The War Zone. Your daily source for military, defense, and geopolitics coverage.
Q-9
MQ-9 Getting Airborne Early Warning Radar Is A Huge Deal
Radar pod-toting MQ-9s present an economical and highly-flexible persistent airborne early warning solution that is needed now more than ever.
Latest News
Navy Finally Seeking To Dispose Of USS Long Beach, The World’s First Nuclear-Powered Cruiser
Tearing apart a nuclear-powered warship is a whole lot more costly and time-consuming than a conventionally powered one.
Pentagon’s Ability To Supply Ukraine With More Patriot Interceptors Questioned By Congress (Updated)
The Senate action comes amid deep concerns about how the U.S. can provide enough Patriot interceptors for itself and allies.
USAF Orders Both General Atomics’ FQ-42 And Anduril’s FQ-44 Into Production
Buying both Collaborative Combat Aircraft designs instead of just selecting one has a number of big advantages to what is still a high-risk program.
Ukraine To Help Fulfill Europe’s Long-Range Strike Missile Needs
MBDA and Diehl are pursuing collaborations with Ukraine as Europe searches for faster, sovereign alternatives to U.S. long-range weapons.
Senators Want Answers On USAF Plans To Cut E-11 BACN Combat Communications Jets
The E-11 fleet still provides highly in-demand communications and data fusion capabilities, but the USAF wants to push those functions into space.
Alleged Plot On White House UFC Fight Puts Drone Threat In The Spotlight
Whether those arrested could have feasibly pulled off such a complex attack is unknown, the threat is very real and growing.
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.
B-52 Involved In Tragic Crash Was Heading Out On Radar Test Sortie
The crash’s human toll on the USAF test community is hard to fathom, and it will also have an impact on the already under-pressure B-52 modernization program.
China’s Big R6000 Tiltrotor Drone Has Entered Full Flight Testing
New footage confirms the R6000 uncrewed tiltrotor has moved on from tethered hover trials.
B-52 Bomber Crashes At Edwards Air Force Base In California (Updated)
A massive tower of black smoke emanated from near the main runway at Edwards AFB which we now know was caused by the crash of a B-52.
U.K. MoD Investigating Reports Of Russian Warship Firing Warning Shots In English Channel (Updated)
The alleged incident involved a yacht and a Russian Navy ship sailing south of the Isle of Wight.
Fincantieri CEO Opens Up About The Constellation Class Frigate Debacle
Fincantieri Marine Group CEO George Moutafis gives us exclusive insights into what sunk the frigate and what needs to change because of it.
America’s Naval Force Posture Largely Unchanged With Iran Ceasefire Deal On The Horizon
Here’s where America’s aircraft carriers and big-deck amphibious assault ships are as of June 15, 2026.
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U.S. Naval Blockade On Iran Will Remain In Place Until At Least Friday
The blockade that went into effect on April 13 will continue until the U.S. and Iran sign an agreement.
Bunker Busters With Winged JDAM-ER Kits Could Allow For Near Horizontal Strikes On Fortified Targets
With their pop-out wings, JDAM-ERs already offer valuable extra reach that helps keep launching aircraft further away from threats.
A Disciplined Case For The A-10 The Air Force Won’t Make
Opinion: The USAF says the A-10’s service is extended to 2030, but funding and planning doesn’t really reflect that, which has to change and fast.
Russian Tu-22M3 Swing-Wing Bomber Seen Plunging Into The Ground
The dramatic accident, captured in multiple videos, removes another precious aircraft from Russia’s long-range bomber fleet.
A-10 Warthogs Arrive In England Festooned With Nose Art And Mission Markings From Epic Fury
The markings on the A-10s seen at RAF Lakenheath today offer an indication of what they did during the fight against Iran.
Bunker Talk: Let’s Talk About All The Things We Did And Didn’t Cover This Week
Everyday is like Sunday…
Boeing Drops Out Of Navy’s T-45 Jet Trainer Replacement Competition
The field of competitors to design and build the Navy’s next jet trainer has narrowed to just two teams, and both are putting forward twin-engine designs.
Russia Building New Infrastructure For Major Troop Deployments Along NATO’s Northern Flank
As Russia builds facilities for tens of thousands of troops, NATO is also bolstering its defenses with a new Arctic combat force to act as a deterrent.
Germany And Spain Launch ‘Team Gen 6’ After Europe’s Next-Gen Fighter Effort Collapses
The emerging coalition could reshape Europe’s future fighter landscape, but it still needs political backing, lots of funding, and likely more partners.
Four U-2S Spy Planes Would Be Restored In Bill That Would Save The Dragon Lady Fleet
Congress is moving again to block the Air Force from retiring the U-2 amid continued questions about capability gaps.
F-22’s ‘Catfish’ 757 Testbed Spotted Carrying Raptor’s New Infrared Sensor Pod
The Catfish 757 has spent decades supporting the F-22 program, and that work now extends to testing external stores.
What It Would Take To Seize Iran’s Kharg Island, According To Top Former Military Leaders
Kharg Island, the epicenter of Iran’s energy exports, is in the news again today after Trump declared he would seize it, before changing his tune.
Boeing “Encouraged” By C-17 Production Restart Discussions
Congress recently asked the USAF for a briefing on the feasibility of buying new C-17s and allies have interest too.
Kongsberg Bets On High-Low Cruise Missile Mix With JSM And Rusty Dagger
The low-cost Rusty Dagger is being combined with the more capable and expensive Joint Strike Missile in a tiered standoff strike portfolio.
AH-64 Apache Shot Down By Iran, U.S. Will Retaliate: Trump (Updated)
The AH-64 crashed into the Gulf of Oman and its crew was rescued by a drone boat, and now Trump says it was due to enemy action.
This Is The Corsair Drone Boat That Plucked The Downed Apache Crew Out Of The Gulf Of Oman
The U.S. Navy’s top drone task force in the Middle East only started operating the Corsair uncrewed surface vessels in March.
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….
