News & Features(Page 28)

Latest in News & Features

The Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Carney (DDG 64) visits Naval Station Norfolk following a seven-month deployment, May 10. Throughout the ship’s seven-month deployment to the U.S. 5th and 6th Fleet areas of operations, Carney successfully destroyed Houthi-launched weapons, including land attack cruise missiles, anti-ship ballistic missiles, and unmanned systems.
Red Sea

USS Carney Destroyed 65 Houthi Targets During Its Cruise

By Howard Altman

Posted on May 13, 2024

Green berets on Shemya
U.S. Homeland

American Special Operations Forces Are At A Crossroads

By Howard Altman

Posted on May 12, 2024

A black-and-white photo shows a man standing next to a surface (above ground) bomb shelter that is advertising Victor J. Nelson's sales and distribution business, circa 1951. (Jim Heimann Collection/Getty Images)
Bunker Talk

Bunker Talk: Let’s Talk About All The Things We Did And Didn’t Cover This Week

By Tyler Rogoway

Posted on May 11, 2024

Russian Artillery
Russia

Ukraine Situation Report: Russia Launches Offensive In Kharkiv Region

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on May 10, 2024

A B-2 Spirit taxis at Whiteman Air Force Base
News & Features

Damaged B-2 Won’t Be Repaired, Fleet To Shrink To 19 Jets (Updated)

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on May 10, 2024

After an extraordinary career spanning more than 80 years of service, and plenty of wartime missions, the South African Air Force (SAAF) is preparing to retire its last C-47 Dakotas. The decision is yet to be formally announced by the SAAF but looks set to confirm the fate of the service’s Dakotas, which have now been grounded for around two years.
Africa

South Africa’s C-47 Dakotas Set For Retirement After 80 Years Of Service

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on May 10, 2024

The replacement for Barrett .50 caliber riles, a well as Mk 15s in the same caliber, in U.S. special operations forces inventories may be chambered in a new smaller cartridge.
U.S. Homeland

Barrett .50 Caliber Sniper Rifle Replacement For SOCOM May Fire A Smaller Round

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on May 10, 2024

A fourth Combatant Craft Heavy stealthy special operations boat is now on order for the Navy and testing of a loitering munition launcher for the Combatant Craft Medium is underway.
News & Features

Navy’s Secretive Fleet Of Stealthy Special Operations Boats Set To Evolve

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on May 10, 2024

AEVEX Aerospace, makers of the Phoenix Ghost loitering munition, now makes sea drones.
U.S. Homeland

Mako Is A Jet Ski Turned Into A Weaponized Drone

By Howard Altman

Posted on May 9, 2024

Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), which won the contract to build the U.S. Air Force’s highly specialized Survivable Airborne Operations Center (SAOC) aircraft last month, has acquired five Boeing 747-8s from Korean Air. The likelihood is that these will be converted as the successors to the Air Force’s aging 747-200-based E-4B Nightwatch ‘doomsday planes,’ although at this stage we still don’t know how many of the new SAOC aircraft will be fielded.
South Korea

Former Korean Air 747s Slated To Become USAF Doomsday Planes (Updated)

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on May 9, 2024

The famed Little Bird helicopters used by the Army's elite 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment are seeing a 'resurrection' after the Army's cancellation of the Future Armed Reconnaissance Aircraft program, but their future is still murky.
News & Features

H-6 Little Bird’s Future Upended Due To Army Axing Armed Scout Helicopter

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on May 9, 2024

STRAIT OF SAN JUAN DE FUCA, Wash. (May 6, 2024) The Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine USS Nebraska (SSBN 739) transits the Strait of San Juan de Fuca escorted by U.S. Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft and U.S. Coast Guard screening escort vessels. Joint operations, such as this one which involved the Air Force, Coast Guard, and Navy, ensure the U.S. military is ready to meet its security commitments at home and abroad including commitments to our allies and partners. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Gwendelyn Ohrazda/Released)
China

