Read the latest articles from The War Zone (Page 49)

A senior Navy aviation officer says the three-month-long grounding of virtually all Osprey tiltrotors worldwide following the fatal crash of a U.S. Air Force CV-22B off the coast of Japan in 2023 sent serious ripples through his service.
C-2

CMV-22 Grounding Was “Wakeup Call” For Navy, Stakes Higher With C-2 Gone Next Year

The Navy says it is confident in the CMV-22B to provide critical support to carriers at sea, but that its readiness and reliability need to be improved.

Shield AI V-BAT
Drones

MQ-35 V-BAT’s Capabilities Grow, Micro Guided Munitions Coming Next Year

The combat-proven V-BAT can take off and land virtually anywhere and does the job of larger aircraft. Now it's getting a slew of major enhancements.

200925-N-PL200-0001 PHILIPPINE SEA (Sept. 25, 2020) From left, USNS Sacagawea (T-AKE 2), USS Germantown (LSD 42), USNS John Ericsson (T-AO 194), USS Antietam (CG 54), USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), USS America (LHA 6), USS Shiloh (CG 67), USS New Orleans (LPD 18), and USS Comstock (LSD 45) steam in formation while E/A-18G Growlers, FA-18E Super Hornets and an E-2D Hawkeye from Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5 fly over in support of Valiant Shield 2020. Valiant Shield is a U.S. only, biennial field training exercise (FTX) with a focus on integration of joint training in a blue-water environment among U.S. forces. This training enables real-world proficiency in sustaining joint forces through detecting, locating, tracking and engaging units at sea, in the air, on land and in cyberspace in response to a range of mission areas. (U.S. Navy photo by Lt. Lauren Chatmas)
U.S. Navy

Navy Is About To Go Big On Massive Joint War Training Across The Pacific

Huge exercises will stress test U.S. armed forces and they will also reveal what requirements are most pressing to make such a massive joint fight a reality.

Ongoing work on the U.S. Army's Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) tiltrotor is helping the U.S. Navy refine its next-generation Future Vertical Lift-Maritime Strike (FVL-MS) plans.
MV-22

Navy MH-60 Seahawk Replacement Will Leverage Army’s Future Vertical Lift Tiltrotor Plans

The Navy's Future Vertical Lift-Maritime Strike family of systems plan also puts major emphasis on new vertical takeoff and landing drones.

CCAs and super hornet
Loyal Wingman

Navy Won’t Scramble To Field Loyal Wingman Drones Like The Air Force

The admiral in charge of the Navy's Air Warfare Division made it clear his service is taking a wait and see approach to Collaborative Combat Aircraft.

The U.S. Navy expects its future F/A-XX sixth-generation stealth fighters to offer just a 25 percent increase in range over the existing tactical combat jets in its carrier air wings.
MQ-25

F/A-XX Will Have Just 25% More Range Than Existing Navy Fighters

FA-XX will have much less range than some may have hoped for, even though extending the carrier strike group's reach is a top Navy priority.

General Atomics has officially unveiled the new Bullseye standoff precision-guided missile that it’s now working with alongside Israeli defense contractor Rafael. The new weapon leverages Rafael’s existing Ice Breaker missile and is being offered to the U.S. military — and allies — at a time when the Pentagon, in particular, is increasingly focused on procuring affordable standoff weapons that can be rapidly produced en masse, for future contingencies, especially in the Indo-Pacific theater,
Air-To-Ground

Bullseye Standoff Weapon Based On Israeli Cruise Missile Unveiled By General Atomics

The Bullseye standoff precision-guided missile is being offered to the U.S. military as a lower-cost weapon that can be quickly manufactured at scale.

MQ-25 has a lot of potential beyond it's core tanker mission.
MQ-25

MQ-25 Stingray’s Extreme Range Gives It Massive Potential Far Beyond A Tanker

The MQ-25's very long endurance outside of the tanking mission is unprecedented for a carrier-based aircraft and its impact could be far reaching.

J-36 flies over highway
J-36

China’s J-36 Tailless Fighter Zips Over Road On Landing Giving Us Our Best Look Yet

A motorist captured the close-quarters video of the stealthy three-engine heavy tactical jet on approach to its home airfield in Chengdu.

