The War Zone. Your daily source for military, defense, and geopolitics coverage.

MH-5 Persian Gulf

Confessions Of A Navy MH-53E Sea Dragon Minehunter Pilot

A former pilot gives an in-depth look at what it takes to fly and sweep for mines in the giant Sea Dragon, and shares some great stories along the way.

Latest News

Faced with mounting losses fighting Iran, the Air Force is bying unused Reapers from General Atomics.
Iran

USAF Scrambling To Buy What Few MQ-9 Reapers It Can Find After Epic Fury Losses

The USAF needs to scrounge-up any now out of production Reapers to replace the dozens lost in fights against Iran and the Houthis.

An A-10C Thunderbolt II assigned to the 74th Fighter Squadron flies with its new refueling probe at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia, May 19, 2026. The A-10 successfully refueled from an HC-130J Combat King II assigned to the 71st Rescue Squadron, demonstrating the new system’s effectiveness.
U.S. Air Force

Congress Throws A-10 Warthog Another Lifeline

Requiring the USAF to satisfy all the demands stated in the legislation could see the jet’s life extended well past 2030.

A Congressman wants the Navy to prove building the nuclear-powered Trump class battleship won't exacerbate existing delays in nuclear submarine and aircraft carrier construction.
U.S. Navy

Legislators Demand Navy Prove Trump Class Battleships Won’t Sink U.S. Nuclear Shipbuilding

Concerns are building the Trump class battleship will exacerbate delays in critical aircraft carrier and submarine construction.

Modularity is a key area of interest as the U.S. Air Force formulates its latest set of requirements for a successor to the MQ-9 Reaper, according to Gen. John Lamontagne, the service's Vice Chief of Staff.
U.S. Air Force

USAF Wants “MQ-9 Next” Reaper Replacement To Be Modular, Cheap

Concerning MQ-9 losses have turbocharged discussions about a successor to the venerable Reaper.

The U.S. Marine Corps is aiming to put in an order for new anti-drone 5.56x45mm ammunition for its M4 carbines and M27 rifles by the end of the year.
M16/AR15/M4 Pattern

Anti-Drone 5.56mm Rifle Rounds That Break Into Multiple Projectiles Sought By Marines

The aim is for specialized rounds to help boost the ability of any Marine with a rifle to swat down small uncrewed attackers.

Tests of Ukraine’s new FP-7.X missile could pave the way to a cheaper and more plentiful alternative to the U.S.-made Patriot air defense system. A recent uptick in Russian missile and drone attacks against Ukraine, combined with a critical shortage of Patriot interceptors, underscores the need for more robust air defenses, especially with anti-ballistic missile capabilities.
Ukraine

Ukraine Tests New Missile In Hopes Of Leading To Low Cost Patriot Alternative

As interceptor shortages strain its defenses, Ukraine has a plan to build anti-ballistic missiles that are cheaper and faster to produce than Western types.

The officer in charge of SOCOM's Lethality program gives us exclusive insights into the command's future machine guns and rifles.
M16/AR15/M4 Pattern

Inside SOCOM’s Search For New Machine Guns, Rifles And Ammo

Lt. Col. Alan Wood, SOCOM’s Program Manager for Lethality, offers some exclusive insights into the future of SOCOM small arms.

Two MH-47G Chinook helicopters assigned to the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), refuel mid-air during Arctic Edge 24 over the Arctic Ocean, Mar. 9, 2024. During AE24, more than 400 joint and allied Special Operators trained in extreme cold conditions to sharpen SOF readiness across unique specialties like long range fires and movements, special reconnaissance, rapid resupply, personnel recovery, and medical care in the austere Arctic environment. AE24 is a NORAD and U.S. Northern Command-led homeland defense exercise demonstrating the U.S. military’s capabilities in extreme cold weather, joint force readiness, and U.S. military commitment to mutual strategic security interests in the Arctic region.
MH-47

Night Stalker MH-47 Chinooks May Get Aerial Refueling Tanker Role

Special ops MH-47 Chinooks that could refuel other aircraft midair would give the Night Stalkers their own organic tanker capability.

Shield AI, the defense-tech company building state-of-the-art autonomy software and aircraft, today announced that the Office of the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering (OUSW R&E) has selected Shield AI to integrate its Hivemind autonomy software onto the Low-Cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System (LUCAS), a new class of low-cost, one-way attack drones often referred to as kamikaze drones designed to operate in large numbers.
Drones

U.S. Military’s Shahed-136 Kamikaze Drone Clone Is Getting Hivemind Swarming Capability

Shield AI is providing the software to unlock the combat-proven LUCAS’s cooperative swarming potential, which could drastically increase its lethality.

