Lockheed Martin has unveiled a new version of its Sniper targeting pod with added networking capabilities primarily designed to enable new connectivity between fourth-generation fighters and stealthy F-35s, but which also offers the ability to create localized 'kill webs' with various assets in the air and on the ground. Air

Networked Sniper Pod Will Let 4th-Generation Fighters Create ‘Kill Webs’ With F-35s

The new Sniper pod will let F-35s provide targeting data to ground-based missiles and create an active link with 4th-generation fighters.

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A 1950s civil defense shelter

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

Talk amongst yourselves.

NATO has selected AIrbus, Leonardo and Lockheed Martin Sikorsky to provide concept studies for the Next Generation Rotor Craft.

NATO Selects Three Companies For Next-Generation Rotorcraft Concept Study

Airbus Helicopters, Lockheed Martin Sikorsky, and Leonardo are now on contract to help NATO pick a new helicopter.

A new picture offering the best look to date at a Ukrainian MiG-29 Fulcrum fighter armed with GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bombs has disclosed the use of a special pylon with a mysterious feature in front.

First Look At Mystery Weapon Pylon Ukrainian MiG-29s Use To Carry Small Diameter Bombs

A picture has emerged of an SDB-armed Ukrainian MiG-29 with a previously unseen pylon with an interesting feature.

The U.S. Air Force is planning to retire its remaining RQ-4 Global Hawk high-altitude, long-endurance drones by the end of the 2027 Fiscal Year. The service says it has become clear that the RQ-4s would be overly vulnerable in any future conflict against a peer or near-peer adversary, but it’s not clear what aircraft (or other assets) might fill the resulting capability gap. This only adds to the growing evidence that a top-secret, high-flying, stealth spy drone, commonly referred to as the RQ-180, or variants or derivatives thereof, is getting close to entering service, if it isn’t already being employed operationally on some level.

Air Force Chief Hints At Existence Of Clandestine Spy Aircraft

The statement from Secretary Frank Kendall again suggests that the Air Force has advanced airborne reconnaissance capabilities waiting in the wings.

Russia is gaining ground in its effort to capture the key logistics hub of Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast.

Ukraine Situation Report: Russia Advancing Toward Key Logistics Hub

The Donetsk Oblast city of Pokrovsk, a bulwark against a Ukrainian collapse in the region, is a main target of Russian forces.

Greece has made good on its promise to buy F-35 stealth fighters, confirming today that it will buy an initial batch of 20 of the aircraft at a cost of around $3.5 billion. The decision is an important step in the modernization of the Hellenic Air Force, which has recently inducted other new combat aircraft types, while plans to retire older jets have also been unveiled. The move also has a particular resonance in terms of Greece’s tense relations with regional rival Turkey, which was booted out of the F-35 program, after buying Russian-made S-400 air defense systems.

Greece Buying F-35s Widens Qualitative Gap With Turkey

F-35s will fly alongside Rafales and F-16s in a modernized Hellenic Air Force.

US Special Operations Command has been tasked to lead the so-called "left-of-launch" fight against drones before they can get airborne or maybe are even produced in the first place.

Destroying Drones Before Launch Is Becoming A Major Mission For U.S. Special Operators

U.S. special operators might be sent to interdict drone components and sabotage production, as well as raid launch sites.

A jet ski loaded with explosives, and presumed to be of Ukrainian origin, has been found off the Turkish coast near Istanbul. The modified jet ski likely joins a growing fleet of Ukrainian kamikaze drone boats that have been notably effective in disrupting Russian Navy activities in the Black Sea, in the process sinking or damaging multiple warships.

Explosives-Packed Jet Ski Drone Appears Off Turkish Coast

The adapted commercial jet ski bears many of the hallmarks of Ukraine’s growing fleet of kamikaze drone boats.

F-15EX and J16, both two seaters, but one uses the second crewman in a different capacity than the traditional weapon system officer role.

USAF Should Look At China’s Future Multi-Crew Fighter Model For F-15EX

The F-15EX's currently empty rear cockpit needs to be taken advantage of by adding a new kind of second crewmen, an Air Mission Commanding Officer.

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A C-130J on the production line in Marietta

C-130 Factory: How Iconic Hercules Airlifters Are Born

Branded Content: Inside the Marietta C-130 plant, the longest-running military aircraft production line in history.

Ukraine carried out two long-range drone attacks in Russia, striking a refinery and an air base.

Ukraine Situation Report: Large Two-Pronged Drone Attack Struck Russian Refinery, Airbase

Ukraine continues to step up its long-range drone campaign against critical energy infrastructure and military airfields inside Russia.

