We have updated our Privacy Policy. Please review to learn more. By continuing to use our services, you agree to these updates.

Airborne Sensors

Latest in Airborne Sensors

The next NATO airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) platform will be Saab’s GlobalEye, as announced today during the alliance’s summit in Ankara, Turkey. The decision to buy up to 10 GlobalEyes for NATO comes after Sweden, France, and Canada all selected the platform, and amid a flurry of new orders for military equipment as part of a wider alliance defense spending drive.
Airborne Radar

NATO Picks Saab GlobalEye To Replace Aging E-3 AWACS Fleet

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Jul 7, 2026

General Atomics is giving the MQ-9 reaper airborne early radar capability, which could have a big impact on the market.
Airborne Radar

MQ-9 Getting Airborne Early Warning Radar Is A Huge Deal

By Tyler Rogoway

Posted on Jun 18, 2026

B-52 Involved In Tragic Crash Was Heading Out On Radar Test Sortie
Airborne Radar

B-52 Involved In Tragic Crash Was Heading Out On Radar Test Sortie

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Jun 16, 2026

Boeing’s 757 Flying Test Bed was recently spotted carrying a stealthy underwing infrared sensor pod under its fuselage.
Airborne Sensors

F-22’s ‘Catfish’ 757 Testbed Spotted Carrying Raptor’s New Infrared Sensor Pod

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Jun 11, 2026

Standoff Jamming (SOJ) platforms are high-value assets that suppress adversary air defence radars, disrupt command and control cycles, and interfere with communications by conducting deception and noise jamming from long ranges without entering hostile airspace. By doing so, they create corridors through which friendly air forces can penetrate enemy airspace. The effective employment of these platforms has become an undeniable reality of modern warfare, acting as a force multiplier and generating powerful asymmetric effects.
Airborne Sensors

Turkey’s Secretive Electronic Warfare Jet Appears In New Imagery

By Thomas Newdick, Tyler Rogoway

Posted on Jun 1, 2026

U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) is moving to demonstrate a new, fully integrated extended-range strike capability for the AC-130J Ghostrider gunship.
Airborne Radar

AC-130J Gunship With Mini Cruise Missiles Paired With AESA Radar To Undergo Tests

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on May 19, 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”

By Joseph Trevithick, Howard Altman

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.
Airborne Radar

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

By Thomas Newdick, Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Apr 1, 2026

SAAB 340 AEW&C spotted over Ukraine.
Airborne Radar

Ukraine’s Saab 340 Airborne Early Warning Radar Plane Spotted Operating Over The Country

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Mar 20, 2026

Top Aces F-16s have gotten a major series of upgrades.
Infrared Search And Track

Private F-16 Aggressors Just Brought A Huge Upgrade To The Fight

By James Deboer

Posted on Feb 19, 2026

The F-35 Joint Program Office has declined to confirm or deny a report that Joint Strike Fighters are being delivered to the U.S. military without radars due to chronic issues with a key upgrade program.
Airborne Radar

Are F-35s Being Delivered To The USAF Without Radars? (Updated)

By Joseph Trevithick, Tyler Rogoway

Posted on Feb 11, 2026

Global Eye AEW for Canada.
Airborne Sensors

Canadian NORAD Commander Explains Urgent Need For Better Sensing

By Howard Altman

Posted on Jan 8, 2026

B-52 receives its first AESA radar
Airborne Radar

This Is What The B-52’s New Radar Looks Like

By Tyler Rogoway

Posted on Dec 11, 2025

The best images we’ve seen so far of the German Luftwaffe’s PEGASUS signals intelligence (SIGINT) aircraft reveal key details of the airframe adaptations made to the Bombardier Global 6000 bizjet platform it’s based on. The photos were shared with TWZ by @CorreaPhtgphy, who captured them earlier this year at Abilene, Texas.
Airborne Sensors

Our Best Look At Germany’s New PEGASUS Surveillance Jet

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Nov 7, 2025

Lockheed Martin has received a new full-rate production contract, valued at $233 million, for Block II IRST21 infrared search and track sensors to go into pods for U.S. Navy and U.S. Air National Guard fighters.
Infrared Search And Track

Troubled Infrared Pod For Navy Super Hornets Gets New Vote Of Confidence

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Oct 20, 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

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Sep 30, 2025