11/7/2025 Egypt continues talks with the US for up to 46 F-15 Eagle fighter jets.  As reported by Tactical Report on November 3, 2025, Egypt’s negotiations with the United States for the acquisition of Boeing F-15 Eagle fighter jets are still ongoing, with no final agreement or production schedule confirmed. The proposed sale, valued at several billion dollars and covering up to 46 units, is expected to replace the canceled Su-35 procurement and expand Egypt’s Air Force modernization program. |
11/7/2025 MILITARY HARDWARE: TANKS, BOMBERS, SUBMARINES AND MORE China’s New J-35 Is No F-35 Stealth Fighter (For Now)  China’s J-35 borrows the F-35’s silhouette and internal bays, and it’s being tailored for carrier ops on Fujian. But resemblance isn’t parity. The jet’s twin-engine layout, immature coatings, and unproven avionics trail the F-35’s combat-tested stealth, sensor fusion (DAS), mission-data libraries, and allied network. The Lightning II keeps widening the gap with Block 4 upgrades while the J-35 is still in low-rate production. |
11/7/2025 Sweden Considers Financing Part of Gripen Fighter Jet Deal With Ukraine in Landmark Defense Move  Sweden and Ukraine are progressing in talks over a major defense agreement that could see Kyiv acquire up to 150 Gripen E multirole fighter jets, Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonson told Reuters on November 6, adding that Stockholm could fund part of the deal via military aid. The deal, if finalized, would mark Sweden’s largest-ever aircraft export. |
11/7/2025 The Air Force Will Soon Have 32 Additional F-22 Combat Ready ‘Raptor’ Fighters  The Air Force plans to modernize early Block 20 F-22s—once training jets—adding open mission systems, improved stealth coatings, EW upgrades, and AIM-9X/AIM-120D/AIM-260 compatibility. The move could boost the combat-coded Raptor fleet to 178 and hedge against delays to the sixth-gen F-47 amid rising J-20/Su-57 threats. |
11/7/2025 GCAP fighter jet designers push to keep weapons, drone options open  The new sixth-generation GCAP fighter should be able to carry a wide variety of armaments and work with any number of different “Loyal Wingman” drones, a leading official on the UK-Japanese-Italy program has said. British defense ministry official Group Captain Bill Sanders said the under-development platform needed to have a weapons bay ready to accept any armament used by the partners, by NATO and by the United States. |
11/6/2025 F-35 Sale To Saudi Arabia Being Mulled By Trump Admin: Report  Saudi Arabia could become the next customer for the Lockheed Martin F-35, with the Trump administration reportedly weighing up the sale of up to 48 jets to the kingdom. Selling the stealth jet to Saudi Arabia would be a significant policy shift, with Washington previously being unwilling to export F-35s to Arab states in the region, for fear of upsetting the strategic balance in relation to Israel. |
11/6/2025 Shield AI’s X-BAT drone to be powered by same GE engine as F-15, F-16 fighters  Defense tech startup Shield AI’s X-BAT drone wingman will be powered by GE’s F110 fighter engine, the two companies exclusively told Breaking Defense, giving the recently unveiled loyal wingman drone the same powerplant used in the F-15 and F-16. Under a memorandum of understanding signed by the firms, GE will provide its F110-GE-129 powerplant and integrate a thrust vectoring nozzle critical for the X-BAT platform’s vertical takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) operations. |
11/5/2025 Putin’s Dangerous Game Of Chicken With NATO In The Sky  NATO fighters have scrambled three times in a week as Russian drones and reconnaissance aircraft prodded Baltic airspace and nearby corridors. After Polish jets and allies shot down drones that crossed Poland in September—triggering an Article 4 consult—recent incidents saw Il-20, Il-76, and Il-78 flights intercepted in international airspace without transponders or flight plans. |
11/5/2025 The US Military Is Retiring The A-10 Warthog: Here's Why  The legendary A-10 Warthog has been granted retirement in 2026 for several reasons, including the changing landscape of modern combat and military budget limitations. Due to the aircraft's effective but simplistic design, it lacks some features necessary to compete against other modern forces. For instance, the A-10 Warthog is anything but stealthy or quick, which is a problem when sending this aircraft against an adversary utilizing state-of-the-art air defenses. |
11/5/2025 Navy pursues uncrewed combat aircraft with artificial intelligence (AI) for carrier operations  U.S. Navy aerial warfare experts are pursuing carrier-based semi-autonomous uncrewed combat aircraft that operate together with crewed combat aircraft in a new project called Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA). The CCA project seeks to enhance the carrier air wing's combat capabilities; sensing and situational awareness; and ability to blend crewed and uncrewed aircraft to enhance safety and extend the read of carrier-based aircraft. |