force crews have completed their training for using tactical nuclear weapons as part of Russia’s plan to deploy the weapons to its ally amid fighting in neighboring Ukraine, the Russian Defence Ministry said Friday. The ministry released a video in which a Belarusian pilot said that the training course in Russia had given the crews of the Belarusian Air Force’s Su-25 ground attack jets the necessary skills for using the weapons.
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04/15/2023
It’s finally happening—the Air Force has begun to retire its A-10 Thunderbolt IIs. An A-10 from the 74th Fighter Squadron at Moody Air Force Base, Ga., arrived at the Boneyard at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz. on April 5, the service said. The aircraft is the first of 21 A-10s that will be leaving service by the end of September.
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04/15/2023
India is sending its Rafale combat jets to France for a multi-nation air exercise. This is the first time the 2020-inducted Indian Air Force (IAF) fighters have flown overseas to join a war game in a friendly foreign nation’s air base. The French-origin nuke-delivery platform has emerged as the South Asian giant’s true “frontline” fighter replacing the Russian-origin Su-30MKIs.
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04/15/2023
The Ministry of Defence has awarded £650m to manufacturers working on its Tempest fighter jet, in the latest sign that the UK is pushing forward with the aim of producing the aircraft by 2035. The companies who will receive the money are led by manufacturer BAE Systems, jet engine maker Rolls-Royce, and the UK arms of Italy’s Leonardo and European missile-maker MBDA.
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04/14/2023
The German government has approved Poland’s request to transfer five Soviet-designed MiG-29 fighter jets to help Ukraine defend against the Russian invasion. “I welcome the fact that we in the federal government have reached this decision together,” Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said in a statement on Thursday.
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04/14/2023
The Marine Corps is set to activate its second squadron of F-35C Lightning II strike fighters for operation from the Navy’s fleet of aircraft carriers. The “C” version of the stealth fighter, with longer wings, stronger landing gear and greater fuel capacity, is also flown by Navy pilots.
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04/14/2023
The Polish Air Force’s F-35 Lightning II combat aircraft were officially in production at Lockheed Martin’s facilities on 12 April 2023. The original equipment manufacturer (OEM), Lockheed Martin, will now produce the standard Nato combat aircraft, the F-35A conventional take-off and landing (CTOL) aircraft, which will be delivered to Poland from 2024 through to 2030.
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04/13/2023
The aging E-3 AWACS fleet got a little smaller last week, as the first of 13 E-3s tp be retired this year took off from Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., for the last time. E-3 Tail Number 0560 departed for the Boneyard at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., on April 6, a week after the 552nd Air Control Wing hosted a retirement celebration with retired and Active-Duty Airmen getting a chance to sign their names to the airframe, an Air Force tradition.
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04/13/2023
On April 11, 2023, the Myanmar military is said to have killed at least 100 people in one of the deadliest airstrikes in the ongoing civil war. The attack targeted a village in the north-western Sagaing region. Witnesses report that among those killed were many women and children. The numbers of those killed are yet to be confirmed as the bodies are being collected.
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04/13/2023
Swedish aerospace and defence company Saab and Brazilian aerospace conglomerate Embraer have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 11 April to strengthen collaboration in several domains, including engineering and business development opportunities for the C-390 transport aircraft and future Gripen fighters. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was unveiled at the LAAD defence and security exhibition held in Rio de Janeiro.
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04/13/2023
Talks about the possible transfer of Finnish combat aircraft to another country “currently irrelevant". Finnish Defense Minister Antti Kaikonen said this in an interview with local media, Xinhua reports, according to Ukrinform "The fighter jets will be used by our defense forces for the coming years, after which their life cycle will end," Kaikonen replied to a question about Ukraine's request for the transfer of F-18 aircraft.
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04/13/2023
The United States is helping the Philippines to develop an acquisition plan for a fleet of multi-role fighter aircraft as part of a broader “roadmap” for the next decade of defense acquisitions, top officials from both countries announced Tuesday in Washington, as the two countries continue to tighten up military ties.
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04/13/2023
North Korea fired a ballistic missile into waters off its east coast on Thursday, prompting an evacuation order that was later lifted in northern Japan. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korea fired one mid-range or longer ballistic missile from near Pyongyang into the waters off the east coast of the Korean Peninsula at around 7:23 a.m. local time Thursday. Japan’s government initially urged residents in the country’s northern prefecture of Hokkaido to take shelter after the North
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04/12/2023
Bulgaria is ready to transfer its MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine, but only if it receives guarantees of receiving modern aircraft from Western partners. Interfax-Ukraine writes about this with reference to the EFE agency. According to the agency, 16 MiG-29 fighters are in service with Bulgaria. At the same time, only 6 aircraft are in working order.
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04/12/2023
The US Air Force (USAF) has finally begun the long-sought retirement of its Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II ground attack jets. The service said on 10 April it had retired the first A-10C, commonly known as the Warthog, from the 74th Fighter Squadron at Moody AFB after the airframe had logged 43 years of operational service.
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04/12/2023
The Chinese navy continued with "actual combat training" around Taiwan on Tuesday, state media said, a day after Beijing announced the end of drills and as Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen criticised China for its "irresponsible" behaviour. China began the exercises on Saturday after Tsai returned to Taipei following a meeting in Los Angeles with U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
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04/12/2023
U.S. and European allies will conduct a massive air exercise in Germany this June on a scale unseen since the end of the Cold War, military officials said. Some 220 allied aircraft and 10,000 personnel will take part in Air Defender 23, against the backdrop of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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04/12/2023
Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak attended a ceremony at the 31st Tactical Air Base in Poznan, celebrating the completion of a specialist training cycle of Several Polish F-35 combat aircraft crews, during which he emphasized that Poland is consequently “creating a system that will deter an aggressor.”
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04/12/2023
In a show of force, American F-22 Raptor fighter jets landed in Poland on a rotational mission to enhance NATO’s defense capabilities and counter potential threats from Russia. With the latest deployment, the Raptors are poised to soar over NATO’s Eastern Flank, close to Russia.
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04/11/2023
Developmental flight tests are underway for the Air Force’s new Next Generation Fixed Wing Helmet here. Engineers with the 46th Test Squadron and the 28th Test and Evaluation Squadron oversee the helmet’s testing. Approximately five F-22A Raptor pilots from the 301st Fighter Squadron, a Reserve unit with the 43rd Fighter Squadron here, fly with the new lighter, cooler and more readily equipped helmet.
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04/11/2023
The Turkish navy officially added the TCG Anadolu light aircraft carrier and amphibious assault ship to its arsenal on Monday, touting it as the world's first "drone carrier". Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the ship is a turning point for the country’s defence industry, as 70 percent of the vessel was built using local resources over seven years.
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04/11/2023
F-15E Strike Eagles deployed to Kadena Air Base, Japan in April, joining F-35s to bolster the Air Force’s fighter fleet on the strategically important island in the western Pacific. Meanwhile, the F-16CMs and F-22s that were previously forward deployed to Kadena have returned home, according to their respective home bases. The Air Force is rotating fighters through Kadena as it sends the aging F-15C/D fleet back to the United States after more than 40 years of permanent Eagle operations on the i
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04/11/2023
On April 2, the final MC-130H Combat Talon ll made its last flight, arriving at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona to retire at the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG). This aircraft was the last of the final six MC-130Hs transferred for storage at the 309th AMARG, known as the boneyard.
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04/11/2023
Japan said Monday it had scrambled jets in recent days as Chinese fighter planes landed and took off from an aircraft carrier deployed near southern Japan and Taiwan. The Shandong aircraft carrier has been moving in waters southeast of Taiwan as China responds to a meeting between the island's president and the US House speaker.
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04/10/2023
China’s military conducted mock attacks on key targets in and around Taiwan on Sunday, state media said, the second day of its planned three days of “encirclement” patrols and joint drills near the self-ruled island. Chinese state-run television said that the “combat readiness patrols” and drills — which came just days after Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s landmark meeting with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California — were ongoing.
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04/10/2023
The Indian and US air forces will hold exercises with Japan as an observer, keeping up the high pace of multilateral and bilateral military drills among the countries of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or the Quad. India, the United States, Japan and Australia make up the Quad. Called Cope India, the exercises are being held after a gap of four years for 11 days starting on Monday at the Kalaikunda airbase in West Bengal.
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04/10/2023
In order to ensure that India will own all Intellectual Property (IP), Rolls-Royce has expressed its willingness to co-develop a new engine that will not be based on the Eurojet EJ200, a low-bypass turbofan used as the powerplant of the Eurofighter Typhoon. The EJ200 was developed by four companies under a multi-national engine manufacturing consortium.
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04/09/2023
In February 2023, Secretary of State Antony Blinken publicly confirmed that the Biden Administration supports a possible sale of F-16 fighter aircraft to Turkey, and has engaged Congress on the issue. According to January 2023 media reports citing unnamed U.S. officials, the Administration informally notified Congress of its intent to sell 40 new F-16s in the Block 70/72 Viper configuration (F- 16Vs) and Viper upgrade packages for 79 existing fighters, along with 900 air-to-air missile.
