Popping China's Anti-access bubble with the AIM-174 Air

How The Navy’s New Very Long-Range AIM-174 Missile Could Pierce China’s Anti-Access Bubble

The AIM-174 is a beast of an air-to-air weapon, but how could it actually be used to maximum effect in a Pacific fight?

Latest Articles

Recreation of early nuclear age plutonium pit

First Plutonium Pit For Nuclear Warhead Produced In The U.S. In 35 Years Is Now “Weapon-Ready”

Production of plutonium pits is one step in a long process to produce the new W87-1 thermonuclear warhead for the future Sentinel ICBM.

The U.S. Navy expects its sixth-generation fighter to enter service in the 2030s, bringing with it the ability to operate alongside drones and fly missions at long ranges — capabilities seen as essential for future conflict with China, for example. The Navy’s ambitions, if realized, mean that the service may introduce its next-generation crewed fighter before the U.S. Air Force, which is now re-examining requirements for its new stealth combat jet, with the program on temporary hold.

Navy Making Final Selection For F/A-XX Stealth Fighter, Plans For 2030s Service Entry

While the Air Force’s NGAD fighter initiative currently paused, the Navy is pushing ahead with its similar F/A-XX stealth jet program.

Iran oil production targeted by Israel

Iranian Oil Tankers Bolting From Major Export Island Ahead Of Possible Israeli Strikes

Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf, which handles 90% of Iran's oil exports, is high on the list of retaliatory targets Israel may strike.

Israel apparently conducted strikes on the Syrian coast this morning, with explosions reported in the vicinity of the Russian-operated Khmeimim Air Base, near the city of Latakia. At this stage, it’s unclear if the Russian airbase was actually hit, deliberately or otherwise. Either way, however the attacks represent a notable escalation in terms of Israel’s willingness to prosecute targets close to Russian interests in Syria.

Claims Swirl Around Israeli Strikes Very Near Russia’s Air Base In Syria

Targeting weapons bound for Hezbollah, Israel appears to have struck very close or within Russia’s Khmeimim Air Base in Syria.

Iran-Israel barrage missile

Surreal Missile Battle In The Sky Seen In Astonishing Video Of Iran’s Ballistic Missile Barrage

It's rare we see something we've truly never seen before and this video shot in Jordan of the night sky during Iran's missile attack is definitely that.

AH64 firing hellfire at drone

AH-64 Apaches Practice Shooting Down Drones With Hellfire Missiles In Saudi Arabia

While it's not widely known, internationally the AH-64 has established itself in the counter-drone air defense role.

The world is bracing for Israel's response to Tuesday's massive Iranian ballistic missile barrage.

World Braces For Israel’s Retaliation To Iran’s Ballistic Missile Barrage

Israel has vowed to strike back after Iran's missile barrage and signs point to its response being far more significant than the one last April.

The U.S. Navy said it successfully intercepted several Iranian missiles headed to Israel.

U.S. Navy Destroyers “Successfully Engaged” Iranian Ballistic Missiles On Their Way To Israel

Arleigh Burke class destroyers USS Cole and USS Bulkeley took down multiple Iranian missiles from their stations in the Mediterranean.

The Washington Times first disclosed on July 16, 2004, that China had developed a new Yuan-class conventionally powered submarine in secret.

Chinese Submarine That Sunk Had Exotic Hybrid Nuclear Powerplant: Report

New details are coming to light about China’s Type 041 Zhou class submarine and its experimental propulsion system.

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Russian troops have pushed deeper into the Donetsk region town of Vuhledar.

Russian Pushes Deeper Into Key City In Eastern Ukraine

Ukraine Situation Report: The city of Vuhledar is a key bulwark and fully losing it could allow Russia to gobble up more territory.

Russia is training on using helicopters to launch FPV drones to attack Ukrainian sea drones.

Russia Training To Launch FPV Drones From Helicopters To Counter Sea Drones

Deploying and controlling FPV drones from helicopters would be highly beneficial, allowing for rapid response with very flexible and inexpensive guided weapons.

NORAD F-16 and SU-35

Russian Su-35 Shown ‘Headbutting’ American F-16 At Very Close Range Off Alaska

The incident, which NORAD deemed “unprofessional,” occurred off Alaska during an intercept by F-16Cs of two Tu-95 Bears and their escorts.

