Read the latest articles from The War Zone (Page 103)

US President Joe Biden delivers a speech during the US ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the World War II "D-Day" Allied landings in Normandy, at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in Colleville-sur-Mer, which overlooks Omaha Beach in northwestern France, on June 6, 2024. The D-Day ceremonies on June 6 this year mark the 80th anniversary since the launch of 'Operation Overlord', a vast military operation by Allied forces in Normandy, which turned the tide of World War II, eventually leading to the liberation of occupied France and the end of the war against Nazi Germany. (Photo by Daniel Cole / POOL / AFP)
WWII

Biden Draws Parallels Between Ukraine’s Fight And World War II In D-Day Anniversary Address

As the 80th anniversary of D-Day is commemorated in France, Biden promised continued U.S. and NATO support for Ukraine.

France has formally announced plans to transfer Mirage 2000-5 fighters to Ukraine and to try pilots to fly them.
French Air Force

Mirage 2000 Fighters To Be Sent To Ukraine From France

Mirage 2000s are now set to be second type of Western combat jet to enter Ukrainian service after the F-16.

A USN EA-18G took out an Mi-24 with an AARGM.
Mi-24

EA-18G Growler Killed A Houthi Mi-24 Hind With An AGM-88E Anti-Radiation Missile

The Navy has confirmed our suspicions that an EA-18G Growler used an AGM-88E Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile to destroy an Mi-24 Hind.

Soviet-era An-22 landing
Il-76

Russia’s An-22, The Biggest Turboprop Plane Ever Flown, Heads For Retirement

Russia has long operated a handful of the Soviet-era turboprop transports, but has finally signaled that it now plans to withdraw them.

The Oregon Air National Guard has received its first F-15EX Eagle II fighter, marking the first delivery of one of these jets to an operational unit.
F-15

The F-15EX Eagle II Has Arrived In Portland

Oregon's 142nd Wing is the first operational unit to get the F-15EX and is set to receive the second of 18 jets within weeks.

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) today officially unveiled an air-launched version of its LORA (Long Range Artillery), a short-range ballistic missile originally developed for ground launch. The new weapon joins an expanding armory of ballistic missile designs adapted for air launch, including the Israel Military Industries (IMI) Rampage, also based on a long-range artillery munition.
Air-Launched Ballistic Missiles

Air LORA, Israel’s Biggest Air-Launched Ballistic Missile, Emerges From The Shadows

The Long Range Artillery (LORA) munition is the latest short-range ballistic missile to have been adapted by Israel as an air-launched weapon.

ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA - JUNE 05: (----EDITORIAL USE ONLY - MANDATORY CREDIT - ' KREMLIN PRESS OFFICE / HANDOUT' - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS----) Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with the representatives of the management of global news agencies as part of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), at Lahta Center on June 05, 2024 in St.Petersburg, Russia. During the meeting on Wednesday, Putin called Israeli actions in the Gaza Strip 'the total destruction of the civilian population.' (Photo by Kremlin Press Office/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Germany

Putin Threatens To Supply Weapons To “Regions” For Retaliatory Strikes On Western Targets

The idea of giving weapons to forces that are hostile to countries that allow Ukraine to use their weapons on Russian soil was put forward by Putin today.

The US Navy's P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol planes are one step closer to getting new self-protection pods with towed decoys and other electronic warfare capabilities.
P-8

Towed Decoy Pods Will Protect P-8 Poseidons From Radar-Guided Threats

Electronic warfare pods with 'little buddy' decoys will be key for defending the highly-valuable, but vulnerable P-8As.

Collins class submarines will not get Tomahawk land attack cruise missile capabilities.
Diesel-Electric Submarines

Australia Won’t Arm Collins Class Submarines With Tomahawks

The decision, announced today, means Australia’s undersea force won’t have a long-range strike weapon for at least a decade.

The Navy has been eying the possibility of arming its ships and submarines, as well as aircraft, with a new air-breathing hypersonic anti-ship cruise missile.
Air-launched hypersonic cruise missiles

Navy’s HALO Hypersonic Anti-Ship Missile Planned For Ships, Submarines, As Well As Jets

Arming Navy surface and subsurface fleets with hypersonic anti-ship cruise missiles would give them critical new maritime strike capabilities.