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04/09/2023
Military aircraft from the United States and Australia have arrived in the Philippines days before the start of the Balikatan exercise next week. This year’s Balikatan, with a focus on maritime defense, coastal defense, and maritime domain awareness, will be held from April 11 to 28 in various areas in the country, including Palawan, Antique, and parts of Northern Luzon.
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04/09/2023
Units of the Defense Forces of Ukraine during the battles at the front on April 7 eliminated 570 servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces. In total, in the full 408 days of the war, the defenders have destroyed 177,680 occupiers.
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04/09/2023
F-15E Strike Eagles from the 336th Fighter Squadron, Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina, arrived at Kadena Air Base, Japan, April 8, 2023, to ensure continuous fighter presence through the phased return of Kadena’s fleet of F-15C/D Eagles to the United States.
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04/09/2023
On 5 April 2023, the first production Tejas LCA-T Mk1, serial LT5201, took to the air for a 35 minute flight. This trainer is the first of eight aircraft that were ordered in the first batch of 40 Tejas LCA Mk.1 fighter aircraft, consisting of 32 single seat and 8 dual seat.
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04/09/2023
China sent warships and dozens of fighter jets toward Taiwan on Saturday, the Taiwanese government said, in retaliation for a meeting between the U.S. House of Representatives speaker and the president of the self-ruled island democracy claimed by Beijing as part of its territory.
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04/08/2023
Leonardo is participating at the 13th edition of LAAD Defense & Security, in Rio de Janeiro 11-14 April, the most important trade exhibition in Latin America. After the recent selection of the Centauro II 120mm armoured vehicle made by the CIO Consortium - of which Leonardo has an equal share with Iveco Defense Vehicles – and in the frame of the Brazilian programme “VBC Cav - MSR 8×8”, the company is now focused on its land defence systems.
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04/08/2023
Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane on Friday inaugurated the third light combat aircraft (LCA) production line and also handed over the 100th Sukhoi-30 MKI repaired and overhauled (ROH) aircraft to the Indian Air Force at the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited's Nashik Division. Aramane appreciated the HAL's efforts in taking up the challenge of setting up an ROH facility for Su-30 MKI and also establishing a new production line for LCA manufacturing.
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04/08/2023
The minister said that while there were parts of the engine Slovak experts could access, there were also parts only accessible to Russian experts. Defects appeared only in the parts where the Russian experts could access, he said. The Slovak army stopped using the planes in August 2022 and they were transferred to Ukraine in March 2023.
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04/08/2023
The information was disclosed in the military journal “Military Thought” published by the Ministry of Defense, Ria reported. According to the article, the Russian military has developed mobile anti-satellite combat systems that can be relocated. These systems include the Kontakt anti-space defense complex, based on the MiG-31 heavy fighter interceptor, the A60 Sokol-Echelon combat laser system mounted on the IL-76 transport aircraft, and the Peresvet combat laser system.
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04/06/2023
Today the Government has presented investment proposals that will be included in its Spring Amending Budget. The proposals aim to create conditions for the continued growth of Sweden’s military defence and make preparations for NATO membership. Increased appropriations totalling SEK 660 million are proposed in the Spring Amending Budget for 2023. In addition, it is proposed that the Swedish Armed Forces’ authorisation to place orders be increased by SEK 16.78 billion.
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04/06/2023
Despite being trapped in limbo for five-years, there are signs that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia remains interested in buying an additional tranche of Eurofighter Typhoons — and that the government in London would support such a sale if KSA wants to move forward.
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04/06/2023
The air forces of India and US will meet at Kalaikunda air base, India next week to resume the Cope India air exercise. Cope India 2023 will be held from Apr. 10 to Apr. 21 and “further enhance operational capability and interoperability between the two air forces”.
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04/05/2023
The cities of Marinka and Bakhmut in Ukraine's Donetsk region remain the epicenter of hostilities, with about 20 enemy attacks repelled by Ukrainian defenders near Bakhmut throughout the day. The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said this in a situation update on Facebook, according to Ukrinform.
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04/05/2023
More than 20 fighter jets from NATO allies and partners joined a “large-scale” training exercise over Baltic airspace. The activity commenced at Amari Air Base in Estonia and was joined by military forces from the US, the UK, Finland, Germany, France, Estonia, and the Netherlands. The exercise saw the deployment of L-39 Albatrosses, F-15 Eagles, Eurofighter Typhoons, F/A-18 Hornets, Rafales, and F-35 Lightning IIs.
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04/04/2023
On April 2, 2023, two Portuguese F-16 fighter jets from NATO's Baltic Air Policing mission launched from Šiauliai, Lithuania, to identify and escort an IL-76 Russian military aircraft. The Russian aircraft was flying from mainland Russia to the Kaliningrad exclave above international waters off the Baltic Sea coast of Estonia.
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04/04/2023
The Swedish government is on track in their aim to meet Nato’s target to spend 2.0% of its gross domestic product (GDP) on shoring up their defence according to the GlobalData report: Sweden Defence Market 2023-28.
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04/03/2023
On 2 April 2022, the Russian army was forced to retreat from the vicinities of the Ukrainian capital. After more than a month of heavy fighting, Ukrainian defenders partially destroyed the invading force around Kyiv and pushed the Russians back to neighboring Belarus. What was supposed to be an overwhelming blitzkrieg became a complete debacle for the Russian forces.
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04/03/2023
The French Directorate General of Armaments (DGA) announced that the new Rafale F4.1 standard has been qualified and is now ready for fielding. While the announcement was released just few days ago, the qualification arrived on March 13, 2023, shortly after the first aircraft in the new configuration was delivered to the Base Aérienne 118 at Mont-de-Marsan.
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04/03/2023
Air force combat helicopters and planes downed an unidentified aircraft that appeared to have crossed into Israeli airspace from Syria on Sunday, the military said. The incident came amid escalating tensions between Israel and Iran related to Iran’s presence on Israel’s northern border, and after a series of airstrikes attributed to Israel in Syria.
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04/03/2023
China's most sophisticated stealth fighter plane, the J-20 Mighty Dragon, will be operated alongside a new cutting-edge combat drone that the country is developing, which may equal the jet's speed. J-20's and the FH-97A's fuselage designs are comparable, indicating that the FH-97A might perhaps fly as quickly as the Mighty Dragon, claims a South China Morning Post (SCMP) report from Saturday.
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04/02/2023
Airmen from the 332d Air Expeditionary Wing executed a first-of-its-kind Forward Arming and Refueling Point operation at a cluster base in a combat area of responsibility. During the FARP operation, an MQ-9 Reaper from the 361st Expeditionary Attack Squadron was rapidly refueled and re-armed by members of the 26th Expeditionary Rescue Squadron.
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04/02/2023
Ten Chinese aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait median line, normally an unofficial barrier between the mainland and the island, Taiwan’s defence ministry has said. Nine Chinese fighter jets and one military drone crossed the median line in the 24 hours to 6am on Saturday, the ministry said in its daily report on Chinese military activities.
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04/01/2023
The Crows at the 350th Spectrum Warfare Wing (SWW) are evaluating a new process that could change how the U.S. Air Force approaches Electromagnetic Warfare Integrated Reprogramming (EWIR) to better adapt to wartime reprogramming timelines and support Agile Combat Employment (ACE) operations through a process called Agile Integrated Reprogramming (AIR).
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04/01/2023
The first A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft arrived in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility at Al Dhafra Air Base, United Arab Emirates, March 31, 2023. The combat air support aircraft arrived ahead of schedule following the approval for the platform to return to theater. They will fall underneath the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing at Al Dhafra AB.
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04/01/2023
The Nato Allied Air Command has announced that more than 20 fighter planes from Finland and other allied nations have carried out a large-scale training exercise. Conducted over the Baltic states, the exercise was undertaken by air forces from the UK, the US, Estonia, France, Finland, the Netherlands and Germany.
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04/01/2023
An Airbus A310 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) testbed aircraft has demonstrated its ability to guide and control drones while in flight without direct human interaction, according to the company. The test has laid the early groundwork for Airbus’ future plans to provide its MRTTs with the ability to autonomously refuel uncrewed aircraft, a concept that many air forces around the globe will have to adopt as airpower rapidly evolves towards uncrewed operations.
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03/31/2023
Allied and Partner fighter aircraft conducted a large-scale training exercise over the Baltic States, March 29. Finnish F/A-18s landed in Amari Air Base, Estonia and took part in large-scale training drills over the Baltic States with up to 20 fighters involved. Allied units based along NATO’s eastern flank including French Rafales, US F-15s, Dutch F-35s, Estonian L-39s and Eurofighters from the joint British and German detachment in Estonia were involved in the exercise.
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03/31/2023
F-35 Lightning II fighters arrived on Okinawa this month as the Air Force continues to swap out its permanently deployed F-15 Eagles at Kadena Air Base, Japan. The 18th Wing at Kadena said the 355th Fighter Squadron from Eielson Air Base, Alaska began the deployment on March 28. It is unclear how many F-35s are now operating there. Air Force officials declined to provide the exact number of F-35s at Kadena or say when more F-15s would depart, citing operational security.
