More from Joseph Trevithick (Page 2)

Posted on Apr 4, 2026

RC-135

RC-135 Rivet Joint Surveillance Jet Caught ‘In The Nude’ In Texas

Posted on Apr 2, 2026

The U.S. Air Force's highly secretive NT-43A radar cross-section measurement platform is supporting the launch of NASA's Artemis II space mission, and this reflects the start of an entirely new stage in the career of the notoriously shy aircraft.

Airborne Radar

Secretive 737 Radar Jet ‘RAT55’ Has Begun “The Next Phase Of Its Career”

Updated on Apr 2, 2026

The U.S. Air Force Materiel Command’s highly secretive NT-43A has been spotted in Florida, apparently taking part in the preparations for the launch of NASA's long-delayed Artemis II lunar space mission.

NASA

World’s Most Secretive 737 Is Supporting NASA’s Historic Artemis II Launch

By Thomas Newdick, Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Apr 1, 2026

Rapidly fielding more hardened shelters to better protect U.S. forces at bases in the Middle East is a top priority, according to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.

Iran

Bunkers For U.S. Bases In Middle East Now A Top Priority For Pentagon

Posted on Mar 31, 2026

The Israeli Air Force has released a picture of F-16I Sufa fighters taking part in strikes on Iran, and the jets appear to be carrying cluster munitions.

F-16

Israeli F-16s Appear To Be Carrying Cluster Munitions

Posted on Mar 30, 2026

Iran

Is The U.S. Dropping Mines To Stop Iranian Missile Launchers?

By Howard Altman, Joseph Trevithick, Tyler Rogoway

Updated on Mar 27, 2026

U.S. Navy

Navy’s Drone Ship Plans Get Shaken Up Again

Posted on Mar 26, 2026

The U.S. Army says it hopes to see production of a finalized version of the next-generation M1E3 Abrams tank begin next year.

M1 Abrams

M1E3 Next-Gen Abrams Tank Production Could Begin Next Year

Posted on Mar 25, 2026

AGM-114 Hellfire

Hellfire Missile Launcher Tucked Inside A Container Rolled Out By Lockheed

Posted on Mar 24, 2026

A slightly shorter and lighter-weight carbine version of the U.S. Army's new 6.8x51mm M7 service rifle has now gotten its own designation: XM8.

Assault Rifles

New Army 6.8mm Carbine Recycles XM8 Designation From Failed “Starship Troopers” Rifle Program

Posted on Mar 23, 2026

F-22

F-22 Raptor “2.0” Spotted Undergoing Flight Testing

Updated on Mar 23, 2026

The Pentagon is reportedly sending the Wasp class amphibious assault ship USS Boxer and the rest of its Amphibious Ready Group (ARG), loaded with elements of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU).

Iran

USS Boxer The Second Amphibious Assault Ship Now Heading To Middle East (Updated)

By Thomas Newdick, Joseph Trevithick

Updated on Mar 20, 2026

Venerable A-10 Warthog attack jets are helping dismantle Iran's Navy. Though the A-10 is most commonly associated with missions over land, the jets have a long-standing, if often obscure, maritime role.

A-10

A-10 Warthogs Are Prowling For Iranian Boats In The Strait Of Hormuz

Posted on Mar 19, 2026

Spotters in Greece have caught an especially good look at what very much appears to be a very stealthy, long-range, high-altitude intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance drone commonly referred to as the RQ-180, or an evolution of that design.

RQ-180

RQ-180 Secret Stealth Drone Appears To Have Made An Emergency Landing At A Greek Air Base (Updated)

Updated on Mar 18, 2026

In a follow-up to our recent story about a pair of U.S. Navy Independence class Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) configured for minesweeping appearing in the Pacific, those vessels have now moved further east from Malaysia to Singapore.

