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Fighters (Page 8)

Latest in Fighters

After almost 45 years of service, including multiple combat deployments, the F-16 was formally retired today by the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF). At the same time, the service announced that the F-35A had attained full operational capability, with the stealth fighter now responsible for the full spectrum of missions previously handled by the Viper, including nuclear strike.
F-35A

The Last Viper Commander: Dutch Squadron Boss On Today’s Retirement Of The F-16

By Thomas Newdick

Updated on Sep 27, 2024

Top Aces F-16
F-16

World’s Only Private Company With F-16 Aggressors Talks Rapidly Evolving Their Capabilities

By Tyler Rogoway

Posted on Sep 25, 2024

Canadian authorities have released an image of an unidentified object that was shot down over the country's Yukon Territory by a U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor stealth fighter in February 2023.
F-22

First Look At Mystery Object Shot Down Over Canada By F-22 Raptor Last Year

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Sep 25, 2024

An F-35 Lightning II test pilot conducts flight test Sept. 10 to certify the carrier variant of the fighter aircraft for carrying the AGM-158C Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM). As part of ongoing integration efforts, the Pax River F-35 Integrated Test Force (Pax ITF) team flew two days of test flights to evaluate flutter, loads, and flying qualities with two AGM-158 loaded on external stations. LRASM is a defined near-term solution for the Offensive Anti-Surface Warfare (OASuW) air-launch capability gap that will provide flexible, long-range, advanced, anti-surface capability against high-threat maritime targets. The Pax River ITF’s mission is to effectively plan, coordinate, and conduct safe, secure, and efficient flight test for F-35B and C variants, and provide necessary and timely data to support program verification / certification and fleet operational requirements.
F-35B

F-35 Shown Carrying Stealthy Long-Range Anti-Ship Missiles For The First Time

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Sep 24, 2024

NGAD Lite
NGAD

What Would A Far Cheaper Next Generation Air Dominance Fighter Actually Look Like?

By Tyler Rogoway

Posted on Sep 24, 2024

Plans to slash F-16 aggressors at Nellis Air Force Base highlight broader questions about the future of the Air Force Viper fleets.
F-16

Aggressor F-16 Fleet Set To Be Slashed By Air Force

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Sep 23, 2024

JSOW Ukraine
F-16

AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon To Equip Ukraine’s F-16s: Report

By Howard Altman

Posted on Sep 21, 2024

Collins Aerospace has put forward a vision for what a high-end air combat engagement between the U.S. and Chinese armed forces, with the American side employing crewed fighters and Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) drone wingmen, could look like in the future.
F/A-18E/F

What American Fighters And Their Drone Wingmen Fighting Chinese Jets Might Look Like

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Sep 20, 2024

Future offensive electronic warfare
F/A-18

How EA-18G Growler’s Next Generation Jammer Actually Works And The Future Of Offensive Electronic Warfare

By Howard Altman

Updated on Sep 20, 2024

The U.S. Air Force's still evolving requirements for a next-generation aerial refueling 'system of systems' will directly impact the service's reassessment of plans for a new sixth-generation stealth 'fighter.' The Next-Generation Air-Refueling System (NGAS) effort will also inform work on a second tranche of Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) drones.
NGAD

Future Stealth Tanker Plans Tied To NGAD 6th Generation Fighter’s Fate

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Sep 16, 2024

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense has published a video showing the purported destruction of a Russian Su-30SM Flanker multirole fighter, which it claims was brought down by a shoulder-launched surface-to-air missile over the Black Sea.
Su-30

Russian Su-30SM Flanker Crashes In Black Sea, Ukraine Says They Shot It Down With MANPADS

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Sep 12, 2024

The U.S. Marine Corps legacy F/A-18C/D Hornets are getting a major boost in stand-off strike capability in the form of AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) cruise missiles
F/A-18A-D

Marine Legacy F/A-18 Hornets Getting Major Firepower Boost With JASSM Cruise Missiles

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Sep 12, 2024

A series of photos have emerged showing a U.S. Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet with a remarkable and hitherto unseen air-to-air load-out, including four of the very long-range AIM-174B air-to-air missiles.
F/A-18E/F

F/A-18 Super Hornet Appears With Unprecedented Heavy Air-To-Air Missile Load

By Thomas Newdick, Tyler Rogoway

Posted on Sep 11, 2024

We have just gotten our clearest view so far of a Chinese J-20 stealth fighter powered by the definitive WS-15 domestically produced engines. While the appearance of the photo at this point raises a number of questions, it’s meanwhile clear that the significant shortcoming of the J-20 — its powerplant — appears to have now been addressed.
J-20