Mystery aircraft spotted over groom lake.
NGAD

Is This A Glimpse Of The Aircraft That Gave Birth To The F-47?

A purported sighting over Area 51 has features that would fit with what we think we know about the F-47, but many questions remain.

PERSIAN GULF - APRIL 4 : A U.S. Marine Harrier jet lands on the flight deck of the U.S.S. Bon Homme Richard April 4, 2003 in the Persian Gulf. Harrier jets from the Bon Homme Richard continue to carry out bombing missions in support of the U.S.-led in Iraq. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Harrier

The Hidden History of America’s Harrier Jump Jets

The Harrier story is a transatlantic saga of improvisation, ambition, and unlikely partnership, which helped shape the F-35B.

A Marine AV-8B Harrier takes off from amphibious assault ship USS Tarawa (LHA 1) just before sunset. Tarawa, along with embarked 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, is on a scheduled deployment to the Western Pacific in support of maritime security operations and the Global War on Terrorism.
Harrier

The USMC’s AV-8B Harrier Has Flown Off Into The Sunset

The Harrier Sundown ceremony marks the end of more than 50 years of Marine Corps jump jet operations.

A new type of submarine that appears to lack a traditional sail has emerged in China. The same shipyard launched a smaller 'sailless' submarine — a technology demonstrator — eight years ago.
People's Liberation Army Navy (China)

New Large Chinese Submarine With Very Unique Feature Just Caught On Satellite Imagery

The nuclear fast attack-sized mystery submarine could be China’s answer to a high-speed interceptor boat.

Ukrainian drones targeted the Kronstadt naval base and the Steregushchy class corvette Boiky. Damage assessments were not fully clear in initial reporting.
Baltic Sea

Russia’s Baltic Fleet Successfully Attacked By Ukrainian Drones

Once considered a sanctuary for Russian naval power, the Baltic Fleet is now in the crosshairs of Ukraine’s expanding long-range strike campaign.

The shaky U.S.-Iran ceasefire is breaking down over increasing attacks and Israel's push into Lebanon.
Red Sea

U.S.-Iran Ceasefire On The Brink After Tit-For-Tat Attacks (Updated)

Adding to the pressure, Iran has renewed threats to also close the Bab Al-Mandeb Strait, now an absolutely critical conduit for oil exports.

More Latest News

Iran launched new attacks on Kuwait and Bahrain.
Iran

Iran Launches New Attacks On Kuwait, Bahrain (Updated)

U.S. Central Command says it “conducted self-defense strikes on an Iranian military ground control station on Qeshm Island.”

U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) has confirmed that it has no plans for a direct replacement for the U-28A Draco, which is primarily used for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR).
Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC)

Any Plans For Direct U-28 Draco Special Ops Surveillance Plane Replacement Abandoned

There are signs now that the U.S. special operations community is on track to stop flying dedicated crewed surveillance planes entirely.

Newly emerged footage appears to show the French-supplied fighters executing a strike profile associated with Hammer precision-guided bombs.
Ukrainian Air Force

Are Ukrainian Mirage 2000s Now Flying Air-To-Ground Strike Missions?

A low-level run followed by a steep climb hints at a ground-attack mission as part of the Mirage’s expanding combat repertoire.

The U.S. Air Force is already moving to lay the groundwork for the fielding of the replacement for its GBU-57/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) bunker buster bomb.
U.S. Air Force

Next Generation Penetrator Bomb Slated To Replace MOP Has Been Designated GBU-76

The official designation comes as the Air Force plans to field the GBU-76 take shape.

Several images showing the unusually painted Russian trucks have appeared on social media channels in recent days. So far, examples of Ural and KAMAZ heavy-duty truck designs have appeared. There are at least two distinct patterns so far: a zebra-style application of broadly straight lines, and a more organic leaflike, swirling design. In both cases, they extend over most external surfaces, including the wheels and tires. The white paint is simply applied over the base color of dark green.
Russia

Russian Trucks Get ‘Dazzle’ Paint To Throw Off AI-Enabled Drones

The disruptive paint appears designed to confuse machine-vision targeting systems as autonomous drones become a growing threat.

TWZ’s weekly carrier tracker monitoring America’s flattop fleet, including deployed Carrier Strike Groups (CSG) and Amphibious Ready Groups (ARG).
Carrier Tracker

Littoral Combat Force Takes Up Station In Caribbean Under Navy’s New Deployment Concept

Here’s where all of America’s aircraft carriers and big-deck amphibious assault ships are as of June 1, 2026.