A-10 Warthogs Escorting A Ballistic Missile Submarine Is Certainly Different

By Oliver Parken

Posted on May 9, 2024

KH-101s are now being fired at Ukraine with two warheads onboard.
Russia

Russia Now Firing Kh-101 Cruise Missiles Modified With Two Warheads At Ukraine

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on May 8, 2024

Unmanned Long-Endurance Tactical Reconnaissance Aircraft crew chiefs, assigned within the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, prep an ULTRA aircraft for taxi across the flightline before an early morning takeoff at an undisclosed location, May 7, 2024. ULTRA is an unmanned aerial system capable of flight times up to 80 hours, providing intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities to combatant commanders, with a smaller operational footprint than other UAS in its class.
UAE

Air Force’s ULTRA Long-Endurance Glider-Like Drone Is Now Operating In The Middle East

By Joseph Trevithick, Thomas Newdick

Posted on May 8, 2024

An annual special operations capability demonstration has included paragliding Marines on a mock drone hunt.
U.S. Homeland

Marine Special Operations Paragliding Capabilities Emerge At Demonstration In Tampa

By Howard Altman, Joseph Trevithick

Posted on May 8, 2024

Rogue 1 the marines' new drone.
Drones

Rogue 1 Is One Of The Marine Corps’ Newest Kamikaze Drone

By Howard Altman, Tyler Rogoway

Posted on May 8, 2024

Armed robotic dog in use by MARSOC
Drones

Rifle-Armed Robot Dogs Now Being Tested By Marine Special Operators (Updated)

By Oliver Parken, Howard Altman

Posted on May 8, 2024

US Special Operations Command says it has 'hit pause' on plans to convert an MC-130J special operations tanker/transport in a floatplane.
U.S. Homeland

C-130 Floatplane Program Put ‘On Pause’ By Special Operations Command

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on May 8, 2024

Ukraine Situation Report: Half Of North Korean Missiles Used By Russia Failed, Kyiv Says
North Korea

Ukraine Situation Report: Half Of North Korean Missiles Used By Russia Failed, Kyiv Says

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on May 7, 2024

161013-N-OI810-093 WATERS SURROUNDING THE KOREAN PENINSULA (Oct. 13, 2016) Petty Officer 1st Class (AW/SW) John Diwa, from Dededo, Guam, installs inboard and outboard bearings on a main tire mount of an F/A-18F Super Hornet, assigned to the "Diamondbacks" of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 102, in the hangar bay of the Navy's only forward-deployed aircraft carrier, USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), during Exercise Invincible Spirit. Invincible Spirit is a bilateral exercise conducted with the Republic of Korea Navy in the waters near the Korean Peninsula, consisting of routine carrier strike group (CSG) operations in support of maritime counter-special operating forces and integrated maritime operations. USS Ronald Reagan is on patrol with CSG 5 supporting security and stability in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class (SW/AW) Nathan Burke/Released)
Procurement

Navy Pays $100K To Replace Each F/A-18 Tire, 3D Printed Repairs Cuts Cost To $300

By Eric Tegler

Posted on May 7, 2024

The Air Force new 5,000-pound-class GBU-72/B bunker buster bomb could be a future addition to the B-2 bomber's arsenal.
News & Features

B-2 Spirits Could Get New 5,000-Pound Bunker Busters

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on May 7, 2024

USMC is wanting to incorporate drones across its forces.
Artificial Intelligence

‘Robot Marines’ In Every Formation: Corps’ Robotics Chief Casts Vision

By Hope Hodge Seck

Posted on May 7, 2024

Iskander M Ukraine running low
Russia

Putin Orders Tactical Nuclear Drills In Response To Western “Threats”

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on May 7, 2024

A US Air Force F-22 stealth fighter has suffered a mishap at an airport in Georgia today, May 6, 2024.
U.S. Homeland