Our Best Look Yet At China’s J-20A Fighter With WS-15 Engines 

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Sep 9, 2024

JAS39C Gripen Ukraine
Gripen

Sweden’s JAS-39 Gripen Fighters Still On The Table For Ukraine

By Howard Altman

Posted on Sep 9, 2024

F-16 belonging to VFC-13, flying over Carson Valley, NV.
F-16

Navy Tried To Buy Greek F-16s To Turn Them Into Adversaries

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Sep 6, 2024

A video has emerged showing a Ukrainian Su-24M Fencer swing-wing combat jet carrying what is said to be new air-launched guided munition.
MiG-29

Mystery Munition Appears Under Ukrainian Su-24 Fencer Attack Jet’s Wing

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Sep 6, 2024

Adversary air company Top Aces' F-16 Vips, the only ones currently in the hands of a private operator, are now flying with podded infrared search and track (IRST) systems.
F-16

World’s Only Privately Owned F-16 Aggressors Get Infrared Search And Track Pods

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Sep 5, 2024

The U.S. Air Force is re-examining the very core of its requirements for a new sixth-generation stealth combat jet as part of its ongoing review of that element of the larger Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) initiative.
NGAD

Air Force “Starting At The Beginning” With NGAD 6th Gen Fighter Requirements Review

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Sep 4, 2024

Above All Else JASSM Would Give Ukraine A Steady Supply Of Cruise Missiles
F-16

Above All Else JASSM Would Give Ukraine A Steady Supply Of Cruise Missiles

By Tyler Rogoway

Posted on Sep 3, 2024

The U.S. Air Force recently awarded contracts to two companies for work on SHARK 'buddy store' podded aerial refueling systems able to work with aircraft that use the boom method to get gas in flight.
F-15

Aerial Refueling Boom Pods That Could Go On F-15s In The Works

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Sep 3, 2024

Ukraine is advancing slowly eastward to a key town in Russia's Kursk Oblast
F-16

Ukraine Pushing Slowly West In Russia Towards Key Kursk City

By Howard Altman

Posted on Aug 31, 2024

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky fired his Air Force commander days after a fatal F-16 crash.
MiG-29

Zelensky Fires Air Force Commander As Claims Swirl Around Fatal F-16 Loss

By Howard Altman

Posted on Aug 30, 2024

Ukraine lost its third F-16 Viper, however the pilot survived.
F-16

Ukrainian Pilot Killed In First F-16 Loss

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Aug 29, 2024

Poland’s first F-35A stealth fighter — locally named Husarz, or hussar — was officially rolled out today in a glitzy ceremony at Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth, Texas plant.
F-35A

Poland’s First F-35A “Hussar” Stealth Fighter Rolled Out

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Aug 28, 2024

Thailand looks to have provided the Saab Gripen E/F program with a major vote of confidence, with reports that its air force has selected the Swedish-made jet as its next fighter. While the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) already operates earlier Gripen C/D aircraft, the Gripen E/F brings with it significant advances in capability, the extent of which make it almost an entirely new aircraft compared to its predecessor.
F-16

Thailand Chooses Gripen E/F As Its New Fighter

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Aug 27, 2024

Not for the first time, the commitment of the United Kingdom to the F-35B Lightning stealth fighter is under scrutiny, amid reports that the new government could make cuts to it as it grapples with financial woes. With the British government seemingly committed to the next-generation Tempest fighter, the ability to pay for two separate advanced combat aircraft programs is being questioned, while continued problems integrating new weapons on the F-35B also pose a threat to its long-term security.
F-35B

United Kingdom’s F-35B Fleet Plans Under Threat As Defense Cuts Loom

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Aug 27, 2024

Before the Ukrainian Air Force received its first batch of F-16 Viper fighters, the U.S. Air Force helped optimize electronic warfare (EW) systems on those jets against Russian threats.
F-16

Electronic Warfare Systems On Ukraine’s F-16s Getting Specially Tuned To Russian Threats By USAF

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Aug 27, 2024

KC-46 and F-15E had an incident resulting in the loss of the tanker's boom
F-15

Audio Reveals Details Of KC-46 And F-15E Refueling Incident That Broke The Tanker’s Boom Off

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Aug 23, 2024

A Czech company has unveiled an inflatable decoy of the F-16 fighter, notably wearing Ukrainian Air Force markings. The inflatable fighter, from a firm that is already known to be providing Kyiv with decoys of other items of military equipment, appears only a matter of weeks after it was confirmed that the first real F-16s had arrived in Ukraine.
F-16

Inflatable Ukrainian F-16 Decoy Emerges At Defense Show

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Aug 22, 2024

A notional light fighter concept has been presented by the U.S. Air Force’s senior uniformed officer, providing a thought-provoking insight on one direction that the service’s future combat fleet could take. The concept emerges as Air Force officials are increasingly questioning the requirements for the crewed sixth-generation stealth combat jet being developed as part of its Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) initiative.
NGAD

