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Lockheed Martin has presented a scale model of the new-look F-22 Raptor fitted with stealthy external fuel tanks and underwing infrared sensor pods. Up to this point, the fuel tanks had been seen in renderings as well as at least one long-distance photo that revealed little in the way of details. The sensor pods had previously been seen at closer quarters during flight testing, as you can read about here. U.S. Air Force

Upgraded F-22 “Raptor 2.0” Details Seen In New Model

A scale model of the new-look F-22 Raptor reveals details of its new stealthy external fuel tanks and underwing infrared sensor pods.

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MQ-9 being turned into cruise missile truck.

General Atomics Is Turning The MQ-9 Reaper Family Of Drones Into “Cruise Missile Trucks”

Branded content: Giving MQ-9’s the ability to reach out over vast distances to launch standoff strikes after loitering for hours on its own is a unique capability for a tactical asset.

The official target size of the future B-21 Raider fleet remains 100 aircraft, despite an announcement that production of the stealth bomber is expanding, a U.S. Air Force official has confirmed to TWZ.
U.S. Air Force

100 B-21 Stealth Bomber Fleet Size Target Unchanged For Now Despite Production Acceleration

The main goal of expanded B-21 production right now is getting the first Raiders fielded in 2027.

Lockheed Martin has shared new details about how it is using artificial intelligence (AI) technology to help F-35 pilots spot hostile air defenses faster and more accurately.
F-35

AI Is Now Helping The F-35 Spot Enemy Air Defenses

New artificial intelligence technology is giving the F-35 the ability to pick out confusing threat emissions and get them properly identified faster.

The U.S. Air Force has given us our first look at one of Anduril's YFQ-44 Fury ‘fighter drone’ prototypes carrying an inert AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM).
AIM-120 AMRAAM

Anduril’s Fury Collaborative Combat Aircraft Is Now Flying With AIM-120 AMRAAM

The USAF says its Collaborative Combat Aircraft drone program has entered the weapons integration and captive carry testing phase.

Talon Blue drone from Northrop Grumman.
Drones

Talon Blue Is The New Name For Northrop Grumman’s YFQ-48A ‘Fighter Drone’

Talon harkens back to the company’s T-38 Talon heritage, while Blue is likely a reference to Tacit Blue, which was a technological leap at the dawn of the stealth age.

As well as being a key component of Russia’s attack helicopter force in the war in Ukraine, the Mil Mi-28 Havoc has been in the news recently on account of its apparent delivery to Iran. One less-known aspect of the Mi-28 is its ability to transport two or three passengers in a fuselage compartment, a feature that is seen clearly in a recently published video of the rotorcraft.
Ukraine

Russia’s Mi-28 Havoc Attack Helicopter Has Tiny Crew Compartment To Pick Up Downed Pilots

Like the Mi-24 Hind before it, albeit to a far more austere degree, the Mi-28’s fuselage compartment can be used in a pinch for rescues.

Four C-17 Globemaster III aircraft assigned to the 911th Airlift Wing perform an elephant walk at the Pittsburgh International Airport Air Reserve Station, Pennsylvania, July 18, 2023. Elephant walks demonstrate the teamwork and capability of the 911th AW to perform rapid large-force to defend, mobilize and fight. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Jeffrey Grossi)
U.S. Air Force

Straight Talk On State Of U.S. Airlift Capabilities From General Who Ran Air Mobility Command

General Minihan’s frankness about the China threat ended his career, but now as a civilian, he has much more to say.

YFQ-42A is now named Dark Merlin
Unmanned

Dark Merlin Is The Name Of General Atomics’ YFQ-42A Fighter Drone

Merlins are small but fierce birds that attack in groups and are known for their stealthy attacks.

In the past two days, the U.S. Air Force has sent six of its 16 E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) radar planes to bases in Europe.
Iran

Major Deployment Of Rickety E-3 Sentry Fleet For Iran Crisis Highlights Worrisome Gaps

The shrunken E-3 fleet isn’t getting any younger, and a replacement is still far off while demand for its services would be far greater in the Pacific.

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WASSENAAR, NETHERLANDS - MAY 5: The remains of a communication room are visible 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: Let’s Talk About All The Things We Did And Didn’t Cover This Week

Concrete is so hot right now…

A decision by the U.K. to block U.S. access to two key bases for an attack on Iran could impact President Donald Trump's plans.

U.K. Denying U.S. Use Of Key Bases Would Impact Bombers’ Role In Iran Air Campaign

The U.K. is reportedly preventing the U.S. from using Diego Garcia and RAF Fairford to attack Iran.

Top Aces F-16s have gotten a major series of upgrades.

Private F-16 Aggressors Just Brought A Huge Upgrade To The Fight

Top Aces’ advanced aggressor F-16 features an AESA, IRST, helmet mounted display, open architecture mission system and now Link 16 to tie it all together.