F-22 Raptor Ends Up On Its Side During Air Guard Exercise (Updated)

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on May 6, 2024

Russian 'turtle tank' seen operating with additional cage armor and an attached mine roller
Russia

New Russian Turtle Tank With Cage-Like Armor Emerges On Ukrainian Battlefield

By Oliver Parken

Posted on May 6, 2024

Switchblade 600 Kamikaze Drone Is The First Named Replicator Program Weapon
U.S. Homeland

Switchblade 600 Kamikaze Drone Is The First Named Replicator Program Weapon

By Howard Altman

Posted on May 6, 2024

In a most unusual development in the Black Sea ‘drone war,’ Ukraine appears to have begun arming uncrewed surface vessels (USVs), better known as drone boats, with heat-seeking air-to-air missiles. The adaptation seems to have been made to provide the USVs with protection against the Russian helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft that are increasingly being used to counter them, although many questions remain about how these newly added weapons are intended work.
Russia

Ukrainian Drone Boats Now Armed With Adapted Air-To-Air Missiles

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on May 6, 2024

We now have what looks to be the first look at the Army's uncrewed derivative of its High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, and of it firing a practice round.
News & Features

Our First Look At The Army’s Unmanned HIMARS Launcher Truck Firing

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on May 6, 2024

British telephonists on duty in a bomb-proof shelter on the southwest coast of Britain, in readiness to go into action with their artillery company against invading German soldiers. (Photo by Bettmann Archive/Getty Images)
Bunker Talk

Bunker Talk: Let’s Talk About All The Things We Did And Didn’t Cover This Week

By Tyler Rogoway

Posted on May 4, 2024

JDAM-ER Winged Bombs With Seekers That Home In On GPS Jammers Headed To Ukraine
Ukraine

JDAM-ER Winged Bombs With Seekers That Home In On GPS Jammers Headed To Ukraine

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on May 4, 2024

Satellites in space
Russia

Russia’s Anti-Satellite Nuke Could Leave Lower Orbit Unusable, Test Vehicle May Already Be Deployed

By Oliver Parken, Joseph Trevithick

Posted on May 3, 2024

Boeing Pitches F-15EX For Saudi Arabian Fighter Competition
Saudi Arabia

Boeing Pitches F-15EX For Saudi Arabian Fighter Competition

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on May 3, 2024

Ukraine will be allowed to use U.K.-donated Storm Shadow air-launched cruise missiles in Russia, according to the Guardian.
Russia

Ukraine Situation Report: U.K. Says Its Donated Weapons Can Be Used To Hit Targets In Russia

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on May 3, 2024

We now have a look at the Marine Corps' new uncrewed Tomahawk launch vehicle actually firing a missile.
News & Features

Our First Look At Marines’ Tomahawk Missile Launching Drone Truck Firing

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on May 3, 2024

The Marine Corps is now flight testing a new secretive stand-off missile for its AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters.
News & Features

Secretive Long Range Attack Missile For Marine AH-1s Is Now Being Flight Tested

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on May 3, 2024

The Navy needs more SM-3 surface to air missiles says Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro.
Iran

More SM-3 Interceptors Needed After Downing Iranian Ballistic Missiles: Navy Secretary

By Howard Altman

Posted on May 3, 2024

LHA-9
U.S. Homeland

Navy Names Next Amphibious Assault Ship USS Helmand Province

By Howard Altman

Posted on May 2, 2024

Israeli forces are shooting down large numbers of their own drones in friendly fire incidents, underscoring challenges the U.S. military will also have to contend with as uncrewed aerial systems become an ever more ubiquitous component of operations.
Israel

Israel Is Shooting Down A Lot Of Its Own Drones

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on May 2, 2024

The Marines' ACV is getting a big 30mm cannon.
Procurement

Marines Poised To Get Their 30mm Cannon-Armed Amphibious Combat Vehicle

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on May 2, 2024

The future of the Harvest Hawk armament kits for Marine Corps KC-130J tanker/transport aircraft are increasingly uncertain as focus shifts to planning for future high-end conflicts.
News & Features