Naval Mines

U.S. Navy Minesweepers Stationed In Middle East Are Now In Singapore

Posted on Mar 18, 2026

U.S. Air Force

U.S. Used Its New 5,000-Pound Bunker Busters To Hit Iranian Anti-Ship Missile Sites: Reports

By Thomas Newdick, Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Mar 18, 2026

The move is a somewhat rare one for the E-2 community, but it's extremely logical, and likely highly urgent, considering what is going on in the Middle East.

E-2

Navy E-2D Hawkeyes Appear To Be Rushing To The Middle East

Updated on Mar 17, 2026

EA-18G

EA-18G Growlers Carrying Mixed Load Of Old And New Jamming Pods Are Flying Iran Missions

Posted on Mar 16, 2026

The U.S. Navy Independence class Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) USS Tulsa and USS Santa Barbara, which are configured for minesweeping duties, have appeared in port in Malaysia.

Naval Mines

U.S. Navy Minesweepers Assigned To Middle East Have Been Moved To Pacific (Updated)

Posted on Mar 15, 2026

Drones launched from ships offshore is a highly plausible mode of attack that TWZ has been drawing direct attention to for years now as the United States continues to play catch-up in establishing domestic defenses against the dangers posed by drones.

Iran

Drone Attacks On U.S. From The Sea Are A Known Possibility

Posted on Mar 13, 2026

A submarine is among the Iranian naval vessels that U.S. forces have struck with Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) short-range ballistic missiles.

MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS)

Iranian Submarine Sunk By ATACMS Short Range Ballistic Missile

Posted on Mar 13, 2026

KC-135

KC-135 Tanker Crashes In Iraq During Operation Epic Fury Sortie (Updated)

By Howard Altman, Thomas Newdick, Joseph Joseph Trevithick

Updated on Mar 13, 2026

U.S. Navy

Railgun Being Fired By U.S. Navy Again After Abandoning It For Years

Posted on Mar 12, 2026

Satellite imagery from Vantor shows that a site long linked to Iran's nuclear program has been struck in a manner that raises the question of whether 30,000-pound GBU-57/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) bunker buster bombs were employed.

B-2

Did B-2s Just Drop GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators On Another Iranian Nuclear Site? (Updated)

Posted on Mar 12, 2026

Satellite imagery from Vantor shows at least two, and more likely three, swing-wing F-14 Tomcat fighters, as well as at least 10 other aircraft destroyed on the ground following strikes on an Iranian airbase in Isfahan.

F-14

Iranian F-14 Tomcats Meet Their Doom In Israeli Airstrikes

Posted on Mar 11, 2026

An Australian E-7A Wedgetail airborne early warning and control plane is headed for the Persian Gulf.

E-7

Massive Leap In Ability To Spot Iranian Drones Headed To Persian Gulf

Posted on Mar 10, 2026

The U.S. military has been using M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) to strike Iranian ships as part of Operation Epic Fury.

MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS)

U.S. Striking Iranian Navy Ships With Ballistic Missiles

Posted on Mar 10, 2026

U.S. and Israeli authorities have reportedly been considering a special operations ground raid to extract or otherwise neutralize Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium, a risky plan that highlights challenges in attempting to achieve this objective from the air alone.

Iran Nuclear Crisis

Commando Raid To Secure Iran’s Enriched Uranium May Become A Very Risky Necessity

Posted on Mar 9, 2026

The irony that lower-end long-range kamikaze drones are perhaps the biggest threat to extremely advanced radars capable of providing telemetry for intercepting targets traveling at hypersonic speeds, sometimes in space, is glaring. The losses of the radars should finally serve as a stark wake-up call regarding the vulnerability of these critical but largely static assets.

Iran

Iranian Attacks On Prized Missile Defense Radars Are A Wake-Up Call

Updated on Mar 7, 2026

Iran

Trump Demands “Unconditional Surrender,” Iran Says Bring On The Ground Invasion (Updated)

By Howard Altman, Joseph Trevithick

Updated on Mar 6, 2026

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) has denied claims circulating online of the loss of another F-15E Strike Eagle, this time over enemy territory, as part of ongoing operations against Iran.

