Air (Page 10)

Posted on Oct 7, 2025

U.S. Air Force

Mysterious Aircraft Crash Near Area 51 Just Got Weirder

Posted on Oct 7, 2025

The Ukrainian city of Kramastorsk was hit by a fiber-optic-controlled FPV drone for ther first time.

Russian Fiber-Optic Drones Are Now Reaching Into Ukrainian Cities Deep Behind The Lines

By Howard Altman, Tyler Rogoway

Posted on Oct 6, 2025

Sikorsky has announced a whole family of vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) drones, all using a tail-sitting design powered by twin proprotors. While the company has previously showcased and tested this ‘rotor blown wing’ configuration, the new Nomad family includes much larger aircraft, all the way up to a size broadly equivalent to the S-70 Black Hawk medium-lift helicopter and intended for a variety of naval and land-based missions.

Air

Sikorsky Unveils Nomad Family Of Scalable VTOL Drones

Posted on Oct 6, 2025

A company in China recently unveiled a containerized system it says is capable of quickly launching and recovering thousands of small quadcopter-type drones at the touch of a button.

Swarms

China’s New ‘Drone Light Show In A Box’ Massive Swarm Launcher Speaks To Evolving Threats

By Joseph Trevithick, Tyler Rogoway

Posted on Oct 3, 2025

A Venezuelan Army truck carrying Russian missile launchers takes part in a military parade during celebrations for the Independence Day, in Caracas on July 5, 2025. (

Air

Status Of Venezuela’s Air Defense Capabilities

Posted on Oct 3, 2025

CBP says it has information about a "credible threat" that drones might attack agents during ongoing immigration protests.

“Credible Threat” Of Drone Attacks Prompted Massive Chicago Airspace Restrictions, CBP Claims

Updated on Oct 3, 2025

Ukrainian officials are in Washington this week to hammer out details of a potential $50 billion drone deal.

Ukraine Deep In Talks To Sell U.S. Millions Of Drones

Posted on Oct 3, 2025

F-35B

F-35s Deployed To Puerto Rico Showcased In First Official Images (Updated)

By Tyler Rogoway

Updated on Oct 2, 2025

Massive Drone No-Fly Zone Imposed Over Greater Chicago Area (Updated)

Posted on Oct 2, 2025

Reports indicate that the United States has agreed to provide Ukraine with targeting intelligence for its long-range missile strikes against Russian energy infrastructure. For many months now, Ukraine has been waging a campaign to degrade Russia’s oil industry, depriving it of critical resources for its offensive in Ukraine as well as revenue from energy exports.

Air

U.S. To Give Ukraine Intel For Attacks On Critical Energy Targets In Russia: Reports

Posted on Oct 2, 2025

Russia is using long-range drones to hit Ukrainian trains.

Russia Using Long-Range Drones To Attack Ukrainian Trains: Official

Updated on Oct 2, 2025

C-130

Funds Shifted To Develop New LC-130J “Ski Bird” Polar Airlifters

Posted on Oct 1, 2025

South Korea has selected an L3Harris Global 6500 bizjet-based solution for its new airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft. As we discussed at the time, Seoul launched its search for a new plane back in 2020, to bolster its current fleet of four Boeing E-737s, South Korean versions of the E-7 Wedgetail that has been selected by the U.S. Air Force and NATO, among other customers. Reports from earlier this year suggested that Boeing had already been eliminated or dropped out of the new South Korean competition, something that the company appeared to deny.

Airborne Radar

South Korea Has Chosen Its Next Airborne Early Warning Radar Jet

Posted on Sep 30, 2025

A design of a patch for the F-47 System Management Office (SMO) that has been circulating on social media was indeed created by members of that organization, but is still being refined and hasn't been formalized, the Air Force has confirmed.

F-47

F-47 ‘Phoenix’ Patch Authentic, Still A Work In Progress, U.S. Air Force Confirms

Posted on Sep 30, 2025

apan Maritime Self-Defense Force guided missile destroyer JS Chokai (DDG 176) steams in close formation as one of 40 ships and submarines representing 13 international partner nations during Rim of the Pacific 2016. Twenty-six nations, more than 40 ships and submarines, more than 200 aircraft, and 25,000 personnel are participating in RIMPAC from June 30 to Aug. 4, in and around the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California. The world's largest international maritime exercise, RIMPAC provides a unique training opportunity that helps participants foster and sustain the cooperative relationships that are critical to ensuring the safety of sea lanes and security on the world's oceans. RIMPAC 2016 is the 25th exercise in the series that began in 1971.

