Air Force Munitions

Latest in Air Force Munitions

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.
Laser Guided Rockets

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

By Joseph Trevithick

Updated Yesterday

L3Harris has highlighted the potential benefits of pairing its Red Wolf miniature cruise missile with the U.S. Air Force's OA-1K Skyraider II light attack aircraft.
Air-To-Ground

Red Wolf Cruise Missile Eyed To Give OA-1K Skyraider II Standoff Strike Capability

By Joseph Trevithick

Updated on Feb 10, 2026

A10s provide CAS for LCS in Arabian Sea.
Laser Guided Rockets

A-10 Warthog Protects Mine-Hunting Littoral Combat Ship In Persian Gulf Drill

By Tyler Rogoway

Updated on Feb 9, 2026

Earlier this week, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense confirmed that the Meteor was one of the weapons under discussion for the next Swedish security aid package for Ukraine. Also on the agenda were the Gripen E and undisclosed air defense systems, Saab radars, electronic warfare systems, and drones, including long-range one-way attack drones. The announcement came after talks between the Ukrainian Minister of Defense Mykhailo Fedorov and his Swedish counterpart, Paul Jonsson.
Meteor

Meteor Long-Range Air-To-Air Missile In The Works For Ukraine, But There’s A Catch

By Thomas Newdick

Updated on Feb 4, 2026

The U.S. Marine Corps says it is planning to award a sole-source contract for a new AGM-114 Hellfire missile-armed mobile counter-drone system to defense contractor V2X.
AGM-114 Hellfire

Company Behind Drone-Killing Hellfire Missile-Armed Buggy Set To Get Marine Corps Contract

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Feb 3, 2026

The U.S. Air Force has released details of a live-fire test of the Rusty Dagger, one of two new Extended Range Attack Munitions (ERAM) being developed under a crash program. The milestone suggest that Ukraine is a step closer to getting its hands on thousands of air-launched ERAMs that will provide the country with a powerful new and relatively low-cost standoff strike capability. The event is also significant in terms of the Pentagon’s focus on rapidly developing and bringing into operational service new weapons that can be built at scale.
Air-To-Ground

Rusty Dagger Low-Cost Cruise Missile Hits Its Target

By Thomas Newdick

Updated on Feb 2, 2026

One of the most enigmatic weapons in the arsenal of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF), the PL-17 very long-range air-to-air missile, appears to have been shown for the first time at close quarters.
Air-To-Air

China’s Massive PL-17 Air-To-Air Missile Seen Up Close

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Jan 28, 2026

A U.S. plane with a civilian-style outward appearance and the ability to launch munitions from within its fuselage carried out the first controversial strike on an alleged drug smuggling boat, according to multiple reports.
Air-To-Ground

Let’s Talk About The Mysterious “Civilian-Style” Plane Used To Strike A Drug Boat

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Jan 14, 2026

The Ukrainian Armed Forces using the U.S.-made V2X Tempest, a high-mobility vehicle with a launcher for AGM-114 Hellfire missiles that is optimized for the counter-uncrewed aerial systems (C-UAS) role. Mounting Hellfires on a high-mobility vehicle provides a valuable new means of employing these weapons, not only against drone threats, but potentially also other targets, too.
AGM-114 Hellfire

Hellfire-Armed Drone-Killing Buggy Appears In Ukrainian Service

By Thomas Newdick, Tyler Rogoway

Posted on Jan 12, 2026

Evidence that the United States employed AGM-114 Hellfire or AGM-179A Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM) missiles in a covert strike on a target in Venezuela has now emerged.
AGM-114 Hellfire

Missile Fragments Add To Evidence MQ-9 Reaper Drone Carried Out Venezuela Strike

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Jan 2, 2026

Over the past week or so, U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drones have been spotted carrying increasingly greater numbers of AGM-114 Hellfire missiles on sorties from Puerto Rico.
AGM-114 Hellfire

MQ-9 Reapers Flying With Unusually Heavy Weapons Loads Over Caribbean

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Dec 30, 2025

APKWS are now flying on Ukraine's F-16s.
Laser Guided Rockets

Ukrainian F-16s Appear To Be Armed With Laser-Guided Rockets In New Photos

By Joseph Trevithick

Updated on Dec 5, 2025

A U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker offloads fuel to a U.S. Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet, assigned to the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group, over the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, April 8, 2025. The KC-135 Stratotanker is the backbone of U.S. Air Forces Central's global reach aerial refueling capability and delivers critical support to joint and coalition aircraft in order to guarantee war-winning airpower throughout the CENTCOM AOR.
Air-To-Ground

Super Hornet Seen With Rare SLAM-ER Missile Loadout On Yemen Mission

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Dec 3, 2025

Celebrations for the 80th anniversary of the Korean People’s Air Force (KPAF) provided an apparent first look at three new types of air-launched weapon, intended to arm the KPAF’s Su-25 Frogfoot ground-attack aircraft, and potentially others. The event also yielded a better look at the country’s ‘copycat’ drones, the Saetbyol-4 and Saetbyol-9 that are almost exact visual copies of the U.S.-made RQ-4 Global Hawk and MQ-9 Reaper, respectively.
Air-To-Air

Analyzing North Korea’s New Air-Launched Guided Weapons

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Dec 2, 2025

Russia has fielded a new version of the Shahed-136 kamikaze drone armed with a single R-60 air-to-air missile.
Air-To-Air

Russian Shahed-136 Kamikaze Drones Now Armed With Air-To-Air Missiles

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Dec 1, 2025

Turkish industry and media alike have heralded the recent live-fire test in which a Kizilelma uncrewed combat air vehicle (UCAV) used a Turkish-made air-to-air missile to destroy a target drone. Turkey claims the test marks the first occasion a UCAV has launched a radar-guided air-to-air missile. But, while undoubtedly impressive, there are unanswered questions about how the engagement actually played out, especially to what degree the UCAV was being controlled by crewed fighter jets.
Air-To-Air

Turkey’s Fighter-Like Kizilelma Drone Shot Down Aerial Target With Radar-Guided Missile

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Dec 1, 2025