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

At least one Iranian ballistic missile impacted the port city of Haifa in northern Israel. Israel

Iranian Ballistic Missiles Hit “Strategic Points” In Israeli Port City Of Haifa (Updated)

Iran continues to send missiles and drones against Israel, with the port city that houses the main base of the Israeli Navy among the latest to be attacked.

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WASSENAAR, NETHERLANDS - MAY 5: Visitors are taken on guided tours as the Seyss-Inquart bunker opens its doors to the public on Liberation Day for a special "Freedom Meal" on May 5, 2025 in Wassenaar, Netherlands. The holiday marks the Netherlands' liberation from Nazi occupation 80 years ago. The bunker is named after Arthur Seyss-Inquart, a prominent Nazi official who served as Reich Commissioner during the German occupation of the Netherlands.He was found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity at the Nuremberg Trials and subsequently executed. After the war, the bunker, concealed beneath a structure resembling a traditional Dutch farmhouse, was repurposed by the Dutch armed forces during the Cold War and served as a site for NATO military exercises. (Photo by Pierre Crom/Getty Images)
Bunker Talk

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

Relevant to the headlines.

Iran's nuclear scientists were assassinated in their homes using an undisclosed weapon.
Israel

Top Iranian Nuclear Scientists Killed By Secret Israeli Weapon: Report

The operation was designed to strike a major blow against Iran’s nuclear program where the targeted individuals would least expect it.

Residents of the Tucson, Arizona area were startled earlier this week by a group of helicopters, including at least one Russian-made Mi-17 Hip, making very low nighttime flights as part of what turned out to be a U.S. military exercise.
U.S. Homeland

Secretive Russian-Made Mi-17 Helicopter Makes Unusual Appearance In Tucson

A recent U.S. military urban training exercise involved helicopters of the types used by a shadowy U.S. aviation unit.

A new photo provides our best view so far of the Shenyang J-35, China’s next-generation carrier-based fighter. It’s part of a relative flurry of imagery showing some of China’s latest military aircraft. In sharp contrast to the blurry or heavily edited shots we have become familiar with out of China in the past, these various higher-quality images provide a fascinating snapshot of the breadth of developments taking place right now in China’s military aerospace realm.
China

China’s J-35 Naval Stealth Fighter Seen Like Never Before

As well as new imagery of the J-35, we have gotten our best look at the KJ-600 carrier-based airborne early warning aircraft that will operate alongside it.

B-2 bomber
Iran

U.S. Decision On Striking Iran To Be Made In “Next Two Weeks” (Updated)

Trump has been mulling over U.S. involvement in the kinetic operation against Iran, but the White House says they are still pushing for diplomatic solution.

North Korea is reportedly sending 25,000 workers to Russia to build and learn how to operate drones.
Ukraine

North Korea Sending Russia Thousand Of Workers To Build Shahed Drones: Report

News about North Korea sending Russia additional personnel comes weeks after Ukraine’s spy chief told us it would happen.

Iran fired at least one ballistic missile with a warhead containing multiple submunitions as part of a particularly destructive barrage on Israel earlier today.
Iran

Iran Just Used Ballistic Missiles With Cluster Warheads To Strike Israel

Cluster munitions offer Iran a way to try to maximize damage, but indiscriminately, and add to the complexities for defenders.

U.S. President Donald Trump is edging closer to a decision on whether to attack Iran.
Israel

World Waits As Trump Mulls Direct Military Action Against Iran

The U.S. president has reportedly approved a strike plan on Iran but has yet to make the final decision on moving forward with it.

MQ-28 Ghost Bat drones have demonstrated their ability to engage an aerial target while under the direction of the crew of a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) E-7 Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft.
MQ-28

MQ-28 Ghost Bats Controlled From E-7 Wedgetail In Loyal Wingman Test

MQ-28 drones can provide organic protection and extended sensor capabilities for lumbering support aircraft like the E-7 early warning jet.

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ONE WAY EFFECTOR represents a trade-off between the need for mass and performance at lower cost to meet the challenges faced by armed forces in a high-intensity context. ONE WAY EFFECTOR is a new attrition proposition based on feedback from the armed forces, particularly from the conflict in Ukraine.

Inspired By Ukraine War, Europe Is Developing Shahed-Style One-Way Attack Drones

European missile-maker MBDA is enlisting an automotive manufacturer to ensure the kamikaze drones can be rapidly built in mass.

28 tankers were sent out over the Atlantic heading east tonight.

Armada Of USAF Tankers Just Deployed East Over Atlantic Spurring Speculation (Updated)

The mysterious migration could signal a major contingency being put in place or even a change in U.S. policy on the Iran-Israel war.

Israel strikes Iranian F-14 tomcat.

Iranian F-14 ‘Persian Tomcats’ Obliterated In Israeli Airstrike

Regardless of how this conflict ends, if an Iranian Air Force of any relevancy exists after it, it is very unlikely to include the F-14.

