3/7/2026 RAF Typhoon jets to help defend Bahrain, Starmer tells King Hamad  British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told ?the king of Bahrain that four jets the UK is deploying to Qatar could be ?used to help ?defend ?the ?kingdom ?from Iranian ?missile and ?drone strikes against Gulf states. “The Prime Minister also offered further defensive ?air cover from these ?jets ?for Bahrain ?to ?bolster their security,” ?Starmer told King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa in a call ?late on Thursday, according to a readout ?from ?Starmer’s office on Friday. |
3/7/2026 Turkish fighter jets conduct patrol flights along Iran border amid war  Turkish Air Force (TurAF) fighter jets are conducting patrol flights along Türkiye's border with Iran as the war between the United States and Iran continues, with aircraft observed flying over the border region near the Yuksekova district of Hakkari province. Aircraft were observed flying at regular intervals along the border line as part of ongoing operations. |
3/7/2026 S-400 stand-alone use 'most reasonable solution' for F-35 impasse: Defense Minister  Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler stated that Türkiye still considers using the Russian S-400 air defense system in a stand-alone configuration, without NATO integration, as "the most reasonable solution" to the impasse blocking its reinstatement in the F-35 fighter jet program. |
3/7/2026 Why Didn’t Iran’s Air Force Put Up a Fight Against the United States?  Iran’s air force was the most powerful in the Middle East in 1979, and nothing about it has changed since then. That’s a big problem for Tehran. Operation Epic Fury has exposed the limitations of Iran’s aging air force. Within the first days of the campaign, US and Israeli forces achieved air superiority over Iranian air space—a contest during which Iranian fighters were largely absent from the skies. |
3/7/2026 Swiss government reduces F-35 fighter jet order  Switzerland confirmed it will proceed with the F-35A fighter jet procurement but expects to acquire about 30 aircraft instead of the originally planned 36 due to rising program costs.
The Swiss Federal Council will request an additional 394 million Swiss francs from parliament to cover inflation and raw material cost increases while remaining within the voter-approved funding ceiling. |
3/7/2026 Ukraine Prepares Down Payment for Gripen and Rafale Fighter Jets  Ukraine is moving forward with plans to secure advanced fighter jets from Sweden and France.
“We must have a down payment from the Ukrainian side for future aviation, regarding the Gripen and Rafale,” the President stated. He noted that the matter was discussed on March 4 during a meeting with Ukraine’s Minister of Defense. The country is preparing a down payment for Swedish-made Gripen and French-made Rafale aircraft, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on March 5. |
3/6/2026 Sukhoi Su-30 MKI fighter jet goes missing in Assam, IAF launches search ops  A Sukhoi-30 fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) went missing from radar contact while flying over Assam’s Karbi Anglong district on Thursday evening, officials said. “An IAF Su-30 MKI is reported overdue. The aircraft had taken off from Jorhat air base in Assam and was last in contact at 7.42 pm,” Defence PRO Lt Col Mahender Rawat said in a statement. He said search and rescue operations have been initiated to ascertain the status of the fighter jet. |
3/6/2026 Pair of low-flying Iranian bombers came within 2 minutes of hitting Al Udeid Air Base, report says  Iranian fighter planes flying less than 100 feet above ground came within minutes of hitting the U.S. military’s largest base in the Middle East, CNN reported this week. The incident, which happened Monday morning, involved two Russian-made Su-24 bombers that were headed toward Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. Several thousand U.S. troops operate out of Al Udeid, making it the main hub for U.S. operations in the region. |
3/6/2026 British F-35s Just Scored an Air Combat Kill over Jordan  The British fighter jets are in the Middle East to defend the UK’s regional military installations, most notably on Cyprus. Royal Air Force (RAF) Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning stealth fighters have reportedly scored their first aerial victory, downing Iranian drones over Jordan this week. |
3/6/2026 Fresh Off Labor Strike, Boeing Set to Double F-15EX Production  The expanded production line comes even as the Air Force has expressed a desire to shrink its F-15EX fleet. This week, the United States Air Force lost three F-15E Strike Eagle fighters in a friendly fire incident over Kuwait as part of its ongoing Operation Epic Fury. Any loss of combat aircraft is significant—not only because of the immense cost of the aircraft, but because of the risk to the lives of the pilots and weapons systems officers. Fortunately, all six crewmembers ejected and were r |