Russia is working on a balloon-borne communications network as SpaceX has cut off its use of Starlink.

Russia Eyes Balloon Communications System To Fill Massive Gap Left After Losing Starlink

SpaceX has cut off Russia’s access to Starlink and now Moscow is scrambling to find a replacement.

One of the U.S. Air Force's C-32A VIP aircraft has re-emerged wearing a new red, white, and blue paint scheme.

C-32A ‘Air Force Two’ Jet Emerges Wearing Trump’s New Air Force One Paint Job (Updated)

Donald Trump’s controversial Air Force One livery has made it onto its first Air Force executive aircraft.

F-16 intercept

F-16s Find Balloons, Not UFOs, After Sunday Scramble: NORAD

Alert F-16s out of California scrambled to hunt down mysterious targets over Nevada and California twice on Sunday.

AH-64 has tested APEX proximity fuse rounds

AH-64 Apache Is Getting Proximity Fuzed 30mm Cannon Ammo For Swatting Down Drones

The XM1225 APEX ammo will offer another arrow in the Apache’s growing anti-drone quiver.

The F-35's 'computer brain,' including its cloud-based components, could be cracked to accept third-party software updates, just like 'jailbreaking' a cellphone, according to the Dutch Defense Minister.

F-35 Software Could Be Jailbreaked Like An iPhone: Dutch Defense Secretary

The F-35’s vendor locked software is becoming a greater concern as relations between the U.S. and longtime allies falter.

U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Lucas Keka, left, munitions operations technician assigned to the 726th Expeditionary Mission Support Squadron, and Staff Sgt. Daryc Fliginger, 726th EMSS Munitions Flight production supervisor, secure a munitions storage bunker at Chabelley Airfield, Djibouti, Aug. 25, 2023. The 726th EMSS provides security forces, satellite communications, munitions support, vehicle management, contracting, finance and logistics in support of USAF personnel in East Africa. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Dhruv Gopinath)

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

We should have brought more DVDs man…

The U.S. Air Force is exploring new ways to protect aerial refueling tankers and other high-value support aircraft by physically defeating incoming threats rather than trying to jam them or otherwise throw them off course.

Mini Missiles Used To Shoot Down Incoming Missiles Eyed For USAF Tanker Fleet

Tankers are increasingly vulnerable as enemy long-range missiles evolve, leading the USAF to explore ‘hard kill’ solutions.

The U.S. Air Force has now denied taking delivery of any F-35A Joint Strike Fighters from the latest Lot 17 production batch without radars installed.

Air Force Now Denies Receiving F-35s Without Radars

The F-35 Joint Program Office had declined just earlier this week to confirm or deny a report that jets without radars were being delivered.

The Arleigh Burke class destroyer USS Truxtun collided with the support ship USNS Supply while the two were conducting an at-sea replenishment yesterday, U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) has confirmed.

Destroyer USS Truxton Collides With Support Ship During At-Sea Resupply

The accident involving the Arleigh Burke class destroyer and the supply ship occurred yesterday during an underway replenishment operation in the Caribbean.

The USS George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike Group conducts a simulated strait transit in the Atlantic Ocean, Dec. 10, 2025. The George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike Group is underway for Group Sail, its first integrated at-sea training phase. This event is designed to increase the Strike Group’s tactical proficiency and lethality across all domains, meeting Navy and Joint warfighting requirements. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class John R. Farren)

Second Carrier Strike Group Ordered To Spin-Up For Deployment To Middle East: Report

A second carrier group would provide additional tactical airpower for a sustained operation against Iran, but it wouldn’t arrive for weeks at the earliest.

U.S. Air Force Global Strike Command says it is prepared to load more warheads onto Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) and restore nuclear weapons capability to the entire B-52 bomber fleet, if called upon to do so.

USAF Ready To Make All B-52s Nuclear-Capable, Load ICBMs With Multiple Warheads If Directed

The end of New START treaty has left the U.S. nuclear arsenal unbounded for the first time in decades.

The F-35 Joint Program Office has declined to confirm or deny a report that Joint Strike Fighters are being delivered to the U.S. military without radars due to chronic issues with a key upgrade program.

Are F-35s Being Delivered To The USAF Without Radars? (Updated)

Even if the jets lack radars, that doesn’t mean they are useless, but their capabilities and survivability would be severely degraded.

Drones operated by Mexican drug cartels flying across the border prompted a major clampdown in air traffic over El Paso, Texas, earlier today, a Trump administration official has told TWZ.

Claims Swirl Around Government’s Response To Cartel Drone Threat That Prompted El Paso Airspace Closure

The shutdown of airspace over El Paso highlights the still vexing nature of drone threats over the United States.

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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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