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03/31/2023
Saab, the Swedish aerospace and defence company, is testing the oxygen and anti-gravity system of its new Gripen F aircraft in extreme conditions to identify potential deficiencies early in development. The tests are being conducted in the Life Support rig at Saab’s facility in Linkoping, Sweden, where the Gripen aircraft’s systems are pushed to their limits. The Life Support rig is installed in a high-altitude chamber that enables Saab engineers to simulate high altitude with extremely low pre
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03/30/2023
The 19th Airlift Wing demonstrated their newly developed concept of operations for C-130 Hot-Integrated Combat Turns, March 27, 2023, at Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas. A C-130 Hot-Integrated Combat Turn focuses on a minimum turnaround of aircraft and recovery launch times through simultaneous fueling and loading/unloading of cargo, aircraft reconfiguration and other servicing with all engines running.
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03/30/2023
The US Air Force (USAF) has ordered an additional 54 air combat radar systems as part of the service’s bid to modernise its fleet of Lockheed Martin F-16 fighters. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center on 28 March disclosed a contract with Northrop Grumman for 54 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radars.
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03/30/2023
On March 28, the US Air Force announced the arrival of advanced multi-role F-35A Lightning II fighter planes at Kadena Air Base. These cutting-edge aircraft are being deployed to replace the outdated F-15 Eagle fleet. According to the statement from the service, the deployment of F-35s will guarantee a continuous fighter presence as the F-15C/D Eagles fleet of Kadena is gradually brought back to the United States.
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03/29/2023
F-35A Lightning IIs from the 355th Fighter Squadron, Eielson Air Force Base, arrived at Kadena Air Base, Japan, March 28, 2023, to ensure continuous fighter presence through the phased return of Kadena’s fleet of F-15C/D Eagles to the United States. While deployed to the Keystone of the Pacific, the Lightning IIs will work in conjunction with other fighter units at Kadena Air Base to ensure continued steady-state fighter capabilities in the region.
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03/29/2023
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said Monday that his country remains open to sending fighter jets to Ukraine. “In the Netherlands, we don't see any taboos, we don't rule anything out, and we consult intensively with our partners. But at the moment, no decisions have been made to train pilots for combat aircraft with us. Nothing has been decided here yet,” Rutte said at a joint press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam.
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03/29/2023
While the Air Force released scant details about the latest test of its AGM-183 Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon late last week, Secretary Frank Kendall told a Congressional panel it was “not a success”—and given ARRW’s checkered test history overall, Kendall indicated the service may shift focus to its other hypersonic program, the Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile.
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03/29/2023
The US Department of Defence has awarded Lockheed Martin with a $210m modified contract on 27 March to provide wide-ranging logistical support for the F-35B Lightning II fleet in the UK Royal Air Force (RAF).
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03/29/2023
Collaborative Combat Aircraft will be able to carry out missions without direction from crewed aircraft and may not always fly as their “wingmen,” in order to maximize employment flexibility, Air Force leaders developing and testing the new platforms said March 27.
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03/28/2023
Anatoliy points to the few reinforced panels inside one of Ukraine's Mi-8 helicopters where he spends five-week shifts firing rockets at Russian positions. "This is a joke, not armour," says the 39-year-old gunner, who has taken part in some 300 combat missions since last spring.
As President Volodymyr Zelensky pushes Western allies for modern weapons, pilots in eastern Ukraine admit their ancient Soviet-made helicopters are outplayed technologically by Russia.
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03/28/2023
An imposing U.S. aircraft carrier is set to arrive in the southeastern port city of Busan on Tuesday, officials here said, in yet another show of America's military might against growing North Korean threats. The nuclear-powered USS Nimitz carrier is slated to dock at ROK Fleet Command in the city, 325 kilometers south of Seoul, after its strike group trained with the South Korean Navy in the international waters south of the southern island of Jeju the previous day.
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03/28/2023
“No, I don’t think we’ll give all MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine,” he said. Jablonski noted the transfer of combat aircraft to Ukraine would take place gradually. “First of all, for these deliveries to be effective,” the official said. “At the same time, we must bolster Poland’s security.”
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03/28/2023
The Air Force is rigging F-16s to fly autonomously, but that’s not the main point of automating one of the service’s most numerous fighter jets, the commander of the Air Force Test Center said Monday. Instead, the Venom project aims to refine an AI engine to fly a wide variety of today’s and tomorrow’s aircraft.
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03/28/2023
The U.S. Navy plans to request more than $9 billion in funding for its Next Generation Fighter aircraft, or F/A-XX, over the next five fiscal years. This, together with other details from the service's latest budget request for the 2024 Fiscal Year, may point to possible plans to acquire prototypes of its next-generation stealth combat jet design, or at least get closer to doing so, before the end of the decade. Of course, it's very possible that early developmental demonstrator test articles ha
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03/27/2023
Ukraine's army aircraft are continuously inflicting significant losses on Russian invaders despite the powerful countermeasures of the enemy's air defense system. According to Ukrinform, Ukrainian Ground Forces Commander Oleksandr Syrskyi said this in a Telegram post. According to him, in the first days of the large-scale invasion, the Russians expected to destroy Ukrainian army aircraft. However, even one year on, Ukrainian helicopters continue to strike enemies wherever needed.
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03/27/2023
Following a visit by its Director General Sergey Chemezov to the Gorbunov Aviation Plant in Kazan, Russia’s state firm Rostec announced on March 24 that the upgrades to the Tu-160M strategic missile-carrying bomber would allow it to carry new weaponry, including modern armaments.
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03/27/2023
The F-117 Nighthawk was developed in response to the urgent national need for a jet fighter that could operate completely undetected by the enemy. In true Skunk Works fashion (Skunk Works is Lockheed Advanced Development Projects in Burbank, California) it was developed rapidly and in complete secrecy.
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03/26/2023
Jet fuel for Myanmar’s armed forces has been targeted in the latest sanctions imposed by the United States on the country’s military regime and crony businesses. The US Treasury Department said on Friday that it had imposed sanctions on two people and six entities connected to Myanmar’s military, who had enabled the regime’s continuing atrocities.
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03/26/2023
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced plans on Saturday to station tactical nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus, a warning to the West as it steps up military support for Ukraine. Putin said the move was triggered by Britain's decision this past week to provide Ukraine with armor-piercing rounds containing depleted uranium.
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03/26/2023
Hours after a military base housing US troops was struck allegedly by an Iranian drone, the US Central Military Command (CENTCOM) dispatched its most trusted and combat-hardened fighter, the F-15E, to launch retaliatory strikes. Tensions have significantly ratcheted between the two adversaries after intelligence officials announced that an Iranian kamikaze drone struck the military base and killed a US contractor.
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03/26/2023
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Army practiced air defense with the PLA Air Force (PLAAF). The Air Force sent a J-20 stealth fighter jet as a mock enemy in a move experts said could simulate attacks by a US F-35, a stealth aircraft that poses threats to the country’s national defense.
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03/25/2023
Two C-17 Globemaster IIIs hailing from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, forward deployed to Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, to participate in Exercise Monster Jam, March 6-9, 2023. The intent for the exercise was to verify the 7th Airlift Squadron’s ability to employ and perform in a high intensity environment while supporting wartime operations against a peer adversary.
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03/25/2023
The U.S. Air Force wants to speed up its procurement of Boeing E-7A battlefield management and command-and-control aircraft, as part of the service’s so-called wish list for the fiscal 2024 budget. The nearly $2.5 billion unfunded priorities list, obtained by Defense News, includes more than $633 million for accelerating the delivery of the E-7, which the Air Force plans to eventually replace the E-3 Sentry airborne warning and control, or AWACS, aircraft.
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03/25/2023
Earlier this month, the Congressional Research Service issued a report on the possibilities and implications of handing over fighter aircraft to Ukraine. In providing Congress with options to consider, the CRS illustrates evolving institutional support for the idea. Whether it comes to pass and how remains in question.
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03/25/2023
Ukraine's Air Force said it will now allow foreigners to serve as pilots and engineering specialists, with a spokesperson stressing the fact that Ukraine will likely need international recruits if and when it starts to receive Western combat aircraft. Yurii Ihnat, a spokesperson for the commander of Ukraine's air force, said in a statement Thursday that foreign citizens will be able to join if they have suitable military training.
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03/24/2023
Korea's state-run arms procurement agency said, Thursday, it seeks to achieve "tentative" combat suitability of the KF-21 Boramae by May ? six months earlier than planned ? in order to kick off mass production of the domestically developed fighter jet next year. The 4.5-generation combat aircraft is expected to enter service in 2026, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration added.
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03/24/2023
American aerospace prime, Lockheed Martin, has been keen to bring the fourth-generation legacy F-16 into use for contemporary aerial combat. The manufacturer has recently declared its ambition to enable the F-16 to operate well into the 2060s. To this end, Lockheed Martin’s F-16 upgrade campaign seeks to keep the aircraft in play as a continuously standard jet in many of the world’s increasingly dynamic fleets.
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03/24/2023
Planned to fly in 2023, the first images of the National Combat Aircraft were shared by Ismail Demir, President of Defense Industries. Turkey continues to make its name known to the world with its domestic and national productions. Turkey continues to make its mark in defense production in 2023, the 100th anniversary of the Republic.