Iran

U.S. Denies F-15E Strike Eagle Went Down In Iran

By Howard Altman, Joseph Trevithick

Updated on Mar 5, 2026

Iran

Strikes Hobble Iranian Missile Threat As Concerns Over Interceptor Stockpile Mount (Updated)

By Howard Altman, Joseph Trevithick, Tyler Rogoway

Updated on Mar 4, 2026

Iran

U.S. Navy Submarine Torpedoes Iranian Frigate In Indian Ocean

By Howard Altman, Joseph Trevithick

Updated on Mar 4, 2026

Iran

Gulf Arab States Under Pressure As Iranian Attacks Grind On (Updated)

By Joseph Trevithick, Thomas Newdick, Howard Altman

Updated on Mar 4, 2026

U.S. Navy

Trump’s Plan To Escort Ships Through Strait Of Hormuz Would Put U.S. Navy Warships In The Crosshairs

Posted on Mar 4, 2026

Iran

War With Iran Now In Its Third Day

By Joseph Trevithick, Thomas Newdick, Howard Altman

Updated on Mar 2, 2026

Iran

Iran’s Key Naval Base On Strait Of Hormuz Set Ablaze From Strikes

Posted on Mar 2, 2026

Iran

U.S.-Israeli War With Iran Enters Day Two (Updated)

Updated on Mar 2, 2026

The U.S. military has employed new Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) short-range ballistic missiles as part of ongoing operations against Iran.

MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS)

America’s New PrSM Ballistic Missile Just Made Its Combat Debut

Updated on Mar 1, 2026

Iran

Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei Killed In Strikes, Trump Declares

Posted on Feb 28, 2026

Iran

Iranian Frigate Seen Ablaze After Being Struck In Port

By Tyler Rogoway, Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Feb 28, 2026

The U.S. Air Force now has at least 14 aerial refueling tankers forward-deployed in Israel ahead of potential strikes on Iran.

KC-135

Israel’s Fighter Force Stands To Be Far More Effective With Full USAF Tanker Support In A War With Iran

Posted on Feb 28, 2026

Substantial demands placed on the relatively small B-52 create additional challenges when it comes to planning how to get those upgrades into service on operational aircraft.

B-52

Small B-52 Fleet Size Creates Challenges For Engine, Radar Upgrade Plans

Posted on Feb 27, 2026

A top U.S. Space Force general sees a clear need to be able to attack threats in space, not just to protect friendly satellites, but to challenge China's dramatically expanded surveillance capabilities in orbit.

Spy Satellites

China’s Growing Armada Of Spy Satellites Is Pushing Space Force To Go On The Offensive

Posted on Feb 26, 2026

Whether or not the U.S. Air Force's new Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) will carry multiple warheads remains to be seen now that a key arms control treaty has expired, but the service is otherwise hopeful that the Sentinel program is now on the right track.

LGM-30 Minuteman III

Number Of Nuclear Warheads New Sentinel ICBMs Will Carry Now An Open Question

Posted on Feb 25, 2026

Newly teamed-up Northrop Grumman and Embraer are hoping that a boom refueling system-equipped version of the latter's KC-390 Millennium twin jet engine tanker-transport will catch the eye of the U.S. Air Force.

Tankers

KC-390 With A Refueling Boom Seems Like A Perfect Fit For The USAF’s Agile Tanker Needs, But Will It Bite?

Posted on Feb 25, 2026

The official target size of the future B-21 Raider fleet remains 100 aircraft, despite an announcement that production of the stealth bomber is expanding, a U.S. Air Force official has confirmed to TWZ.

B-21

100 B-21 Stealth Bomber Fleet Size Target Unchanged For Now Despite Production Acceleration

Posted on Feb 24, 2026

Lockheed Martin has shared new details about how it is using artificial intelligence (AI) technology to help F-35 pilots spot hostile air defenses faster and more accurately.