Standoff Jamming (SOJ) platforms are high-value assets that suppress adversary air defence radars, disrupt command and control cycles, and interfere with communications by conducting deception and noise jamming from long ranges without entering hostile airspace. By doing so, they create corridors through which friendly air forces can penetrate enemy airspace. The effective employment of these platforms has become an undeniable reality of modern warfare, acting as a force multiplier and generating powerful asymmetric effects.
Turkish Air Force

Turkey’s Secretive Electronic Warfare Jet Appears In New Imagery

The long-delayed HAVA SOJ is designed to blind enemy air defenses from outside highly contested airspace.

U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Tom Wilcox II, center, Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center commander, talks with Airmen at the 423rd Security Forces Squadron bunker shoot house training location at Royal Air Force Molesworth, England, Sept. 29, 2021. The AFIMSC leadership visited the 501st Combat Support Wing and its mission partners at the U.S. European Command Joint Intelligence Operations Center Europe Analytic Center at RAF Molesworth, England. The AFIMSC provides base communications, civil engineering, security forces and logistics support that assist the 501st CSW in fulfilling its mission. (U.S. Air Force photos by Senior Airman Jennifer Zima)
Bunker Talk

Bunker Talk: Let’s Talk About All The Things We Did And Didn’t Cover This Week

That was our last can of Pringles…

President Trump lifted the blockade on Iranian ports.
Iran

Trump Declares He Is Lifting The Naval Blockade On Iran (Updated)

Why the blockade would be lifted without a deal being signed isn’t clear and Iranian media is pushing back against his claims.

Members of Congress are moving to push the U.S. Navy to develop a containerized version of its High-Energy Laser with Integrated Optical Dazzler and Surveillance (HELIOS) system.
Lasers

Containerized Variant Of Navy’s Drone-Swatting HELIOS Laser Being Pushed By Congress

HELIOS is the only laser able to down drones installed on an active Navy warship, and putting it in a container would open up new deployment possibilities.

It will take years to replace several advanced weapons systems used in the Iran war, according to a new report.
Iran

Severity Of America’s Depleted Advanced Weapons Stockpiles Detailed In New Report

America’s stockpile of critical standoff and air and missile defense weapons is now a strategic vulnerability foes could take advantage of.

A timeline has been provided a timeline for the arrival of Saab Gripen fighters in Ukraine, with the first jets to be delivered early next year. Significantly, as well as getting another modern Western combat jet, Ukraine expects to receive highly capable Meteor beyond-visual-range air-to-air missiles, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has announced.
Gripen

Ukrainian Gripen Fighters To Arrive In 2027, Long-Range Meteor Missiles Claimed To Be Included

Sweden’s transfer of Gripens will give Ukraine more than a new fighter, pairing its trademark dispersed operations with Meteor missiles and radar planes.

U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) is about to kick off the search for what it is calling a Flyweight Assault Machine Gun (FAMG).
Machine Guns

Search For New 5.56mm “Flyweight” Special Operations Machine Gun To Kick Off Soon

The Flyweight Assault Machine Gun will provide a replacement for a lightweight special operations-specific version of the M249 SAW.

Ukraine has a voracious appetite for ground drones.
Ukraine

Inside The Effort To Build Ukraine’s Ground Robot Arsenal

Ukraine has a voracious demand for ground drones as they increasingly perform logistics, rescue and combat operations.

Concept artwork of the NGF future fighter. Dassault Aviation
Fighters

Airbus Looks To Sweden’s Saab As Europe’s Sixth-Gen Fighter Plans Unravel

As FCAS tensions deepen, Airbus is exploring alternatives with Saab, raising the prospect of a shakeup in Europe’s future air combat plans.

Members of Congress are looking to block the U.S. Navy from starting construction of the first nuclear-powered Trump class battleship until the service provides assurances that key weapon systems are "sufficiently mature."
U.S. Navy

Congress Moves To Block Trump Class Battleship Work Until Its Key Weapons Are Mature

Such a delay could end the battleship program before it really starts, and the House Armed Services Committee is also demanding answers on the new frigate.

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The War Zone — also known by the shorthand TWZ — has become an essential resource for the defense industry, the national security community, and the interested public at large since it was launched in 2016.

 

From its early beginnings to the present day, TWZ’s purpose remains the same.

 

The site stands at the nexus of military technology, strategy, and foreign policy. As a full-spectrum defense news and analysis website, TWZ covers the air, sea, land, space, and cyber domains of warfare, with an infusion of geopolitical context and technological analysis to offer readers deeper, yet easy-to-consume, insights than what they will find anywhere else….

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