Air

First Japanese Destroyer Heads To U.S. For Tomahawk Missile Modifications

Posted on Sep 30, 2025

USAF eyes large flying wing arsenal ship.

F-47

Flying Wing Arsenal Plane Packed With Air-To-Air Missiles Eyed By USAF: Report

By Thomas Newdick, Tyler Rogoway

Posted on Sep 29, 2025

The German air defense frigate Hamburg is among several assets deployed to protect Copenhagen during a wave of mystery drones over Europe.

Frigate, Radars, Troops Rushed To Copenhagen To Defend Against Mystery Drones

Posted on Sep 29, 2025

C-130

Angry Kitten Electronic Warfare Pod Spotted Flying On HC-130J Combat Rescue Plane

Posted on Sep 29, 2025

For the Beacon program, Northrop Grumman has adapted the Model 437 Vanguard, adding digitally engineered wings and modifications for optionally autonomous flight. The first flight was achieved with a test pilot in the cockpit.

Loyal Wingman

Scaled Composites’ Model 437 Vanguard Jet Is Now Flying As An AI Testbed

Posted on Sep 27, 2025

The U.S. Air Force is working to combine an aerial target designed to simulate ballistic threats and a liquid-fuel rocket motor into a new, lower-cost hypersonic missile dubbed Angry Tortoise.

Air-Launched Hypersonic Missiles

Angry Tortoise Liquid-Fueled Hypersonic Missile In Development For USAF

By Joseph Trevithick, Hope Hodge Seck

Posted on Sep 26, 2025

The giant WindRunner cargo jet concept was shown off for the Air Force.

An-124

Giant WindRunner Cargo Jet Concept Shown Off To USAF

By Howard Altman, Tyler Rogoway

Posted on Sep 26, 2025

MiG-21

India’s Iconic MiG-21 Blasts Off Into Retirement

Posted on Sep 26, 2025

A business jet converted into a tanker is among the options the U.S. Air Force has been considering as part of plans for a future aerial refueling 'system of systems.'

Tankers

Business Jet Aerial Refueling Tankers Eyed By USAF

Posted on Sep 26, 2025

J-XDS

Is This Our Best Look At China’s Tailless J-XDS Stealth Fighter?

By Tyler Rogoway

Posted on Sep 25, 2025

German defense startup Helsing has unveiled a new uncrewed combat air vehicle (UCAV), the CA-1 Europa. The company is targeting a first flight in 2027 for the UCAV, which looks very similar to the MQ-28 Ghost Bat. Boeing’s Australian subsidiary developed Ghost Bat first as a ‘loyal wingman’ drone for the Royal Australian Air Force, under the Airpower Teaming System. The U.S. Air Force has also now acquired at least one example ostensibly to support research and development and test and evaluation efforts.

MQ-28

Helsing’s CA-1 Drone Is An MQ-28 Ghost Bat Lookalike

Posted on Sep 25, 2025

War Secretary Pete Hegseth has summed top military leaders to an emergency meeting next week.

U.S. Air Force

War Secretary’s Emergency Meeting A Mystery To Hundreds Of Top Officers Ordered To Attend

Posted on Sep 25, 2025

U.S. Air Force 1st Lt. Maurielle Pankau, a 183rd Air Component Operations Squadron intelligence analyst planner, participates in the Shadow Operations Center-Nellis Experiment 3 at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, June 13, 2025. Experiment participants were challenged to use human-machine teaming to deliver decision advantage in scenarios marked by complexity, speed, and uncertainty. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Jennifer Nesbitt)

Air Force AI Targeting Tests Show Promise, Despite Hallucinations

By Hope Hodge Seck

Posted on Sep 25, 2025

A U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon receives fuel from a U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker over the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, May 25, 2025. Aerial refueling allows Fighting Falcons to extend their mission and guarantee war-winning airpower throughout the CENTCOM AOR. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Natalie Jones)

F-15

Laser-Guided Rockets Now Primary Anti-Drone Weapon For USAF Jets In Middle East

By Joseph Trevithick, Howard Altman

Posted on Sep 25, 2025

The U.S. military was totally unaware of the unprecedented Israeli airstrike on a Hamas compound in Doha, Qatar, earlier this month, one of its senior leaders has confirmed. In the aftermath of the raid, there had been questions as to why the various highly advanced air defense systems and sensors, both American and Qatari, that would normally provide prior alert to an impending attack on Qatar had apparently not functioned as expected. Now we have a better understanding of what happened, from a U.S. perspective.