F-35

AI Is Now Helping The F-35 Spot Enemy Air Defenses

Posted on Feb 24, 2026

The U.S. Air Force has given us our first look at one of Anduril's YFQ-44 Fury ‘fighter drone’ prototypes carrying an inert AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM).

Loyal Wingman

Anduril’s Fury Collaborative Combat Aircraft Is Now Flying With AIM-120 AMRAAM

Updated on Feb 24, 2026

KC-130

KC-130J’s Hellfire Missile-Firing Harvest Hawk Kits Retired By Marines

Posted on Feb 23, 2026

A group of Block 52 F-16CJ Vipers belonging to the South Carolina Air National Guard was recently spotted heading east across the Atlantic as part of a huge build-up of U.S. forces ahead of potential strikes on Iran.

F-16

F-16s Heading To Middle East Equipped With Angry Kitten Electronic Warfare Pods

Posted on Feb 20, 2026

The U.S. Marine Corps is aiming to acquire a new single "capability" to fill gaps left by the retirement of its AV-8 Harrier jump jets, AH-1Z and UH-1Y helicopters, and legacy F/A-18C/D Hornet fighters.

AH-1

New Vision To Fill Gaps After AV-8B Harrier And AH-1Z Viper Retirements Laid Out By Marines

Posted on Feb 20, 2026

The U.S. Navy is exploring options for a new long-range anti-radiation missile designed to home in on radars to help neutralize enemy air defense networks.

AGM-88 High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM)

Hunt For “AWACS Killer” Anti-Radiation Missile Kicked-Off By Navy

Updated on Feb 20, 2026

What looks to be a new 155mm naval gun has been installed on a Chinese weapons trials ship.

People's Liberation Army Navy (China)

China’s Largest Modern Naval Gun To Date Just Appeared On A Test Ship

Posted on Feb 19, 2026

The construction of new silos for the U.S. Air Force's future LGM-35A Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) means that units charged with defending them will have to update their tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs).

LGM-30 Minuteman III

Security Forces Guarding ICBMs Need Fresh Tactics To Defend New Sentinel Silos

Posted on Feb 19, 2026

In the past two days, the U.S. Air Force has sent six of its 16 E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) radar planes to bases in Europe.

E-3

Major Deployment Of Rickety E-3 Sentry Fleet For Iran Crisis Highlights Worrisome Gaps

Posted on Feb 18, 2026

General Atomics' air-launched LongShort drone has made new progress toward its first flight with the completion of various tests on the ground, including a demonstration of its weapons release capabilities.

Drones

X-68A LongShot Air-To-Air Missile-Carrying Drone Moves Closer To F-15 Launch

Posted on Feb 17, 2026

One of the U.S. Air Force's C-32A VIP aircraft has re-emerged wearing a new red, white, and blue paint scheme.

C-32

C-32A ‘Air Force Two’ Jet Emerges Wearing Trump’s New Air Force One Paint Job (Updated)

Posted on Feb 17, 2026

Last year, the U.S. government was able to reverse engineer a critical subcomponent for the 30,000-pound GBU-57/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) bunker buster bomb by leveraging technology from the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) short-range ballistic missile.

U.S. Air Force

New GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator Parts Reverse Engineered From ATACMS Ballistic Missile Tech

Updated on Feb 16, 2026

The F-35's 'computer brain,' including its cloud-based components, could be cracked to accept third-party software updates, just like 'jailbreaking' a cellphone, according to the Dutch Defense Minister.

F-35

F-35 Software Could Be Jailbreaked Like An iPhone: Dutch Defense Secretary

Updated on Feb 15, 2026

U.S. Air Force

Mini Missiles Used To Shoot Down Incoming Missiles Eyed For USAF Tanker Fleet

Posted on Feb 13, 2026

U.S. Marine Corps legacy F/A-18C/D Hornets are in line to add air-to-air optimized versions of the 70mm Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System II (APKWS II) rocket to their arsenal.

F/A-18A-D

USMC’s Old F/A-18 Hornets To Get Drone Swatting Laser Guided Rockets