Petra Reuter, owner of the Bundesbank Bunker Museum, walks past storage rooms for the substitute currency in the former vault of the bunker museum in Cochem, western Germany on February 8, 2022. The Bundesbank Bunker was a bunker of the German Federal Bank in Cochem for the storage of an emergency currency. From 1964 to 1988, up to 15 billion marks were stored in the top-secret facility to protect Germany from a national economic crisis in the event of hyperinflation caused by the Cold War. (Photo by Ina FASSBENDER / AFP) (Photo by INA FASSBENDER/AFP via Getty Images)

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

Pull up a chair and chat amongst friends.

Bunker Strike IDF lebanon

Israel Executes Massive Bunker Buster Strike On Hezbollah Command Headquarters In Beirut (Updated)

Israel targeted Hezbollah's leader in an unprecedented airstrike on a Beirut suburb.

Russians pushing toward Kharkiv Oblast city Ukraine liberated in 2022

Russians Advancing On Kharkiv Region City Ukraine Liberated In 2022

The city of Kupiansk was freed during Ukraine's stunning 2022 Kharkiv counteroffensive but now the Russians are again closing in.

U-28 retirement

Plans To Axe Special Operations Surveillance Planes Come Under The Microscope

Retiring U-28As and MC-12s to help make way for new OA-1K light attack planes may risk creating a major aerial intelligence-gathering gap.

After almost 45 years of service, including multiple combat deployments, the F-16 was formally retired today by the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF). At the same time, the service announced that the F-35A had attained full operational capability, with the stealth fighter now responsible for the full spectrum of missions previously handled by the Viper, including nuclear strike.

The Last Viper Commander: Dutch Squadron Boss On Today’s Retirement Of The F-16

After 45 years, the final Dutch Vipers bowed out today, with the F-35A stealth fighter formally taking over all their missions.

Imagery said to show the aftermath of a highly targeted air strike on a car in Lebanon has prompted questions about whether a previously unknown miniature munition designed to produce extremely little collateral damage may have been employed.

Was A Mini “Sword Bomb” Just Used To Strike A Car In Lebanon?

Damage to the car's windshield has prompted comparisons to the AGM-114R9X missile with its pop-out blades, but there are other possibilities.

KC-10 Extender tail #86-0036 performs its final mission as it heads of to the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., following a July 13 ceremony at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., that marked the first retirement of 59 Extenders intended for eventual replacement by the KC-46A Pegasus. A total of three KC-10s from the Air Force’s Backup-Aircraft Inventory were congressionally approved for retirement during Fiscal Year 2020. As KC-10s are retired, the 309th AMARG will continue to support the remaining Extenders with spare parts as they are flown for several years while the KC-46A Pegasus is integrated into Air Mobility Command’s Total Force tanker enterprise. For nearly four decades, the KC-10 has helped secure global reach for America, providing in- flight refueling to U.S. and coalition aircraft, from Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm to Operation Inherent Resolve. The KC- 10 is flown from JBMDL by both the 305th AMW and its associate Air Force Reserve unit, the 514th AMW.

Final KC-10 Extender Tanker Flies Into Retirement

The flight from Travis Air Force Base in California will bring down the curtain on a 43-year career for the trijet KC-10 Extender tanker-transport.

AGM-154 JSOW for Ukraine's F-16

Biden Surging $8B In Aid To Ukraine That Includes AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapons For F-16s

The new package that will give Ukraine's F-16s standoff strike capabilities was announced while President Zelensky is visiting the U.S. Capital.

After Hezbollah fired a ballistic missile at Tel Aviv, Israel's top commander told his forces to be prepared to invade Lebanon.

Israel’s Potential Invasion Of Southern Lebanon Looms Larger

After Hezbollah's launched a ballistic missile at Tel Aviv Israel's top commander told his troops to prepare to invade Lebanon.

Top Aces F-16

World’s Only Private Company With F-16 Aggressors Talks Rapidly Evolving Their Capabilities

Top Aces ex-Israeli F-16s are receiving upgrades, including new avionics, radars and infrared search and track systems.

The Ukrainian town of Vulhedar is about to fall to Russian forces.

Russia Poised To Capture Key Eastern Ukraine City

The city of Vuhledar has been a linchpin in the defense of the east but is now surrounded on three sides by Russian troops and appears ready to fall.

Canadian authorities have released an image of an unidentified object that was shot down over the country's Yukon Territory by a U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor stealth fighter in February 2023.

First Look At Mystery Object Shot Down Over Canada By F-22 Raptor Last Year

This is the only image that has emerged to date of any of the three still-unidentified objects shot down over the U.S. and Canada.

NGAD Lite

What Would A Far Cheaper Next Generation Air Dominance Fighter Actually Look Like?

The Air Force now says it may want a 6th generation fighter that costs around $100M instead of $300M, but is that even possible?

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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.

 

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