The War Zone. Your daily source for military, defense, and geopolitics coverage.
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Navy Calls It Quits On Attack Submarine USS Boise’s Never Ending Overhaul
The USS Boise has been stuck in limbo for more than a third of its career, and was still years and billions of dollars away from returning to service.
Latest News
Battle Damaged KC-135 Seen Covered In Shrapnel Patches
A KC-135 damaged in an Iranian strike has made its way to RAF Mildenhall in the UK thanks to field repairs.
U.S. Navy Destroyer Equipped With New Launcher For Unknown Weapons
The Arleigh Burke class destroyer USS Carl M. Levin has received an interesting new addition to its aft upper deck.
Hezbollah Ramping Up FPV Drone Attacks On IDF In Lebanon
As Israel drives deeper into Lebanon, it is presenting more targets for Hezbollah’s FPV drones.
Iran’s Chokehold On Hormuz Remains On The Eve Of Peace Talks In Pakistan (Updated)
The list of contested issues that the U.S. and Iran will have to come to some form of agreement on is long and complex.
Operation Epic Fury U.S. Aircraft Losses Visualized
Here are all the known American aircraft losses during the nearly six week-long war with Iran.
MV-75 Tiltrotor Already Part Of Army Officer Training, General Says
With the Army putting its MV-75 tiltrotor on a blazingly fast track, troops are already getting experience on the aircraft before the first one is even delivered.
This Is What The Night Stalkers’ MH-60M Direct Action Penetrator Brought To The Venezuelan Op
The hard-hitting attack version of the special operations MH-60 was clearly among the critical assets used in Operation Absolute Resolve.
U.S. Army AH-64E Apache’s Counter-Drone Capability Rapidly Matures
Apaches scored 13 drone kills out of 14 engagements during Operation Flyswatter, reflecting the AH-64’s evolving counter-UAS capabilities.
Bahrain First To Claim F-16 Block 70 Air-To-Air Kills
The Bahraini advanced F-16 shot down two Iranian drones during the conflict in the Middle East earlier this month.
How America’s Shahed-136 Kamikaze Drone Clone Suddenly Became An “Indispensable” Weapon Of War
Michael Horowitz, who pushed for the LUCAS drone program while at the Pentagon, offers unique insights into its genesis and future.
Inside The Air Force’s Elite Ghost Tanker Unit
TWZ Special Access: We flew aboard the unique KC-135R that is the centerpiece of the Air Force’s aerial refueling test force.
Here Is What Trump’s Gargantuan $1.5T Defense Budget Has In It
The U.S. military is pushing to make huge investments in many programs in Fiscal Year 2027, but also some notable cuts.
Carrier Tracker As Of April 3, 2026
Third American carrier strike group deployed this week in support of Operation Epic Fury
Amid Fears Houthis Could Close Bab el-Mandeb Strait, Red Sea Task Force Ready For Attacks
Concerns grow that the Iranian-backed rebels could close the waterway, drastically exacerbating the global oil crisis and opening a new front.
More Latest News
Eurofighter Typhoon Test Fires Laser-Guided Counter-Drone Rockets
The trial couldn’t come soon enough as Typhoons battle Iranian drones in the Persian Gulf.
A-10 Warthog Being Tested With Aerial Refueling Probe (Updated)
Beyond a win for the A-10, putting refueling probes on USAF tactical jets could be a boon of the service’s Agile Combat Employment strategy.
Everything We Now Know About The Operation To Rescue The F-15E WSO (Updated)
We have gotten many new details about how the high-risk extraction effort deep in Iranian territory went down.
How A Dusty Strip Deep In Iran Can Be Turned Into A U.S. Special Operations Base In Hours
An ex-USAF Special Tactics Squadron member tells how the impromptu airfield in Iran would have been rapidly established and defended.
Iran Rejects Ceasefire Deal (Updated)
As Trump’s deadline for making Iran into a “living hell” fast approaches, a chasm remains between the two foes on a way to even temporarily pause the war.
Night Stalker AH-6 Little Bird Helicopters Destroyed At Forward Landing Site In Iran
At least one burned-out AH/MH-6 Little Bird can be seen in photos of the austere airfield that served as a hub for the rescue of the F-15E WSO.
F-15E Weapon Systems Officer Shot Down Over Iran Has Been Rescued (Updated)
The airman was rescued by U.S. special operations forces reportedly after a fierce firefight that was the culmination of a massive high-risk search operation.
F-15E Down In Iran, Rescue Operation Ongoing (Updated)
The F-15E went down under unknown circumstances and U.S. combat search and rescue assets have been seen deep in Iran.
Bunker Talk: Let’s Talk About All The Things We Did And Didn’t Cover This Week
Just two more weeks… Hopefully?
Key Iranian Bridge Severed By Airstrikes (Updated)
The bridge near Tehran, a critical artery and source of pride for Iran, was taken out soon after Trump’s threat to bomb the country “back to the Stone Ages.”
Iran Is Losing Its Grip On Iraqi Militias
A former tier one operator in Iraq offers candid insights into the spike in attacks against U.S. interests by Iranian-backed militias.
RC-135 Rivet Joint Surveillance Jet Caught ‘In The Nude’ In Texas
It’s not common to see America’s workhorse electronic intelligence collection jet stripped of its gray-and-white paint scheme.
Trump Threatens NATO Departure, Claims Iran Wants A Ceasefire Ahead Of National Address (Updated)
Iran has pushed back on Trump’s ceasefire claim as key allies distance themselves further from Epic Fury.
Secretive 737 Radar Jet ‘RAT55’ Has Begun “The Next Phase Of Its Career”
Making a peculiar appearance supporting NASA’s Artemis II launch is just the beginning of what comes next for RAT55, the world’s most secretive 737.
Ian Ellis-Jones Has Touched Down At TWZ
A letter from the editor as TWZ’s team and mission expands.
F-35 Crashes In The Nevada Test And Training Range Complex (Updated)
The aircraft went down in the range complex north of Las Vegas earlier today, with the pilot safely ejecting.
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….
