The War Zone. Your daily source for military, defense, and geopolitics coverage.
Persian Gulf
Confessions Of A Navy MH-53E Sea Dragon Minehunter Pilot
Former Sea Dragon pilot Steve Jones offers unique insights into the challenges of flying around the Persian Gulf searching for mines.
Latest News
U.S. Shoots Down Iranian Drones Launched At Strait Of Hormuz: Official (Updated)
The incident is the latest flare-up between Iran and the U.S. since the war was put on hold nearly two months ago.
Bunker Talk: Let’s Talk About All The Things We Did And Didn’t Cover This Week
When will it be time to go outside?
Area 51 Mystery Aircraft Prompts Interest In “Christmas Tree” Stealth Fighter Concept
The exotic jet spotted near Area 51 that appears to be tied to the F-47 has prompted a look at an obscure fighter design from the 1980s.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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More Latest News
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Bunker Talk: Let’s Talk About All The Things We Did And Didn’t Cover This Week
That was our last can of Pringles…
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.
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.
Army Wants More Sensor-Laden Surveillance Balloons Over The Pacific
High-altitude balloons are an increasingly critical part of the Army’s future combat strategy, from providing networking to sensing to delivering kinetic effects.
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.
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.
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.
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….