Marine KC-130Js May Lose Their Missile-Firing Harvest Hawk Kits

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on May 1, 2024

Testing of DARPA's Manta Ray UUV
U.S. Homeland

Manta Ray Underwater Drone Even More Enormous Than We Thought

By Oliver Parken

Posted on May 1, 2024

ATACMS cluster munitions struck a Russian training ground in Luhansk Oblast about 50 miles from Ukrainian lines.
Russia

ATACMS Volley Strikes Mass Of Russian Troops Training In Eastern Ukraine

By Howard Altman

Posted on May 1, 2024

Footage has been published, apparently for the first time, showing a Chinese H-6 bomber dropping one of the shadowy air-launched ballistic missiles known by the designation 2PZD-21. The missile is part of a growing armory of Chinese aero-ballistic missiles and is widely understood to be a ‘carrier-killer’ weapon designed to be used as part of the country’s anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy. However, many questions remain about the role of the weapon and its capabilities.
China

China’s H-6K Bomber Seen Firing Air-Launched Ballistic Missile For First Time

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on May 1, 2024

The Army has unveiled a new Bradley Fighting Vehicle variant, the M2A4E1, equipped with an Iron First active protection system and other upgrades.
U.S. Homeland

This Is The Army’s New M2A4E1 Bradley That Features Iron Fist Protection

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on May 1, 2024

A 49th Wing F-16 Viper takes off Jan. 19, 2022, at Holloman Air Force Base, N.M. Holloman is the Air Force’s premiere training base for F-16 Viper and MQ-9 Reaper aircrew. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Adrian Salazar)
U.S. Homeland

F-16 Crashes Near Holloman Air Force Base In New Mexico (Updated)

By Oliver Parken

Posted on Apr 30, 2024

US Marine Corps units are set to begin receiving new Iron Dome and counter-drone systems next year as part of a larger air and missile defense push.
News & Features

Marines To More Than Triple Size Of Air Defense Forces By 2029

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Apr 30, 2024

Israel is mothballing its Patriot air defense systems, will Ukraine get them?
Israel

Could Ukraine Get Israel’s Mothballed Patriot Air Defense Batteries?

By Howard Altman

Posted on Apr 30, 2024

The Kaman Corporation has announced the first flight of its KARGO UAV, a rotary-wing drone intended for autonomous, expeditionary resupply. The design is aimed for the U.S. Marine Corps, for which Kaman previously developed the K-MAX unmanned helicopter. The KARGO UAV is now competing in the Marines’ Medium Autonomous Resupply Vehicle — Expeditionary Logistics (MARV-EL) program, with a winner due to be selected this summer.
Drones

Kaman’s Kargo Logistics Drone For The Marines Now In Flight Test

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Apr 30, 2024

F-35 has gotten its name from Poland.
Eastern Europe

Poland’s Future F-35s Have Been Officially Named “Husarz”

By Oliver Parken

Updated on Apr 30, 2024

Ukraine is losing ground as it awaits for badly needed ammunition.
Russia

Ukraine Situation Report: Frontline Defenses Deteriorating Under Russian Pressure

By Howard Altman, Thomas Newdick

Posted on Apr 29, 2024

Yak52 engages orlan drone
Russia

Ukraine May Now Be Using WWI-Style Air Combat Tactics Against Drones

By Thomas Newdick, Howard Altman

Posted on Apr 29, 2024

SAOC will replace the E-4B, now we have a better idea of what it will look like.
U.S. Homeland