German contractor Diehl Defense has unveiled a new “remote carrier” — a long-range effector that can be launched from aircraft, as well as from land and sea platforms. The missile-like store, known as FEANIX, which stands for Future Effector — Adaptable, Networked, Intelligent, eXpendable, is being pitched as an adjunct to the pan-European Future Combat Air System (FCAS) next-generation air combat program, as well as for the in-service Eurofighter Typhoon.
Typhoon

FEANIX ‘Remote Carrier’ Aims To Be The Ultra-Adaptable Missile Of The Future

Somewhere between an expendable drone and a cruise missile, the FEANIX is planned to operate alongside crewed fighters starting from the 2030s.

The Airbus Wingman concept aircraft, which broke cover earlier this week, was formally unveiled at the ILA Berlin aerospace show today. More details have now also come to light about the program, which Airbus leadership says should provide a unit cost that’s equivalent to one third that of a modern crewed fighter.
Luftwaffe

The Airbus Wingman Stealth Drone: What We Learned In Berlin

Airbus says it wants the Wingman drone to enter service in the 2030s and to cost about a third as much as a crewed fighter aircraft.

Russia is now installing metal cope cages on Chinese-made DesertCross All Terrain Vehicles.
Russia

Russia Adds Anti-Drone ‘Cope Cages’ To All-Terrain Buggies, Motorcycles

In an effort to protect these small, highly-mobile vehicles from marauding drones, Russians have installed do-it-yourself armor.

DONETSK OBLAST, UKRAINE - MAY 1: A drone operator, a Ukrainian soldier of the 56th Motorized Brigade with the call sign "Indianets", prepares a combat FPV drone in the Bakhmut area on May 1, 2024 in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. Ukrainian drones operators of the 56th Motorized Brigade are using combat FPV drones to destroy enemy targets and conduct round-the-clock reconnaissance in the Bakhmut area. (Photo by Yevhenii Vasyliev/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
Ukraine

Competition To Supply Ukraine With FPV Drones Gets Underway

As FPV drones rapidly redefined the battlefield, Ukraine's appetite for them has exploded.

The latest iteration of Russia’s TOS series of thermobaric rocket launchers has been seen, apparently for the first time, in military service. The TOS-3 Dragon was shown during an official event in Russia’s southwest Saratov region, with its anti-drone screens pointing directly to experience from the war in Ukraine. With that in mind, it likely won’t be long before we start to see the TOS-3 being deployed in combat, especially as losses of the legacy TOS-1A continue to mount.
TOS-1

Russia’s New TOS-3 ‘Dragon’ Thermobaric Rocket Launcher Breaks Cover

Lessons from the war in Ukraine have been incorporated in the latest Russian thermobaric rocket launcher, the TOS-3 Dragon.

Congress is moving to block the Air Force from retiring or preparing to retire any U-2 spy planes in the next fiscal year.
U-2

U-2 Retirement Reprieve Emerges In Proposed Defense Spending Bill

The Pentagon moved to clear the way last year to end the U-2 program once and for all by 2026, but its replacement remains unclear.

South Korea will resume military drills near the border in the wake of Kim Jong-un's poop balloon incursion.
North Korea

South Korea To End Long Pause In Drills Near DMZ After Poop Balloon Incursions

For South Korea, the launching of about 1,000 trash- and manure-filled balloons was the final straw in a series of provocations by the North.

A USAF Boeing F-15EX flies at low level in Nevada.

How 50 Years Of Eagle Experience Has Shaped The Advanced F-15

Branded Content: Five decades of Eagle production has resulted in the newest F-15 incarnation, which is primed for manned-unmanned teaming.

ERCS doomsday satellite of the Cold War
Nuclear Ballistic Missiles

America’s Cold War Doomsday Satellite

The AN/DRC-8 Emergency Rocket Communications System was built to send the orders for Armageddon when nothing else could.

Photos have emerged showing a U.S. Navy F/A-18E/F Super Hornet carrying what appears to be an air-launched version of the RIM-174 SM-6 missile, a weapon that can counter aerial threats at long ranges, as well as ground and surface targets.
F/A-18E/F

Super Hornet Armed With SM-6 Missile Spotted Over California

F/A-18E/Fs armed with adapted SM-6 surface-to-air missiles that also possess major surface strike capabilities could be a boon for the Navy.