The latest concept configuration for the tri-national next-generation Tempest fighter has been unveiled, with the latest design apparently being tailored for long-range performance combined with a significant payload capacity. The appearance of the new full-scale model comes amid growing questions about the future of the program, with the U.K. government poised to launch a major defense spending review.

Latest Tempest Fighter Concept Prioritizes Range, Payload

The latest iteration of the Tempest concept arrives amid Italian and Japanese concerns over the future of the program.

First inside look at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new VIP transport aircraft

Israel’s New 767 “Air Force One” Has Flown Its First Prime Minister Transport Mission

Netanyahu's first flight aboard the Israeli Air Force-operated 767-300ER is to Washington, D.C.

Yemen Port Strike by Israeli Air Force

Details Of Israel’s Long-Range Strike That Decimated Yemeni Port Emerge

Israeli fighters used man-in-the-loop guided weapons to destroy the Houthi-controlled port of Hudaydah's only large overhead dock cranes.

Israel strikes fuel depot in Houthi-held Yemen territory.

Israel Fighter Jets Carry Out Long-Range Retaliation Strike On Houthi Oil Depot In Yemen (Updated)

The attack, one of Israel's longest airstrikes, comes a day after the Houthi's first lethal long-range drone attack on Israel.

Recently retired Lancer Rage takes to the skies above Davis–Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona

B-1B Named Rage Brought Out Of Mothballs To Fly Once Again (Updated)

Previously placed in long-term storage, the bomber is now flying again, with only two B-1B attrition replacements left at the boneyard.

Tourists visit an underground bunker in Germany, 2023

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

What's on your mind?

Russia may give anti-ship missiles to the Houthis, who carried out their first lethal strike on Israel today.

Intel Says Russia Looking To Arm Houthis With Anti-Ship Missiles: Report

News that Russia may give Houthis anti-ship missiles comes as the group carried out its first lethal strike on Israel.

Satellite imagery shows curious activity, including a cluster of crane barges, at a prominent shipyard in China over a period of several days in June 2024.

Odd Activity At Chinese Submarine Shipyard Draws Interest

The sudden appearance of four crane barges where a submarine had been parked has prompted questions about the possibility of an accident.

Laser dazzlers could defend tanks from one-way attack drones.

Laser Dazzlers For Defending Tanks Against Marauding Drones Are An Untapped Countermeasure

Advanced laser dazzlers mounted on armored vehicles could automatically blind incoming drones during their vulnerable terminal attack runs.

The battle for Krynky, a key fishing village in Russian-occupied Kherson Oblast, may soon be over.

Ukraine Situation Report: Bloody Battle For Key Fishing Village May Soon Be Over

The fight for the small fishing village of Krynky has raged since October with heavy losses by both sides.

119 F-16C Fighting Falcon 330MP AF Greece Kleine Brogel 2007

Greek F-16C/Ds Lined Up For Ukraine: Report

Greece could become the next European NATO F-16 operator to provide surplus fighters to Ukraine with dozens of Block 30 C/D models.

B-2 sprit taking off.

B-2 Stealth Bomber’s Latest Upgrade Is Here

The Spirit Realm 1 upgrade provides the B-2 stealth bomber with new communications and weapons capabilities.

An F-16D on the Lockheed Martin production line in Greenville.

Inside The Lockheed Martin Plant That’s Spearheading Resurgent F-16 Sales

Branded Content: 50 years after its first flight, Viper orders are growing stronger for a fighter that still meets operator needs.

240416-N-HE057-1516 RED SEA (April 16, 2024) An F/A-18F Super Hornet, attached to the "Fighting Swordsmen" of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 32, participates in an airborne change of command ceremony above the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) in the Red Sea, April 16. The Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations to support maritime security and stability in the Middle East region. (Official U.S. Navy photo)

F/A-18F Super Hornet Pilot Is First U.S. Female Aviator To Shoot Down An Enemy Aerial Threat

A female naval aviator from Strike Fighter Squadron 32 shot down a Houthi drone during a recently concluded deployment to the Red Sea.

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Experienced snipers break down how U.S. Secret Service counter-snipers handled the assassination attempt on Donald Trump.

Experienced Snipers Break Down The Trump Assassination Attempt

EA-18G Growler Scored Its First Air-To-Air Kill

Every Coast Guard Aircraft Type Pictured Together In Rare ‘Family Photo’

Ex-FBI Agent’s Analysis Of Secret Service’s Actions Surrounding Trump Assassination Attempt

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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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