Air Force Floats Light Stealth Fighter Concept As Its Heavy Fighter Program May Be In Jeopardy

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Aug 20, 2024

An F-16 Fighting Falcon piloted by Lt. Col. Mike May from the 85th Test and Evaluation squadron sits on the ramp at Eglin Air Force Base on October 2, 2019 with a JASSM-ER. The 85th TES released the extended range missile as part of an operational test sortie.
F-16

JASSM Stealth Cruise Missiles Now On The Table For Ukraine: Report

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Aug 15, 2024

The Ukrainian Air Force has released a video offering the best look to date of one of the country's MiG-29 Fulcrum fighters employing French-made AASM-250 Hammer precision-guided bombs.
MiG-29

Best Look Yet At Ukrainian MiG-29 Releasing Hammer Rocket-Assisted Bombs

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Aug 15, 2024

Air National Guard F-16 Viper fighters pretending to be enemy cruise missiles together with tiny JSX-2 microjets mimicking cruise missiles and drones replicated complex threat scenarios during a recent large-scale exercise.
F-16

F-16s Team With JSX-2 Microjets To Replicate Complex Cruise Missile And Drone Attacks

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Aug 14, 2024

F-15IA sale approved by state department.
F-15

Israel Officially Cleared To Buy 50 New F-15IAs, Upgrade 25 F-15Is

By Tyler Rogoway

Posted on Aug 13, 2024

US Navy F/A-18E Super Hornets brandishing full loads of nine air-to-air missiles have touched down at a base in Jordan ahead of expected Iranian attacks against Israel.
F/A-18E/F

F/A-18E Super Hornets Fully Loaded With Air-To-Air Missiles Arrive In Jordan

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Aug 9, 2024

Ukraine's F-16s arrived with self protection pods
F-16

F-16s Delivered To Ukraine With Advanced Countermeasure Pods For Self-Protection

By Tyler Rogoway

Posted on Aug 8, 2024

France will have sent Ukraine 600 Hammer bombs by the end of the year.
MiG-29

Ukrainian MiG-29’s Special Pylon For Hammer Rocket-Boosted Bombs Emerges

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Aug 8, 2024

Photos have emerged showing the extent of the destruction at Morozovsk Air Base, in Russia’s Rostov region, after it was struck by Ukrainian forces at the weekend.
Su-34

Aftermath Of Ukrainian Attack On Russian Su-34 Fullback Base Emerges (Updated)

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Aug 6, 2024

The U.S. Navy supercarrier USS Abraham Lincoln is heading toward the Middle East with an air wing that includes EA-18G Growlers equipped with new AN/ALQ-249(V)1 Next Generation Jammer-Mid Band (NGJ-MB) electronic warfare pods.
EA-18G

EA-18G Growlers With New Jamming Pods Onboard Carrier Heading To Middle East

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Aug 6, 2024

A remarkable video has emerged, taken by a Russian fighter pilot after ejecting from his Flanker series jet, during the conflict in Ukraine. The footage joins a growing collection of air combat incidents captured on camera, by pilots on both sides involved in the war. Although it’s unclear exactly when or where the incident took place, it’s another reminder of the high-intensity air campaign being fought in and around Ukraine and the frequent life-or-death situations that the pilots involved face on a daily basis.
Flankers

Russian Pilot Films His Flanker Falling Away After Ejecting During Combat Mission

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Aug 5, 2024

F-16s for Ukraine arrive with weapons
F-16

F-16 Officially In Ukrainian Service, Self Protection Pods Included

By Tyler Rogoway

Posted on Aug 4, 2024

More NATO members are now 'read into' top-secret Special Access Programs (SAP) related to the Joint Strike Fighter as part of a broader push to improve information sharing and interoperability.
F-35

More Top Secret F-35 Stealth Fighter Data Given To NATO Members

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Aug 2, 2024

Ukraine F-16s
F-16

F-16s Arrive In Ukraine: Report

By Thomas Newdick

Updated on Aug 1, 2024

Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall has shed some more light on the status of the new sixth-generation stealth combat jet under development as part of the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program. “We’re taking a pause,” Kendall said this morning, before reiterating that while fighter at the heart of the wider NGAD initiative will have a human pilot to start with, an optionally crewed version might be developed too.
NGAD

Air Force Secretary ‘Absolutely Confident’ 6th Gen Crewed Fighter Will Move Forward (Updated)

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Jul 30, 2024

Ukrainians F-16s will immediately be able to get more out of stocks Western munitions that have already been deliverd, as well as other benefits.
F-16