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03/24/2023
The United States plans to deploy ageing A-10 attack planes to the Middle East as a replacement for more advanced combat aircraft that will be shifted to the Pacific and Europe as tensions with China and Russia intensify, a news report says. The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday the move, scheduled for April, is part of a broader plan that also calls for retaining modest naval and ground forces in the Middle East region, according to American officials.
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03/24/2023
The near-sighted, myopic military strategists and experts believed the days of crewed fighter aircraft were over. The United Kingdom was then in the process of developing a multi-role combat jet code-named TSR-2. They had come up with two prototypes of the TSR-2. Yet, the then British Member of Parliament Duncan Sandys initiated a vitriolic against manned fighters and bombers and prophesied that the heat-seeking air-to-air missiles would shoot down every fighter/bomber.
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03/24/2023
In a move bound to raise hackles in Moscow, four Ukrainian pilots climbed into MiG-29 Fulcrum fighter jets in Slovakia and flew them home to join their own air force, the Slovakian Ministry of Defense (MoD) announced Thursday. The Fulcrums were the first tranche from a total of 13 promised last week by Slovakia to Ukraine, which has had dire need of combat aircraft since the full-scale Russian invasion began.
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03/24/2023
The news that Poland and Slovakia are to deliver MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine — some of which have reportedly arrived — signals their departure from the long-standing stance of the international community, which had hitherto resisted Kyiv’s calls for more combat aircraft to help fight off Russia’s invasion. While this donation will be welcomed in Ukraine, it could raise political and practical issues the West must address to maximize the benefits.
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03/23/2023
According to information published by the New Indian Express on March 22, 2023, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to clear the multi-billion dollar acquisition of 26 Rafale Marine fighters.
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03/23/2023
For the first time, Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) has revealed the technical futures of Türkiye’s first flying-wing, deep-strike stealth unmanned fighter jet, Anka-3. The state-of-the-art platform is expected to make its maiden flight this year. The features of the unmanned fighter jet and a photo of the aircraft were revealed as part of the two-day Military Radar and Border Security (MRBS) Summit held in Ankara.
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03/22/2023
The United States Navy has awarded Lockheed Martin a $32,446,000 contract for the production of nine Lot 17 F-35C aircraft. The contract will cover the long-lead materials, parts, components, and associated support for the aircraft production, which the US Navy will use.
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03/22/2023
China is reportedly offering to export the JF-17 Thunder multirole combat aircraft to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a sign of the rising sale of Chinese weapons in sub-Saharan Africa. A high-ranking group from the Chinese aerospace firm CATIC (China National Aero-Technology Import & Export Corporation) and members of the People’s Liberation Army recently flew to Kinshasa.
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03/22/2023
The Baltic Fleet’s press office said on March 20 that more than ten crew of sophisticated Su-30SM and Su-30SM2 fighter planes began tactical flight rehearsals with bombing and missile strikes in Russia’s westernmost exclave of the Kaliningrad Region, TASS News Agency reported.
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03/22/2023
Since Russia’s renewed invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, some defense analysts, U.S. defense officials, and Members of Congress have debated whether or not to enable the transfer of U.S. or NATO military aircraft, including fighter jets and unmanned aircraft, to Ukraine. In general, the debate has centered around two broad questions: (1) Is providing advanced military fighter jets to the Ukrainian air force necessary to helping Ukraine defend itself against Russian aggression.
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03/21/2023
An American assessment of Ukrainian fighter pilots has revealed they would be ready to fly F-16 jets after fewer than six months of training, Ukrainian Air Force Commander Gen. Serhii Holubtsov told The Times. He says two Ukrainian fighter jet pilots returned to Ukraine last week after an assessment by the US military:
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03/21/2023
The US Department of Defense (DoD) has extended its KC-130J services contract to support the tanker aircraft fleet of the Kuwait Air Force. The contract was awarded to the Oklahoma-based Aviation Training Consulting LLC for $28m on 16 March. Work will be performed in Altus, Oklahoma (13%); and Kuwait (87%), and is expected to be completed in March 2025.
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03/21/2023
Speaking at an Aerospace Nation event hosted by AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, Wilsbach said March 20 that air superiority is a joint endeavor of the U.S. and its allies in the region, and includes everything from combat jets to tankers, airlifters, and intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and command and control assets like the E-7 Wedgetail.
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03/21/2023
Turkey’s Victory Day (March 18), which commemorates the battle of Çanakkale (Gallipoli), coincided this year with the 100th anniversary of the founding of modern Turkey by Kemal Atatürk. Given the date's significance, Turkish Aerospace (TAI) chose it to unveil its Milli Muharip Uçak (MMU, National Combat Aircraft) fifth-generation fighter, formerly known as the TF-X. The aircraft taxied under its own power on March 16 before a low-key rollout ceremony two days later.
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03/20/2023
Japan's Defense Ministry says the Air Self-Defense Force and the US Air Force conducted a joint drill on Sunday. The ministry says a total of ten aircraft - F-15 fighter jets from Japan and US B-1 bombers and F-16 fighters - took part in the exercise over the Sea of Japan. It says Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force and the US Navy also carried out a joint exercise with ships equipped with the Aegis missile-tracking system on Saturday and Sunday.
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03/20/2023
North Korea launched a short-range ballistic missile toward the sea on Sunday, its neighbors said, ramping up testing activities in response to ongoing U.S.-South Korean military drills that it views as an invasion rehearsal.
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03/20/2023
According to the MND, 15 of the 26 People's Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft were observed in Taiwan's Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ). Four Chengdu J-10 fighters, four Shenyang J-16 fighters, one CH-4 reconnaissance drone, and one Harbin BZK-005 reconnaissance drone crossed the Taiwan Strait median line. Another reconnaissance drone from Harbin flew along the southern edge of Taiwan's ADIZ.
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03/19/2023
Royal Air Force and German Air Force Typhoon fighter jets were scrambled for a second time in recent days, after four Russian military aircraft were spotted near Nato airspace. The German and British Typhoon jets are currently operating from Ämari Air Base in Estonia and conducting Nato Air Policing missions in the region. After four Russian military aircraft were identified, Nato fighter jets were then scrambled to intercept.
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03/19/2023
As noted by the company, this $1.9 billion award brings the total current funded value of the contract to $2.1 billion, and has the potential to increase to more than $3.8 billion with future obligations.
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03/19/2023
Germany's Defence Ministry wants to buy 82 Airbus (AIR.PA) H-145M civilian helicopters and convert some of them into combat helicopters to replace its Tiger combat fleet, Business Insider reported, citing military internal documents. Germany last year shifted its defence policy after Russia invaded Ukraine, committing 100 billion euros ($107 billion) to modernize the Bundeswehr, Germany's armed forces.
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03/18/2023
The U.S. Air Force has decided to move forward on Raytheon Technologies‘ Pratt & Whitney Engine Core Upgrade (ECU) for the F-35 fighter and end the service’s Advanced Engine Transition Program (AETP), which received the Air Force-requested amount of $286 million last year. The Air Force’s fiscal 2024 budget requests $245 million for ECU and increases research and development funding for an advanced engine for the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) manned fighter.
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03/18/2023
Forces News has been checking out the Indian air force's upgraded Mirage 2000 fighter jets. The French-made multi-role Mirage aircraft was first flown in 1978 and has been exported to various countries, including Brazil, the United Arabic Emirates, Egypt, Greece, Peru, Qatar, and India. More than 500 of these powerful aircraft, manufactured by Dassault Aviation, are operational across the world today.
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03/18/2023
Elbit Systems has signed four contracts with the Romanian military to upgrade helicopters, provide electronic warfare technology, deliver systems to support search and rescue operations, and supply avionics suites for training aircraft. Tuesday’s announcement comes after the Israeli firm inked two other deals with European costumers in early March, one of which was to supply Romania with unmanned turrets, remote weapon stations and mortar systems.
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03/18/2023
Russia has threatened to destroy any fighter jets given to Ukraine by its allies, after two countries promised planes. Slovakia became the second Nato country to pledge Kyiv some MiG-29 aircraft on Friday, a day after Poland. Slovakia's fleet was grounded last year and it no longer uses the jets.
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03/17/2023
The U.S. Air Force may be ditching its aging U-2 spy plane in favor of a mysterious drone. The U-2 is heading for retirement by 2026 due to budget concerns, according to a new report. While no replacement for the iconic U-2 Dragon Lady has officially been named, one likely candidate is the classified Northrop Grumman RQ-180 stealth drone, about which little is known.
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03/17/2023
The U.S. Air Force is looking to cut the already relatively small size of its F-15E Strike Eagle fleet by around 54 percent before the end of the decade, according to a recent report. This comes despite the service's F-15Es being some of, if not its most in-demand tactical jets thanks to their highly-desirable blend of speed, range, payload capacity, crew size, and other capabilities.
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03/17/2023
U.S. Air Force F-22A Raptors from the 525th Fighter Squadron at Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson, Alaska, with support from a KC-135 Stratotanker from the 909th Air Refueling Squadron at Kadena Air Base, Japan, traveled to Clark Air Base, Philippines, to integrate and train with Philippine Air Force 5th Fighter Wing counterparts, March 13-14, 2023.