Air-Launched Ballistic Missiles

New Info On How U.S. Military Was Caught Off Guard By Israeli Strike On Qatar

By Thomas Newdick, Tyler Rogoway, Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Sep 24, 2025

Renderings from General Atomics offer new looks at how its air-launched LongShot drone might be employed from F-15 fighters, as well as B-52 bombers and C-17 cargo aircraft.

C-17

F-15 Depicted Launching LongShot Air-To-Air Missile Carrier Drone In New Renderings

Posted on Sep 24, 2025

Closing Kill Chains Before The Battle Begins

By Jamie Hunter

Posted on Sep 24, 2025

Update from General Atomics from the show floor of Air, Space & Cyber 2025

We Talk YFQ-42A, LongShot, And 9M Flight Hours With General Atomics

By The War Zone staff

Posted on Sep 24, 2025

A long-range kamikaze drone that U.S. firm Kratos is working on together with Taiwan’s National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) is set to make its maiden flight early next year.

Jet-Powered Kamikaze Drone Kratos Is Developing With Taiwan To Fly Next Year

By Joseph Trevithick, Howard Altman

Posted on Sep 24, 2025

Leidos has raised the possibility of eventually integrating its Black Arrow, also known as the Small Cruise Missile, in the MQ-9 Reaper drone and the OA-1K Skyraider II light attack aircraft. The roughly 200-pound munition has, so far, been tested from C-130 variants but offers the kinds of capabilities that U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) is increasingly looking at harnessing.

Q-9

Tiny Black Arrow Cruise Missile Demonstrates A Whopping 400-Mile Range

By Thomas Newdick, Howard Altman

Updated on Sep 24, 2025

The crew of a U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle attempted to take down a long-range kamikaze drone with a Laser Joint Direct Attack Munition (LJDAM) precision-guided bomb after running out of missiles in the frantic midst of an all-out Iranian barrage aimed at Israel.

F-15

F-15Es Tried To Shoot Down Iranian Kamikaze Drones With Laser Guided Bombs

By Joseph Trevithick, Howard Altman

Updated on Sep 24, 2025

The U.S. Air Force is currently looking toward a single next-generation airlifter to supplant both the C-17A Globemaster III and the C-5M Galaxy, starting in the mid-2040s.

C-130

C-17 and C-5 Cargo Planes Will Be Replaced With One Aircraft: USAF

Posted on Sep 23, 2025

U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Matthew Olde, the F-15 director of programs and operations at Defense Contract Management Agency Boeing St. Louis, exits an F-15EX Eagle II aircraft at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Michigan, June 11, 2025. Olde brought the aircraft to the base as part of a site activation task force visit, one of the initial steps to ensure that when both the F-15EX and KC-46 Pegasus missions arrive at Selfridge ANGB, the 127th Wing will be fully prepared with the right infrastructure, personnel, and support to stand them up and operate them effectively.

Air

New APG-82(V)X Radar For F-15EX Announced By Raytheon

Posted on Sep 23, 2025

Tankers

Despite Setbacks, Embraer Still Pitching KC-390 As Air Force ACE Tanker Of Choice

By Hope Hodge Seck

Posted on Sep 23, 2025

The Danish police are seen at Copenhagen Airport, in Kastrup near Copenhagen, on September 22, 2025. Danish police said on September 23, 2025 they did not know who was responsible for flying drones over Copenhagen airport the previous evening, but that they appeared to have been knowledgeable. "The number, size, flight patterns, time over the airport. All this together ... indicates that it is a capable actor. Which capable actor, I do not know," police inspector Jens Jespersen told reporters. The airport was closed for several hours before reopening early Tuesday, causing numerous delays and travel disruptions to 20,000 passengers, airport officials said.