The Israeli military claims it has destroyed one third of Iran’s long-range surface-to-surface missile launchers since the start of the conflict. For now, however, Iran is still launching missile strikes against Israel, with overnight attacks having killed at least eight people, according to Israeli sources.

One Third Of Iran’s Long-Range Missile Launchers Destroyed, Israel Claims (Updated)

Israel is declaring some progress in rolling back Iran’s long-range ballistic missile capabilities, but these weapons remain a major threat.

Iran and Israel continue to trade blows late on Saturday and into Sunday. On the Israeli side, the strikes constitute the latest phase of Operation Rising Lion, a campaign designed to destroy Iran’s nuclear capability and long-range weapons capacity. For its part, Tehran continues to launch barrage of retaliatory missile strikes at Israel, with reportedly killed at least 10 people and injured more than 100 overnight.

IAF Destroys Iranian Aerial Tanker 1,400 miles From Israel, Farthest Strike Yet (Updated)

Israel’s strikes on Tehran are now accelerating after achieving air superiority over the capital, with an eye towards Iran’s east.

PHILLIPS, SOUTH DAKOTA - AUGUST 26: (EDITORS NOTE: Image has been shot in black and white. Color version not available.) An underground former nuclear missile launch control facility officer's quarters displays a mural of deer on August 26, 2011 in South Dakota. Located in the rural farmland of the South Dakota plains, the bunker is now a national historical site open to visitors. Put out of service after treaties with the former Soviet Union, the missiles controlled by this room were probably capable of destroying the planet. (Photo by Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images)

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

It’s a good time to hide.

Israeli officials are warning that the strikes that began to be launched against Iran overnight are just the start phase of a wider operation.

Israel’s Operation To Destroy Iran’s Nuclear Program Enters New Phase (Updated)

A better sense of the scale and intensity of Israeli strikes on Iran is beginning to emerge as the crisis continues to evolve.

Israel strikes Iran's nuclear program.

Israel Launches Operation Rising Lion To Destroy Iran’s Nuclear Program (Updated)

With tensions surrounding Iran’s nuclear program at an all-time high, Israel has executed a kinetic operation that included strikes in Tehran.

Israel hand commando teams inside Iran attack air defenses

Israeli Commandos Attacked Iranian Air Defenses With Drones From Inside The Country: Report

Mossad operatives went as far as setting up drone and missile bases near major air defense sites and other key targets.

A damning IAEA report and Iran's vow to build new enrichment facilities give Israel additional pretext for an attack on its longtime nemesis.

Damning IAEA Report Has Given Israel Additional Pretext To Strike Iran

The IAEA states Iran has hid its true nuclear ambitions and Tehran says it is going to build a new uranium facility as war drums grow louder.

A Dassaullt Rafale fighter and two Dassault Falcon business jets are on display 21 June 2001 at the 44th Paris-Le Bourget Air show, billed as the biggest ever event of its kind, bringing together 1800 exhibitors from the aviation industry from 43 countries.

Rafale Reemerges With Conformal Fuel Tanks

More than two decades after they were first trialled, a Rafale has reappeared with range- and payload-enhancing conformal fuel tanks.

More details have emerged about the problems the U.S. Navy is facing with its ill-starred podded Infrared Search And Track System, or IRST, an important capability planned for its F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighters. The latest issues to be highlighted come after TWZ previously reported on delays caused by production quality issues with the system and a Pentagon assessment of “significant reliability problems during operational testing,” which emerged earlier this year.

New Details On F/A-18 Super Hornet’s Troubled IRST Pod

The badly needed Block II IRST pod is breaking every 14 hours, on average, during testing.

The proven and in-production E-7 Wedgetail, based on the Boeing 737 and serving with multiple allies, was supposed to bridge the gap between the E-3's retirement and pushing the mission to space-based distributed satellite constellations. Now, if the administration gets its wish, that won't happen. The E-7 will be cancelled and the Navy's E-2D Hawkeye will step in to fill the gap.

E-2 Hawkeye Replaces USAF E-3 Sentry, E-7 Cancelled In New Budget

The E-2D is far smaller than the E-7 and lacks some of its abilities, but it can fly from austere forward bases where the E-7 cannot.

Troubled Constellation Frigate Is Now At Least 759 Metric Tons Overweight

Troubled Constellation Frigate Is Now At Least 759 Metric Tons Overweight

Major changes to the Constellation’s base design have already caused delays and cost growth, and have prompted questions about its future.

AI JAS-36 gripen tests for long-range air-to-air combat are underway.

Saab’s Gripen Tests AI In Long-Range Air-To-Air Engagements

The AI agent known as Centaur demonstrated its value in beyond-visual-range combat, including providing the pilot with missile firing cues.

An artist's rendering of the Long Range Standoff Weapon is shown.

First Glimpse Of Air Force’s New Stealth Nuclear Cruise Missile

The AGM-181 Long-Range Standoff nuclear-armed cruise missile that will arm the B-21 and B-52 hasn’t been seen in concept art until now.

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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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