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03/17/2023
Poland will become the first country to deliver fighter jets to Ukraine in the next few days, marking a significant upward step in military backing for Kyiv ahead of an expected counter-offensive. The precedent, involving four Soviet-era MiG-29s as a first instalment, could lead to other Nato members providing warplanes, a longstanding Ukrainian request.
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03/16/2023
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) tracked 28 Chinese military aircraft and four naval vessels around Taiwan between 6 a.m. on Tuesday (March 14) and 6 a.m. on Wednesday (March 15). Of the 28 People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, 16 were tracked in Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ), according to the MND. Four Shenyang J-11 jet fighters, two Shenyang J-16 fighter jets, and two Chengdu J-10 fighter jets crossed the Taiwan Strait median line.
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03/16/2023
Ukrainian forces reportedly shoot down a Russian combat aircraft near the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. According to the military, Ukrainian Soldiers have shot down a Russian Su-24 Fencer two-seat strike jet. The footage shows a Russian aircraft crashing down to the ground in flames and one of the pilots was seen just after ejecting.
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03/16/2023
Top Gun: Maverick was the second highest-grossing film of 2022, scoring a magnificent total of six Academy Award nominations this year. To mark the occasion of Maverick’s Oscar nomination success, Lockheed Martin, whose Skunk Works division worked with the filmmakers on the fictional “Darkstar” hypersonic aircraft, put out a series of tweets in the lead-up to the ceremony
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03/16/2023
With Congress starting to go along with the Air Force’s wish to retire its aging A-10 fleet, Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr.’s “4+1” fighter plan of two years ago is “probably just ‘4’ now,” he said March 15. “We’re retiring A-10s faster than we originally thought”, Brown said at the annual McAleese defense forum in Washington, D.C. “I think that’s probably the right answer.”
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03/15/2023
The two Typhoons were scrambled on Tuesday to intercept an Il-78 Midas refuelling plane flying between St Petersburg and Kaliningrad. The plane had failed to communicate with air traffic control in Estonia. The British and German air forces are currently conducting planned joint Nato air policing in the region.
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03/15/2023
With age comes reliance – at least that is what the old American prime, Lockheed Martin, is telling us with its new F-16 Block 70 combat aircraft. New production of the F-16s leverage structural and capability upgrades that “ensure the international F-16 fleet can operate to 2060 and beyond” according to the original equipment manufacturer.
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03/15/2023
Pakistan Air Force has sent a technical team for repair and maintenance of Myanmar's JF-17 combat aircraft, a move that will help upgrade their defence partnership. This comes as Myanmar Air Force officials are visiting Pakistan for a six-month training course on maintenance of JF-17, ET has learnt.
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03/15/2023
John Kirby, US National Security Council spokesman, has said that the White House supports Poland's decision to provide Ukraine with MiG fighter jets that Kyiv has been asking from its Western partners. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that Poland would be able to give Ukraine the aircraft within four to six weeks.
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03/15/2023
In what could be seen as a stark departure from its traditional practice, the US Navy’s proposed budget for the 2024 Fiscal Year includes almost $1.53 billion for developing a Next-Generation Fighter aircraft, popularly known as the F/A-XX. The US Department of Navy officially published its budget proposal for the fiscal year 2024 on March 13, including budget requests for the US Marine Corps.
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03/14/2023
A Russian fighter jet has collided with a US drone, causing the unmanned aircraft to crash into the Black Sea, the American military says. It says the drone was on a routine mission in international airspace when two Russian jets tried to intercept it. The US European command said the crash was the result of an "unprofessional act by the Russians".
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03/14/2023
Since Russia attacked Ukraine last year, US airmen have been on the phone with their Ukrainian counterparts, discussing ways to operate against Russian forces and how to use US-made weapons, US Air Force officials said this month. While Russia has some aerial advantages, both sides have effective air-defense systems that have kept the other from gaining air superiority, but Ukraine's air force continues to receive US-made weapons that allow it to strike valuable targets.
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03/14/2023
Hidden from the eyes of the general public, an impending decision could rewrite history. Perhaps for the first time, a Chinese fighter will be chosen over an American one. Such a decision, however, will not be because of the indicators of the two destroyers, but because of political, including budgetary differences.
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03/14/2023
The Air Force wants to retire 310 aircraft, including 42 A-10 Warthogs, as part of its fiscal 2024 budget to free up money for its modernization programs. The proposed FY24 budget calls for buying 72 fighters — 48 Lockheed Martin-made F-35As and 24 Boeing F-15EX Eagle IIs — and spending more on the Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider stealth bomber, the Boeing E-7A battle management and command-and-control aircraft.
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03/13/2023
Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) has unveiled the first FA-50 light fighter/attack aircraft for Poland. The East European nation signed for 48 FA-50s in July 2022, making the first down-payment in November. Under a $705 million contract KAI is delivering a batch of 12 aircraft that it had been manufacturing for the Republic of Korea Air Force in order to kick-start the Polish air force’s replacement program for its aging and difficult-to-support MiG-29s and Sukhoi Su-22Ms.
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03/13/2023
Chinese aircraft are a mixed story. Historically, the country has operated and sold a variety of legacy aircraft that can be charitably termed “inadequate”. But in recent years, this has been changing, with considerable resources provided to create a series of fourth and fifth generation aircraft.
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03/13/2023
Bahrain on Sunday received the first aircraft of the advanced F-16 Block 70, becoming the first nation in the world to get the combat jet. According to the state news agency BNA, the Royal Bahraini Air Force has been handed over the first F-16 Block 70 fighter jet. A handover ceremony was held at the Lockheed Martin headquarters in Greenville, South Carolina.
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03/13/2023
Türkiye on Sunday reiterated its frustration over the prolonged process of its request to acquire F-16 fighter jets from the United States, again signaling it could look elsewhere in case Washington fails to provide it with the warplanes. “We want everyone to know that we are not desperate in this matter; we have options in our hands,” Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said, stressing they were waiting for approval by the U.S. Congress and that “there is a constructive environment in general.”
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03/12/2023
After Russia invaded Ukraine, guerrillas from Belarus began carrying out acts of sabotage on their country's railways, including blowing up track equipment to paralyze the rails that Russian forces used to get troops and weapons into Ukraine. In the most recent sabotage to make international headlines, they attacked a Russian warplane parked just outside the Belarusian capital.
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03/12/2023
The military-political expert and advisor to the acting DPR leader, Yan Gagin, told TASS news agency on March 10 that the Ukrainian military dropped a JDAM bomb on the area of Kurdyumovka near the Bakhmut region of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) to test the viability of employing it from Soviet-made aircraft. Gagin told the media, “These are air- launched bombs. Originally, they were made for NATO aircraft. Ukraine has no such aircraft. This could have been a combat test with a non-standar
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03/12/2023
Media in Finland have reported that Prime Minister Sanna Marin is prepared to discuss providing U.S.-made fighter jets to Ukraine. Marin, who visited Kyiv on March 10, said Helsinki plans to purchase 64 modern F-35A fighters to replace 62 Hornet fighters. The Hornets could be provided to Ukraine, Marin has said, although she noted that discussions are at a preliminary stage.
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03/11/2023
Hawaii - Total-Force weapons specialists from 154th and 15th wings rearmed F-22 Raptors at the Pacific Missile Range Facility for the first time March 8-9, demonstrating their ACE capabilities. The maneuver operation was part of a larger Joint Base Readiness Exercise carried out by Hawaii Air National Guard and Active-Duty Airmen stationed at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.
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03/11/2023
Russia has been capturing some of the US and NATO-provided weapons and equipment left on the battlefield in Ukraine and sending them to Iran, where the US believes Tehran will try to reverse-engineer the systems, four sources familiar with the matter told CNN.
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03/11/2023
Yuriy, who earnt the nickname ‘Skywalker’ in the UK, told Metro.co.uk that it is an ‘honour’ to fly despite knowing that ‘every day could be your last’ due to Russia’s numerical and technological superiority in the skies. He described the sensation of flying combat missions as like multiplying everyday stress by ‘100 or 1,000’ but sees it as his duty to fight for the freedom of his family and other Ukrainians.
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03/11/2023
In the United States, discussions are reportedly underway for a possible delivery of AIM-120 AMRAAM medium-range air-to-air missiles to equip Ukrainian combat aircraft. The use of this missile would be advantageous in several ways for Ukrainian pilots, but it would first be necessary to resolve numerous technical problems concerning the use of this American missile on Soviet-designed aircraft.
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03/11/2023
Last month, the Air Force’s evolving Agile Combat Employment (ACE) doctrine received arguably its most rigorous test yet in the annual Cope North exercise, as Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps fighter and bomber aircraft, backed by aerial refuelers and airborne early warning and control aircraft and supported by Japanese fighters and French and Australian transports, fanned out across 1,200 miles of ocean and far-flung Pacific islands.
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03/11/2023
Days after a Russian A-50 Beriev (Mainstay) early warning aircraft came under attack by an unmanned aerial system (UAS), a new set of claims regarding the contentious attack—which may have dealt a blow to Russia—have been made in a latest UK intelligence update.