Fighters

Denmark Says Drone Incursions Were A Deliberate “Attack”

Posted on Sep 23, 2025

The Navy’s SM-6 missile has become an all-star of multi-role capability and a shining example of how repackaging existing systems with some new tech can garner grand results. The missile can shoot down air-breathing threats like aircraft and cruise missiles, it can swat incoming ballistic missiles in the terminal phases of flight, it can attack sea targets, and it even has a latent land attack potential. It is also network enabled and can engage targets well beyond the sensor reach of its launch platform using telemetry data-linked from a third-party platform, like a jet fighter. It does all this over long ranges, reaching out over 150 miles from its vertical launch cell aboard American destroyers and cruisers.

Air

Germany To Build Uncrewed Missile-Toting Arsenal Ships For Its Frigates

Posted on Sep 23, 2025

When Anduril's YFQ-44A drone flies for the first time, it will do so in a semi-autonomous fashion as part of a broader plan to get the design to an actual operational state as fast as possible.

U.S. Air Force

Anduril’s Fury Will Take Off For The First Time At The Touch Of A Button

Updated on Sep 22, 2025

In what it claims is the first such attack in history, Ukraine has used drones to strike a pair of Russian Navy Be-12 twin-turboprop amphibians. The raid appears to have destroyed two of the extremely scarce amphibians, potentially halving the number of airworthy airframes available to Russia and leaving a question mark over its future service.

Air

Ukrainian Drones Strike Russia’s Rare Be-12 Flying Boats

Posted on Sep 22, 2025

A U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor assigned to the 433rd Weapons Squadron, U.S. Air Force Weapons School, takes off for a training mission at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, Aug. 21, 2025. The USAFWS provides academic and advisory support to numerous units, enhancing air combat training for Airmen from the Air Force, Department of Defense and U.S. allied services each year.

F-22

Lockheed Eyes Upgrades For Oldest F-22 Raptors

Posted on Sep 22, 2025

Boeing has started production of the first F-47 sixth-generation stealth fighter for the U.S. Air Force, ahead of an expected first flight in 2028.

F-47

First F-47 6th Generation Fighter Now Being Built

Posted on Sep 22, 2025

Air

China’s Aircraft Carrier Capability Just Made A Stunning Leap Forward

Posted on Sep 22, 2025

Stealth

Skunk Works Unveils Vectis Air Combat Drone That Puts A Premium On Stealth

Posted on Sep 21, 2025

Among the highlights of the recent Defense and Security Equipment International (DSEI) 2025 exhibition held in London was a new tank destroyer from Lockheed Martin and Germany’s Rheinmetall. The Fuchs JAGM, based on a well-established 6×6 armored vehicle, and armed with no fewer than 24 missiles, reflects a growing interest in anti-tank warfare, spurred in part by lessons of the war in Ukraine.

AGM-114 Hellfire

Fuchs JAGM Tank Destroyer Packs 24 Missiles Into A Single Vehicle

Posted on Sep 20, 2025

Three Russian MiG-31 Foxhounds intruded into Estonian airspace.

Russian Air Force

Russian MiG-31s Busting Estonian Airspace Has Eastern Europe On Edge

Posted on Sep 19, 2025

Spectacular imagery showing military aircraft punching out flares is, by now, fairly familiar, but no less worth looking at. Much rarer, however, is to see a civilian airliner design doing the same thing. In this case, the Boeing 737 jetliner is in Polish Air Force service, but the captures are certainly highly unusual and bring attention to a lesser-known aspect of this aircraft, and other governmental and privately owned jets that are similarly outfitted with self-protection systems.

Polish Air Force

Boeing 737 Countermeasure Flare Release Captured In Stunning Photos

Posted on Sep 19, 2025

Cracks seem to be appearing in the pan-European Future Combat Air System (FCAS) program, at the heart of which will be crewed New Generation Fighter (NGF). Reports now suggest that Germany, one of the two major partners in FCAS, is looking at how it might kick France out of the program, amid long-running misgivings over workshare arrangements.

Fighters

Germany Considers Split From France On Next Generation Fighter

Posted on Sep 19, 2025

A new Quick Reaction Force has been created to help counter drone incursions at U.S. military bases

New Quick Reaction Force Will Counter Military Base Drone Incursions

Posted on Sep 18, 2025

What looks to be a previously unseen low-observable flying-wing drone variant with a ‘cranked kite’ planform has emerged in a satellite image from China’s secretive test base near Malan in the country's far western Xinjiang province.