Anduril has rolled out a new family of modular torpedo-like uncrewed underwater vehicles (UUV) called Copperhead.
Submarines

Copperhead Torpedo-Like Underwater Kamikaze Drones Rolled Out By Anduril

Copperheads are designed for low cost and can be configured for other missions, with an eye toward launching from larger submarine drones.

The Black Arrow, also known as the Small Cruise Missile, has completed a guided flight test, from an AC-130J Ghostrider gunships, the weapon’s manufacturer Leidos has confirmed. The Black Arrow — which is intended to carry a range of different payloads, and not just a kinetic warhead — arrives at a time when the Pentagon is looking at harnessing the potential of lower-cost weapons that can be readily produced at scale to meet the likely demands of future conflicts.
AC-130

AC-130J Ghostrider Gunship Launches Black Arrow Small Cruise Missile In New Video

The Leidos Small Cruise Missile could give AC-130s a new lease on life and enhance the combat reach and strike efficiency of other platforms.

377th Test and Evaluation Group missile operators conduct mission operations at Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif., Feb. 18, 2025. The 377 TEG, the nation’s only dedicated intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test organization, oversaw an operational test launch of an Air Force Global Strike Command unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile. Fired at 1 a.m. Pacific Time on Feb. 19, 2025, the missile traveled approximately 4,200 miles at speeds up to 15,000 miles per hour before impacting in the Pacific Ocean.
Bunker Talk

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

Hey man, can you get up? You are sitting on the launch codes...

Very Close Encounter Between F-35 And Su-35 Caught On Cockpit Camera
F-35A

Very Close Encounter Between F-35 And Su-35 Caught On Cockpit Camera

The intercept between the U.S. and Russian fighters occurred while at least one Tu-95 bomber was also present.

B-2 Spirits in Diego garcia.
B-2

B-2 Stealth Bombers Deployed To Diego Garcia Have Been Striking Targets In Yemen

At least six of America's prized B-2 bombers are deployed to the island outpost and are now participating in combat operations against the Houthis in Yemen.

J-50 images out of china of the new stealth fighter prototype
J-XDS

China’s ‘J-50’ Tailless Stealth Fighter Seen In New Imagery

Additional imagery of China's other tailless next generation fighter has emerged over three months since the type was first spotted in the skies.

Four different European defense companies will come together in a joint venture to build a next-generation main battle tank, under the Main Ground Combat System (MGCS) initiative.
Leopard

New Franco-German Tank Project Takes Shape With Industry Team Confirmed

The Main Ground Combat System will be centered upon a tank, but aims to provide a wider ‘system of systems,’ with crewed and uncrewed platforms.

Satellite imagery shows work on the first of Russia's Project 23900 big-deck amphibious assault ships, also known as the Ivan Rogov class, is continuing at a shipyard on the occupied Crimean Peninsula.
Russian Navy

Russia’s New Helicopter Carrier Is Taking Shape In Crimea

Work on the first Ivan Rogov class amphibious assault ship is ongoing at a shipyard Ukrainian forces have attacked in the past with long-range missiles.

Ukraine is testing uncrewed ground vehicles (UGV) with fiber optic cables.
Ukrainian Army

Unmanned Ground Vehicles Controlled Via Fiber Optic Cables Being Tested By Ukraine

The move is inspired by the success of fiber optic cables on first-person view (FPV) aerial drones used by both sides.

A top U.S. general testified before Congress that Greenland is hugely important to U.S. national security because it is a key landmass for tracking Russian nuclear submarines.
Russian Navy

Greenland “Absolutely Critical” For Hunting Russian Submarines: Top U.S. General In Europe

Gen. Christopher G. Cavoli, the top U.S. general in Europe, testified that Greenland is vital to U.S. national security.

The first OA-1K light attack aircraft — recently officially named as the Skyraider II — has been delivered to Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC). While the command welcomed the militarized derivative of the popular Air Tractor AT-802 crop duster, there remain serious questions about how the Air Force will actually make use of the OA-1K, as the service increasingly prepares for future high-end contingencies.
Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC)

First OA-1K Skyraider II Handed Over To Air Force Special Operations Command

It took the USAF decades to field a light attack aircraft and many are questioning its relevance in a new age of ‘great power competition.’