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03/09/2023
Japan is mulling the use of drones for aerial interception missions as the cost of scrambling manned fighter aircraft becomes increasingly unsustainable amid intensified Chinese air incursions.
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03/09/2023
Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto at the Halim Perdanakusuma airbase on Wednesday assured that Indonesia’s military air fleet will continue to be expanded. The latest plan, he elaborated, is to acquire a number of used military planes that are still considered to be in good condition. “We plan to acquire a number of aircraft from overseas that are not too old,” said Prabowo after the official handover of the Super Hercules C-130 Type J at the airbase on March 8.
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03/09/2023
In a first for the country, five US Air Force F-35 fighter jets will operate out of the Skrydstrup airbase in Denmark. The aircraft arrived at the base in Southern Jutland on Monday, where they will be hosted until March 16 in preparation for the arrival of Denmark’s first F-35s from the US in the autumn. The new planes will replace the Royal Danish Air Force’s current fleet of F-16s.
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03/08/2023
The two pilots were on board U-208 training aircraft and were participating in a training mission according to a statement from Italy’s air force, the Aeronautica Militare. The cause of the collision was not immediately known. Four aircraft were flying in formation when two of the planes collided, witnesses told local media.
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03/08/2023
The Air Force will field 200 Next-Generation Air Dominance aircraft and notionally 1,000 Collaborative Combat Aircraft, and will request funds in the fiscal 2024 budget to develop these new systems, Secretary Frank Kendall said in his keynote address at the AFA Warfare Symposium on March 7.
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03/08/2023
When Russia invaded Ukraine a year ago, the Kremlin had an air force that could draw on hundreds of MiG and Sukhoi fighter jets in reserve. Ukraine’s fighter fleet was, by some estimations, far more meager, with 69 jets at most. Experts say that put it at about one-tenth the size of Russia’s.
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03/07/2023
More than 5,000 miles from NATO’s eastern flank, a new generation of allied fighter pilots is coming of age in North Texas. After decades of peace at home, American and European airmen here face a new reality: They are the frontline flyers who will keep Russia’s war in Ukraine from spilling across NATO’s borders, and the instructors who will teach the new pilots how to do it.
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03/07/2023
General Atomics’ pitch for the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency’s LongShot program — a three-phased effort to build a turducken-like unmanned aircraft system (UAS) dropped from a bomber or fighter that can launch missiles of its own — is still on the menu for DARPA, following its selection by the agency to move into the program’s second phase, the company told Breaking Defense.
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03/07/2023
British and German air forces will patrol the skies over Estonia together for the first time as Britain prepares to take the lead of NATO's mission in the former Soviet Republic, the Ministry of Defense said Monday. In a show of "unity," Royal Air Force and German Air Force Typhoon jets will fly integrated missions with the eventual aim of carrying out full joint and integrated NATO Air Policing missions in the future, the Defense Ministry said in a news release.
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03/07/2023
In less than a decade, Turkey has become a drone powerhouse. Unmanned aerial vehicles were its defense industry's single largest export last year, totaling $871.5 million — an 80% increase over 2021.
Much of that market is served by the firm Baykar, which produces the TB2 model widely known for its use in recent conflicts, including in Ukraine. Baykar has built more than 400 TB2s for 24 countries. But the TB2 is just one of Baykar's models. On January 23, the company announced that the Kizile
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03/06/2023
Russia has been met with a roadblock - foreign suppliers of crucial aircraft are hesitant to provide for Russia amidst sanctions. Russia is unable to further produce vital A-50 radar aircraft due to a defense industry crippled by foreign sanctions, the Ukrainian Intelligence Directorate said on Friday. Russia has 6 or 7 operational A-50s according to a UK Defense Ministry Tuesday intelligence update.
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03/06/2023
The Air Force has revealed Australian pilots and aircrew are offered counselling after they encounter Chinese military jets during patrols over the South China Sea. Tensions are rising in the strategically important waterway, and the RAAF says it is noticing a trend of more dangerous behaviour by aircraft from the People's Liberation Army.
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03/06/2023
A total of 37 reserve pilots out of the 40 members of an elite Israel Air Force (IAF) unit announced that they will absent themselves from a scheduled training this week in protest of the government’s judicial overhaul. Air Force Squadron 69 is one of the top units in the IAF. It operates the advanced F-15 Thunderbird aircraft that serve as the Israeli military’s long-range attack arm.
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03/06/2023
The arrival of the pair marks the first time Ukrainian pilots have travelled to the US. But officials said their presence does not mean the US has decided to send fighter jets as part of its military aid. Two Ukrainian pilots are currently undergoing a training assessment in the US to fly American fighter jets, including F-16s. The F-16 planes are believed to be the aircraft Ukraine wants the most to fight back against Russia's invasion in the skies.
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03/06/2023
Amid fierce combat raging in the Bakhmut region, Russian fighter jets reportedly shot down two Mi-8 combat helicopters of the Ukrainian Air Force. The spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenko, announced on March 4 that two Ukrainian Mi-8 helicopters were shot down by fighter jets of the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) on March 3.
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03/05/2023
Air Mobility Command has directed its refueling and cargo planes to obscure the majority of identifying information painted on the aircraft, citing national security concerns -- an unusual move that is alarming to government watchdogs. James Stewart, a spokesman for Air Mobility Command, told Military.com in an emailed statement that airmen's missions take them around the globe and often involve sensitive movements of cargo - the main reason behind the change.
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03/05/2023
International participants have commenced preparations for Britain’s largest air exercise exercise, Cobra Warrior. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has dispatched the first aircraft to RAF Coningsby and RAF Waddington, where they will be stationed throughout the exercise. The Indian, Finnish, and Belgian Air forces will soon follow suit, joining the UK-based aircraft from the United States Air Force and a variety of RAF aircraft.
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03/05/2023
During Exercise Winter Camp, Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (JTAC) from allied nations deployed in NATO’s enhanced forward presence battle groups in the Baltics have been practising Air-Land Integration. The exercise included Allied fighters stationed in the Baltics under the NATO Air Policing mission such as French Rafales, German Eurofighters, and Polish F-16s.
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03/05/2023
Less than a year after Pakistan Air Force (PAF) took a giant leap and inducted China’s cutting-edge J-10C fighter jets into service, it reportedly commissioned a highly upgraded and advanced version of the JF-17, called the JF-17 Block III. Earlier this week, some reports on social media indicated that Pakistan’s most famous air squadron – 16 Squadron nicknamed ‘Black Panthers’ had received the first batch of JF-17 Block III aircraft.
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03/05/2023
Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins told the Spiegel on March 4 that he was sure that combat aircraft would be delivered to Ukraine by Western countries, calling it “a matter of time” before the decision is made. “If the Ukrainians need fighter jets, they should get them,” he said, adding that Ukrainians have repeatedly proven that they quickly learn to operate new equipment.
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03/05/2023
A Russian Su-34 Fullback fighter jet was shot down on March 3 in the Donbas region in east Ukraine. While both sides agree that the Fullback was shot down, there is a dispute on how exactly the aircraft went down. The images and videos of the Russian strike aircraft crashing to the ground have been doing the rounds on social media. An air defense missile shot down the fighter.
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03/04/2023
Unmanned surveillance aircraft flown by the Australian Defence Force are already being used as part of the "kill chain", according to the RAAF chief, who has stopped short of saying when he believes this country will get its first armed drones. Australia last year cancelled plans to acquire its first lethal drone technology known as SkyGuardian, more than 20 years after the United States military first deployed the killer Predator drone in Afghanistan.
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03/04/2023
Boeing and the AH-64 team are observing a unique milestone as the US Army’s AH-64 Apache attack helicopters have officially reached five million flight hours. The accomplishment is equivalent to flying nonstop for more than 208,333 days or 570 years and nine months. Additionally, 1.3 million of those five million flight hours were accomplished during combat.
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03/04/2023
Sweden will reassess options to replace a fleet of six Lockheed Martin C-130H Hercules tactical airlifters after an attempt to acquire used C-130J Super Hercules aircraft unexpectedly failed to meet requirements. The acquisition “needs to be reviewed after completed analysis of quotation from industry,” stated a translated version of the Swedish Armed Forces Budget 2024.
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03/04/2023
South Korea and the United States will press ahead with large-scale military drills later this month despite North Korea threatening to take “unprecedentedly” strong action against such exercises. The South Korean and US militaries will conduct military exercises from March 13 to 23 to strengthen their combined defensive capabilities, the two militaries said in a statement on Friday.
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03/03/2023
Slovakia is considering transferring 10 of its 11 Soviet-made MiG-29 aircraft to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which were withdrawn from service last year. Slovak Defense Minister Jaroslav Nad announced this in an interview with AP, Ukrainian News Agency reports. A decision can be made within the coming days or weeks. "We will never use the MiGs anymore. They have no real value for us. If we give them to Ukraine, they can help save their lives,” he said.
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03/03/2023
For the first time, an unspecified number of F-22 fighters from the 525th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron at Kadena Air Base in Japan have been stationed in the Northern Mariana Islands, a strategically important location close to China. The Raptors are positioned there to participate in Exercise Agile Reaper 23-1 (AR 23-1). The information regarding the deployment was published on the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service website on March 1.