F-16s Will Let Ukraine Get More Out Of Western Munitions: USAF’s Top Officer In Europe

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Jul 30, 2024

Three German Eurofighter EF2000s have completed a record-breaking endurance flight for the multirole fighter. Remaining in the air for a total of 10 hours 31 minutes, the trio of combat aircraft flew from Japan to Hawaii today, supported by aerial refueling tankers that included KC-135 Stratotankers operated by private aerospace firm Metrea, a contractor-owned and operated aerial refueling business that recently acquired of 14 KC-135s from the French Air and Space Force.
Typhoon

German Eurofighters Make Record-Breaking Flight With Help From Private Aerial Refueling Company

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Jul 27, 2024

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.
MiG-29

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

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Jul 26, 2024

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.
F-16

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

By Joseph Trevithick, Tyler Rogoway

Posted on Jul 26, 2024

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.
F-35A

Greece Buying F-35s Widens Qualitative Gap With Turkey

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Jul 26, 2024

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

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

By Major Joshua "Soup" Campbell

Posted on Jul 25, 2024

The United Kingdom is advancing the build of a new fighter demonstrator as part of its Tempest next-generation air combat program. The demonstrator, so far only known as the Flying Technology Demonstrator, is planned to fly within the next three years and its progress in an important boost for the Tempest stealth fighter — and wider Future Combat Air System (FCAS) — program, the future of which has recently begun to be questioned in some quarters.
Typhoon

Tempest Stealth Fighter Flying Demonstrator Takes Shape

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Jul 24, 2024

The ballooning cost of the US Air Force's Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile program is one of the drivers behind uncertainly over the future of its sixth-generation combat jet effort, which could evolve into a fully uncrewed platform.
NGAD

Next Generation Air Dominance Fighter Uncertainty Tied To Sentinel ICBM Woes

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Jul 24, 2024

General Atomics has told TWZ that it’s looking at adapting its ship-based Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System and Advanced Arresting Gear, EMALS and AAG, respectively, for use from land bases. While the company first developed EMALS and AAG for the U.S. Navy’s Ford class aircraft carriers, the growing interest in expeditionary campaigns ashore is driving new thinking about how to operate aircraft without access to large traditional runways.
F-35

Ford Class Carrier’s EMALS Catapults, AAG Arrester Gear Eyed For Land Bases

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Jul 23, 2024

A look at an AIM-174 air-launched version of the SM-6 missile with previously unseen markings under the wing of a Super Hornet aboard the USS Carl Vinson has emerged.
F/A-18E/F

AIM-174 Missile Seen On Super Hornet About To Launch From A Carrier For First Time

By Tyler Rogoway, Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Jul 23, 2024

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.
Fighters

Latest Tempest Fighter Concept Prioritizes Range, Payload

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Jul 22, 2024

Yemen Port Strike by Israeli Air Force
F-15

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

By Tyler Rogoway

Posted on Jul 21, 2024

An active expendable decoy, or AED capability has been tested and integrated on U.S. F-35 stealth fighters, resulting in a decision to field this operationally. The move apparently involves the British-made Leonardo BriteCloud, a small active-radar decoy that we have discussed at length in the past and which promises to enhance the F-35’s ability to defeat various types of air defense system threats.
F-35

F-35s Set To Get Missile-Luring Expendable Active Decoys

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Jul 18, 2024

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

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

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Jul 17, 2024

U.S. Navy F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet blasted an Iranian ship running the blockade.(
F/A-18E/F

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

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Jul 17, 2024

The definitive audit of all the weapons dropped by Doug Masters in his F-16 in Iron Eagle.
F-16

Iron Eagle: The Definitive Audit Of How Many Weapons Doug Masters Launched From His F-16

By Tyler Rogoway

Posted on Jul 17, 2024

New questions have emerged about the future of the F/A-XX Next Generation Fighter program, the budget for which a draft Senate defense bill would slash.
F-22

Navy’s F/A-XX Next Generation Fighter Program Would Be Gutted Under Senate Defense Bill

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Jul 16, 2024

Italy has announced plans to equip the F-35B stealth fighters operated by its naval air arm with the Kongsberg Joint Strike Missile (JSM), among other weapons. Details of the armament for the Italian Navy’s short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) F-35Bs comes as the aircraft take part for the first time in the large-scale Pitch Black drills in Australia, aboard the aircraft carrier Cavour.
F-35B

Italy’s Carrier-Capable F-35B Stealth Fighters To Get New Advanced Weapons

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Jul 16, 2024

An EA-18G Growler scored the types first ever air-to-air kill during a recently concluded deployment.
EA-18G

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

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Jul 16, 2024