E-4B Doomsday Plane Replacement Concept Art Has Some Interesting Features

By Tyler Rogoway

Posted on Apr 29, 2024

China’s latest aircraft carrier, the Fujian, appears poised to leave port to begin its first at-sea trials. The development comes soon after five aircraft mockups appeared on the deck of the flattop, as you can read about here. Once the Fujian goes to sea, it will mark a hugely important step in the development of China’s naval aviation, with the carrier being the first of its kind to be fully locally designed and also its first to launch aircraft via catapults rather than by a ‘ski jump’ takeoff ramp.
China

China’s New Aircraft Carrier Pulls Away From Its Pier Ahead Of Sea Trials

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Apr 29, 2024

SNC has won the competition to deliver new Survivable Airborne Operations Center (SAOC) 'doomsday planes' to succeed the Air Force's E-4B Nightwatch jets.
U.S. Homeland

Job Of Building The Air Force’s Next Doomsday Planes Falls To Sierra Nevada Corp. (Updated)

By Joseph Trevithick

Updated on Apr 28, 2024

American chemist and Nobel laureate Dr Willard Libby (1908 - 1980) in the fallout shelter he built himself near his home in California, USA, circa 1960. The shelter, intended to withstand a nuclear blast, burnt down in the Bel Air Fire of November 1961. Libby was on the General Advisory Committee of the Atomic Energy Commission. (Photo by/Pix/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
Bunker Talk

Bunker Talk: Let’s Talk About All The Things We Did And Didn’t Cover This Week

By Tyler Rogoway

Posted on Apr 27, 2024

M1 Abrams Ukraine
Russia

Ukraine Situation Report: M1 Abrams Tanks Withdrawn From The Fight, Officials Say

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Apr 26, 2024

General Atomics has now confirmed that its Collaborative Combat Aircraft drone design for the US Air Force is based on its XQ-67A.
U.S. Homeland

XQ-67 Confirmed To Be A Prototype For General Atomics’ Collaborative Combat Aircraft Design

By Joseph Trevithick

Updated on Apr 26, 2024

Ukraine appears to have converted a light aircraft to serve as a remote bomber.
Ukraine

Ukraine Appears To Be Using Light Planes Converted Into Reusable Bomber Drones

By Howard Altman

Posted on Apr 26, 2024

Despite an attack near the location where the U.S. is building a pier to pour aid into Gaza, the Pentagon is satisfied with security plans.
Israel

Despite Mortar Attack, U.S. Is Satisfied With Gaza Beachhead Security

By Howard Altman

Posted on Apr 26, 2024

A US Marine Corps CH-53K recently carried the stripped-down hulk of an F-35C fighter from one base to another and refueled in mid-air along the way.
U.S. Homeland

Check Out This Marine CH-53K Carrying An F-35C While Refueling From A KC-130T

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Apr 26, 2024

The Ukrainian Air Force is using iPads, or similar tablets in the cockpits of its Soviet-era jets to enable rapid integration of modern Western air-to-ground weapons — something that TWZ predicted back in 2022. This has been confirmed by Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Dr. William LaPlante. While many questions remain about the tablet and how it works, there’s now more footage showing it fitted in cockpits.
Ukraine

Ukrainian Fighter Jets “Using iPads” To Control Western Weapons

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Apr 25, 2024

A senior U.S. official has strongly implied that Ground Launched Small Diameter Bombs sent to Ukraine have performed so poorly for a variety of reasons that they have been removed from service.
Russia

Have Ground Launched Small Diameter Bombs Been ‘Thrown Aside’ By Ukraine?

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Apr 25, 2024

Growing Hi-power in Canada
WWII

Canadian Military’s WWII-Era Browning Hi-Power Pistols Are Finally Being Replaced

By Oliver Parken

Posted on Apr 25, 2024

For the first time, the Russians have captured a U.S-donated M1150 Assault Breacher Vehicle, which is a variant of the M1 Abrams tank.
Russia

First Confirmed Abrams Tank Variant Captured By Russia Seen With Inner Armor Exposed

By Howard Altman

Posted on Apr 25, 2024