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03/03/2023
The jet which the U.S. Air Force will soon use to coordinate air battles has already earned its stripes helping the Royal Australian Air Force fight the Islamic State. The E-7A Wedgetail, which is based on the Boeing Next Generation 737-700 commercial jet, is an airborne early warning and control aircraft, meaning it has a large multi-role electronically scanned array radar mounted to the fuselage which helps the crew see hundreds of miles in all directions.
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03/03/2023
A video has emerged showing a drone that is claimed to have been launched by a Belarusian partisan group, landing on the radar dome of a Russian A-50 Mainstay airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft at Machulishchy Air Base, Belarus. The video was released by BYPOL, the organization of Belarusian military dissidents opposed to the Lukashenko government that claims it struck the A-50, damaging it in two critical places its radome and its upper forward fuselage area on February 26.
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03/03/2023
Since Fleet Readiness Center Southeast (FRCSE) inducted its first F-5N Tiger II, the depot has forged forward despite the challenges associated with standing up a new product line. The F-5s were initially purchased in the 1970s by the Air Force and then sold through foreign military sales to Switzerland. In 2002, the Department of Defense decided to repatriate many of these aircraft back to the Navy. The F-5 is a twin-engine tactical fighter aircraft that provides air-to-air combat training.
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03/03/2023
The Biden administration formally notified the US Congress of the proposed sales of F-16 missiles and associated equipment on March 1, 2023. The announcement comes days after Pentagon’s top China official, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Michael Chase, visited Taiwan, drawing sharp criticism from China.
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03/03/2023
Taiwan has reported a large-scale Chinese air force incursion into its air defence zone for a second day running, just as the United States approved the potential sale of $619m in weapons to the island – including hi-tech missiles for Taiwan’s F-16 fighter jets. Taiwan’s defence ministry said a total of 21 Chinese combat planes – 17 Chengdu J-10 multirole fighters and four advanced Shenyang J-16 strike fighters – had flown into the southwestern corner of the island’s ADIZ on Thursday.
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03/01/2023
The monitoring group stated that a Russian Air Force Il-76 (RF-86843) and an An-26 military transport aircraft arrived at the Machulishchy airfield late on Feb. 26. Early on Feb. 27, the Il-76 flew to Russia’s Ivanovo Severny airfield. The planes arrived on the day a Russian Air Force A-50U AEW aircraft was reported to have been attacked and damaged.
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03/01/2023
The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) has notified Congress of a potential foreign military sale (FMS) of AGM-88E extended-range anti-radiation missiles to Australia.
Valued at approximately $506m, the proposed deal has already been approved by the US State Department.
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03/01/2023
As the backbone of the US Navy’s carrier air wing, the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet remains a top priority for Naval Aviation. The Navy expects the final delivery of new Super Hornets to occur in 2025, ensuring the strike fighter’s capabilities remain at the nation’s service for decades to come.
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02/28/2023
Singapore will exercise a contractual option to acquire eight more F-35B fighter jets, bringing it fleet to 12 aircraft that manufacturer Lockheed Martin will deliver by the end of the decade.
Speaking to lawmakers during a budget hearing, Singaporean Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said the decision came after a “full evaluation” of the F-35, which followed increased access to the aircraft program thanks to the country’s initial order.
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02/28/2023
In the initial stages of its invasion of Ukraine, Moscow shot down several of its own military aircraft, leading to a shortage of experienced pilots required for Russia to establish air superiority over Ukraine, The Financial Times recently reported. Despite having a large fleet of fourth-generation fighters and cutting-edge aircraft like the Su-57, which British intelligence earlier claimed had not yet been used for operations within Ukraine’s airspace, Moscow has struggled to maintain control
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02/28/2023
On February 26, 2023, a Russian A-50 AWACS aircraft was damaged at Minsk’s military airfield near Minsk, according to Reuters and Militarnyi with reference to the opposition Belarusian channels Belarusian Hajun and BYPOL. Belarusian sources mentioned the use of two UAVs, which were controlled from the territory of Belarus. Operators are reported to be safe outside the country. It is claimed that the A-50 has received serious damage and will not fly anywhere.
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02/28/2023
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday the situation is becoming increasingly difficult in the eastern city of Bakhmut, where Ukrainian and Russian forces are engaged in heavy fighting. "The situation is getting more and more complicated," Zelenskyy said Monday during his nightly address. He said Russian forces are "constantly destroying everything that can be used to protect our positions."
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02/28/2023
Russia’s war on Ukraine, with its images of helicopters trailing flames, has demonstrated their vulnerability to effective air defences and triggered debate on the future of crewed aircraft sent to penetrate enemy airspace. Former Australian Army major general Mick Ryan, who has studied the conflict closely since Moscow’s 2014 invasion, says Russia is no longer flying crewed aircraft over Ukraine because of its potent air- and missile-defence regime.
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02/28/2023
The day began with an attack by Iranian drones. Most of them were shot down. Eleven out of fourteen. Unfortunately, there were also hits. Three employees of the State Emergency Service in Khmelnytskyi were wounded, two were killed. In fact, that is why we need the aviation component of air defense – modern combat aircraft – to protect the entire territory of our country from Russian terror. Air defense is complete only when it is backed by aviation. Modern aviation.
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02/27/2023
In the past 24 hours, Ukraine’s Air Force has launched four strikes on enemy personnel and military equipment clusters. Russian troops attempted to conduct offensive actions in five directions but failed. The relevant statement was made by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
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02/27/2023
The Armed Forces, defense forces, and all defenders of Ukraine are ready for any scenario during the spring-summer campaign, which will be extremely difficult. This was said by the Deputy Chief of the Main Directorate of Intelligence, Vadym Skibitsky, at an event on the occasion of the anniversary of the beginning of the Russian Federation’s full-scale aggression against Ukraine, organized on February 24 at the residence of the Federal President of Germany in the Bellevue Palace in Berlin.
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02/27/2023
Various U.S. units under Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa, or CJTF-HOA, and the 449th Air Expeditionary Group pooled their resources to conduct the first simulated joint branch Forward Arming and Refueling Point, or FARP, exercise on the African continent, Feb. 22.
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02/27/2023
The maker of JAS-39 Gripen fighter jets, Saab, is facing an acute supplier shortage, according to a newly published annual report. As per the report, Sweden has been facing supplier shortages due to the Ukraine war, which have caused struggles with the maintenance of military equipment and “major delivery deviations,” such as delayed delivery of the new signals intelligence ship “HSwMS Artemis.”
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02/26/2023
A Chinese fighter jet together with a guided-missile destroyer warship in the South China Sea warned a U.S. military reconnaissance aircraft to turn away from Chinese airspace in a heart-stopping confrontation all caught on camera.
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02/26/2023
The 317th AW successfully passed fuel from a C-130 to an M1A2 utilizing an Emergency Response Refueling Equipment Kit, marking the first time in USAF history that a C-130 has been used to refuel an Abrams tank.
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02/26/2023
The latest use of an Air-to-Air missile (AAM) was by the US Northern Command F-22 Raptor fighter jet launching an AIM-9X Sidewinder missile to take down a car-sized object flying above Alaska on February 10. The same combination of jet and missile destroyed the Chinese balloon on February 4. While there have been a few air combat engagements in the initial days of the war in Ukraine, missile usage is not clear.
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02/26/2023
Singapore announced on February 24 that the country would purchase eight additional F-35B Lightning II fighter jets on top of the four for which a deal was signed in 2019. The announcement indicates that the F-35s are rapidly proliferating in China’s neighborhood.
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02/25/2023
As the world marks the first anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine Dr DAVE SLOGGETT asks if the lessons emerging from the conflict challenge the long-held military doctrine on achieving and maintaining air supremacy? It is still true to say that the enduring characteristic of war is that it is a bloody affair. While some significant technological advances have occurred, they have not changed this fundamental perspective.
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02/25/2023
Britain is prepared to provide fighter jets to its allies in eastern Europe, according to UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace. According to Mr Wallace, this would enable Britain's allies to give Ukraine their own Soviet fighter jets. Notwithstanding the UK's willingness to “backfill” ally stocks, he reiterated that it would not send its own Typhoon fighters to Ukraine.
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02/25/2023
Ukraine’s leader pledged Friday to push for victory in 2023 as he and other Ukrainians marked the somber anniversary of the Russian invasion that upended their lives and Europe’s security. It was Ukraine’s “longest day,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, but the country’s dogged resistance a year on has proven that “every tomorrow is worth fighting for.”
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02/25/2023
The 177th Fighter Wing of the New Jersey Air National Guard, part of Air Combat Command, hosted Integrated Combat Turnaround (ICT) training for members of Air Mobility Command (AMC) from Feb. 9 to Feb. 17, 2023. An ICT is a process by which an aircraft is recovered and relaunched in a minimum amount of time, through the simultaneous fueling, loading of munitions, aircraft reconfiguration and aircraft inspections.
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02/25/2023
Danish acting Minister of Defense Troels Lund Poulsen is “open to” Denmark sending combat aircraft to Ukraine in the long term, DR reports. “I don’t want to deny that at some point it may be necessary to look at a fighter aircraft contribution,” he said making it clear that no decision has been made yet: “I cannot announce this morning that we are going to provide a contribution of fighter aircraft from the Danish side.”