Large Stealth Flying Wing Appears At Chinese Test Base

Updated on Sep 18, 2025

Plane spotters in Fort Worth, Texas, caught a glimpse of something rare yesterday, one of the U.S. Air Force's four E-4B Nightwatch jets flying completely stripped of paint and with much of its skin covered in a green zinc chromate coating.

E-4

Rare ‘Naked’ E-4B ‘Doomsday Plane’ Spotted Flying In Texas

Posted on Sep 18, 2025

NATO is testing an airship to see if it can provide maritime domain awareness.

Airborne Sensors

Bus-Sized Uncrewed Airship Being Tested By NATO As Maritime Surveillance Platform

By Howard Altman, Tyler Rogoway

Posted on Sep 18, 2025

Spain recently launched the first of its new F110 class frigates, also known as the Bonifaz class. This impressive warship is notable for its combination of high-end anti-submarine warfare and anti-air warfare functions on what is a relatively small hull. As such, it makes a very interesting comparison with the U.S. Navy’s troubled Constellation class, which has grown in weight, amid questions about the level of capabilities that it offers.

Air

All You Need To Know About Spain’s New F110 Frigate

Posted on Sep 17, 2025

Polish Air Force

Poland Investigating Whether Its F-16’s AIM-120 Missile Destroyed A Home

Updated on Sep 17, 2025

U.S. military aircraft employed GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bombs (SDB) and laser-guided 70mm Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System II (APKWS II) rockets as part of the operation to strike Iranian nuclear facilities earlier this year.

F-22

Pentagon Moves To Replace Weapons It Used In Operation Midnight Hammer

Updated on Sep 17, 2025

The Chinese aviation industry has been developing an expanding array of flying-wing uncrewed aircraft, including as uncrewed combat air vehicles (UCAV) and high-altitude intelligence-gathering platforms, often in cooperation with state-run research institutions.

New Chinese Flying Wing Drone Design Emerges

Posted on Sep 16, 2025

Peru has received approval to buy 12 F-16C/D Block 70 jets, which would make it the fourth South American operator of the Lockheed Martin fighter. If the acquisition goes ahead, it will also confirm the Peruvian Air Force’s move away from Russian-made combat aircraft, which currently make up a significant proportion of its fleet. These aircraft are now increasingly hard to support and, in general, Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has had a serious impact on its arms exports.

F-16

F-16 Cleared To Be Peru’s Next Fighter

Posted on Sep 16, 2025

A U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor has achieved what is, according to missile manufacturer Raytheon, the longest known AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) shot. Exactly how far away the fighter was from its target when it fired the radar-guided is unclear, but the milestone points both to the continued development of the AMRAAM’s capabilities as well as the growing focus, across the U.S. military, on extended-range air-to-air missiles to keep pace with developments in China and Russia.

F-22

F-22 Raptor Scores “Longest Known” AIM-120 AMRAAM Shot

Posted on Sep 16, 2025

Image of a Royal Air Force Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, seen here flying over RAF Lossiemouth. In a training flight conducted over the Moray Firth a Poseidon (P-8A) aircraft operated by 120 Sqn, based at RAF Lossiemouth, dropped a recoverable exercise variant of the Mark 54 Lightweight Torpedo, simulating an attack on a submarine. At just under 3m long and 32cm in diameter, the Mk 54 torpedo is small and light enough that five can be carried in the Poseidon's internal weapons bay. the high-explosive warheads on the live torpedoes pack a devastating punch sufficient to destroy enemy submarines that the Poseidon crew can locate and track using state-of-the-art equipment. The successful release of a torpedo is the latest milestone in the rapid development of the Poseidon in RAF service. Five Poseidon MRA1s are based at RAF Lossiemouth with a further four set to be delivered by the end of this year. The station, which is situated in close proximity to one of the aircraft's most frequent area of operations, is benefiting from a multi-million pound investment programme bringing significant economic benefits to the Highlands & Islands and Morayshire communities. The Poseidon is fitted with advanced, state-of-the-art, Anti-Submarine Warfare and Anti-Surface Warfare sensors which will provide global protection to UK, NATO and our Allies' submarines and warships in an increasingly dangerous world.

P-8

British P-8 Poseidon Flies Unusual Overland Mission Along Polish Border

By Thomas Newdick, Howard Altman

Posted on Sep 15, 2025

The last MC-12W Liberty turboprop surveillance aircraft under U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command's (AFSOC) umbrella have been retired.

Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC)

Last Special Operations MC-12W Surveillance Planes Retired