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02/25/2023
Iran’s backing of Russia’s war efforts in Ukraine is expanding to include “unprecedented defence cooperation” that will see the Islamic Republic purchase advanced weaponry from Moscow in exchange for providing Russian forces with equipment meant for use on Ukrainian territory, the White House has said.
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02/25/2023
The Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) will purchase eight more F-35B Joint Strike Fighters, to be added to its fleet by the end of the decade. This follows the agreement of purchase of four F-35Bs first, which was inked in 2020. Since then, the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) was given exclusive access to information and facilities of the aircraft, allowing them to conduct robust evaluations.
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02/25/2023
Korea Aerospace Industries has won a competition to supply light attack aircraft to Malaysia, the company announced, marking its latest export for the line of trainer/light attack jets. The South Korean company said the contract, worth $920 million, will see it deliver 18 FA-50 jets to the Southeast Asian country, with the first due for delivery in 2026.
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02/24/2023
While US President Joe Biden’s historic surprise visit to Ukraine on the eve of the first anniversary of the Russian invasion of that country and his new offer of $460 million of the military to boost the country’s defense has raised the spirit of the Ukrainians enormously, Kyiv’s request to get F-16 fighter aircraft at the earliest remains pending for Washington’s approval.
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02/24/2023
Ukrainian pilots have visited the U.S. and the specific type of aircraft to be provided to Ukraine has already been selected, the top spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force claimed on Tuesday.
“Our military pilots went to the United States, funds were allocated for the training of our pilots,” Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuri Ignat said, according to ArmyInform an information agency of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine (MoD).
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02/24/2023
The current serviceability and related maintenance issues of the Ratno vazduhoplovstvo i protivvazduhoplovna odbrana Vojske Srbije (Serbia Air Force and Air Defence) MiG-29 fighter aircraft is causing headaches for the Serbian Ministry of Defence (MoD).
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02/24/2023
Boeing Co. plans to end production of its F/A-18 Super Hornet, the fighter jet that wowed movie audiences in last year’s Top Gun: Maverick, after more than 2,000 deliveries over 40 years. The aerospace giant will stop manufacturing the fighters after it hands over the last Super Hornet to the US Navy in late 2025, according to a statement Thursday.
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02/23/2023
If it has not yet convinced the United States to pass on some Lockheed Martin F-16 fighters to its air force, Ukraine at least already has a new American aircraft. Military Intelligence Aviation, linked to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence, revealed that it had received a Sikorsky UH-60A Black Hawk helicopter.
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02/23/2023
“We have a continuing and robust dialogue with the [United Arab Emirates] on these sales," senior State Department official Stanley Brown told Breaking Defense. "We remain committed to them, even as we continue consultations to ensure that we have a clear, mutual understanding with respect to Emirati obligations."
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02/23/2023
The pilot of a British fighter jet that rolled off a Royal Navy aircraft carrier has spoken of his relief at managing to eject from the £100m F-35. Speaking soon after the incident in November 2021, the pilot, known as Hux, recalled having only seconds to react. An official investigation concluded the sudden loss of power on take-off was probably caused by a cover being left on one of the aircraft's jet intakes.
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02/23/2023
When Finland’s airforce switched from Soviet fighter jets to US-made aircraft, Jarmo Lindberg led the first group of experienced pilots to be trained in California to fly F18 hornets. That training took a full year including English lessons, flight simulations, emergency procedures and learning to use the aircraft to fight, the former fighter pilot and chief of defence told Euronews.
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02/22/2023
Since the early days of Russia's full-scale invasion of his country, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's pleas to the U.S. for advanced fighter jets have gone largely unanswered, but even as experts warn that the planes might not make much of a near-term difference in the conflict, the idea is gaining support.
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02/22/2023
South Korean defense company Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI) is aiming to export its combat jets and helicopters, including the KF-21 stealth fighter jet, to the Middle East, the company’s CEO Kang Goo-young said. Speaking at the IDEX defense exhibition in Abu Dhabi on February 21, 2023, the CEO said one of the main priorities for KAI is continuing with the MC-X, a joint project to develop a twin-engine military transport aircraft, according to a report published by The Korean Herald.
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02/22/2023
China's aviation industry announced on Tuesday that a deal to export the domestically developed L15 advanced trainer jet to the UAE has been sealed, as it put the latest, aerial refueling-capable variant of the aircraft on display at an ongoing defense expo in Abu Dhabi, with experts hailing the aircraft as one of the best trainers in the world.
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02/22/2023
European defense consortium Airbus is staring at a shortage of orders, including for the Eurofighter Typhoon, when European countries are making new military purchases to combat potential Russian threats. Airbus SE’s defense unit revealed recently that the company has been planning to increase production of its Eurofighter jet and other important weapons systems but has been held back due to the inability of governments to commit to orders, Bloomberg reported.
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02/22/2023
In another sign of tightening defense ties between Belarus and Russia, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has announced his country’s defense industry is ready to kick off the manufacturing of Sukhoi Su-25 ground attack aircraft. Some analysts suggest the move could be related to Moscow’s plan to streamline Minsk’s defense industry capacities towards its war against Ukraine.
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02/21/2023
The fourth prototype of South Korea's homemade fighter jet KF-21 successfully conducted its flight about seven months after the first prototype made its 33-minute maiden flight in July 2022. The first two-seater fighter jet will be used for various missions such as testing the performance of a computer-controlled array antenna system that determines the survival of fighter jets in a combat situation.
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02/21/2023
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni may raise the issue of providing Ukraine with modern combat aircraft during her upcoming visit to Kyiv, which is due to take place before February 24. The Italian publication Repubblica reported this with reference to its own sources writes.
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02/21/2023
The US has carried out separate air exercises with both the Japanese and South Korean air forces to build quick response capability to any regional threat. According to a US Forces Japan’s media statement, the bilateral exercise between Japan and US was conducted on 19 February to demonstrate the combined rapid capabilities of both nations in countering a wide range of regional adversaries.
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02/21/2023
Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) displayed a model of its company-funded HLFT-42 (Hindustan Lead-in Fighter Trainer) concept at the recent Aero India show, despite the apparent lack of a formal Indian Air Force requirement for the jet. The project is being positioned as a lead-in fighter training aircraft that will have performance and systems representative of frontline types, allowing it to download training from operational aircraft while exposing pilots to modern sensors, weapons and roles at low
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02/20/2023
Ukraine’s Defense Forces have shot down another Russian Su-25 aircraft, two unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and one Lancet-3 loitering munition. The relevant statement was made by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
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02/20/2023
The likelihood of US transfer of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine is gradually increasing. Such an opinion on Sunday, February 19, on the air of the TV channel CNN expressed the head of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives of the US Congress Michael McCall (R-Texas).
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02/20/2023
On February 16, the Russian Ministry of Defense (RuMoD) highlighted the capabilities of the Su-25 attack aircraft upgraded by the country in a Telegram post titled ‘Upgraded Su-25SM3: Superpower Over The Battlefield’.
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02/19/2023
During Operation Desert Storm F-15E Strike Eagle #89-0487, or “487” for short, from 335th Tactical Fighter Squadron (TFS, today 335th Fighter Squadron, FS) “Chiefs” was credited with one of the most unique air-to-air kills in aviation history.
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02/19/2023
Russia is to propose a partnership with the Gulf States to produce its cutting-edge fighter jet Su-75, also referred to as Checkmate, Russian media reported on Thursday. "Rosoboronexport is considering options for joint design and manufacture of cutting-edge high-tech products, including a fifth-generation fighter based on the Checkmate light tactical aircraft," shared Rosoboronexport's Director General Alexander Mikheev.
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02/19/2023
China has released a video featuring its second aircraft carrier Shandong conducting a training exercise and making announcements in English, which according to a Chinese military expert, could mean that the aircraft carrier had “a close encounter with a US aircraft carrier in the South China Sea.”
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02/18/2023
During the day, the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine launched five strikes on the personnel and military equipment clusters of the Russian invaders and hit the location of an anti-aircraft missile system. This is stated in the report of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine as of 18:00, February 17, published on Facebook.
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02/18/2023
Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF)’s EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft will be upgraded to the most current US capabilities by Australian Defence Force’s standout radar-systems developer CEA Technologies as part of the $6 billion Project AIR 5349 Phase 6 project.
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02/18/2023
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) tracked 12 Chinese military aircraft and three naval vessels around Taiwan between 6 a.m. on Thursday (Feb. 16) and 6 a.m. on Friday (Feb. 17). Of the 12 People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, one Shaanxi Y-8 anti-submarine warfare plane entered the southwest corner of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ), according to the MND. No PLA aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait median line during this time.
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02/18/2023
China is helping Myanmar’s military to strengthen its control over the helpless civilians by providing them with “fighter aircraft”, and this clearly shows that Beijing doesn’t value human rights when it comes to furthering its own interests, Mekong News, Myanmar-based news agency reported. Earlier, in October, Irrawaddy, a newspaper in Myanmar run by the opposition had claimed that the country had ordered several FTC-2000G midrange fighter jets from China.
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