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Mk 41 launcher MDA Guam
MIM-104 Patriot

Tilting Mark 41 Launcher Emerges During Guam’s First Aegis Ashore Missile Defense Test

The test that saw an SM-3 swat down target is a big step forward for the massive air defense system being installed on the island.

North Korea is set to receive MiG-29 Fulcrum and Su-27 Flanker fighter aircraft from Russia in return for Pyongyang having sent thousands of troops to fight in Moscow’s war in Ukraine. This is the assessment of the commander of United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM), after much speculation about the nature of the support that might be headed to North Korea to reward that country for its growing military backing of Russia. The prospect of fighter aircraft being transferred by Russia is something that TWZ has discussed in the past.
MiG-29

Russia Giving North Korea MiG-29s And Su-27s Isn’t That Straightforward

A U.S. admiral says that the fighters will be given to North Korea in exchange for sending troops and ammo to help Russia in Ukraine.

Pictures and videos have now emerged of the aftermath of Israeli strikes on the Syrian port of Latakia overnight, which destroyed at least six Soviet-era Osa II class missile boats.
Israel

Israel Lays Waste To Syria’s Missile Boats (Updated)

Israel targeted Syrian Navy vessels as part of hundreds of strikes aimed at preventing former Assad regime assets falling into rebel hands.

Israel strikes targets in Syria after Assad falls.
Iran

Syria’s Suddenly Permissive Airspace Prompts Flurry Of Foreign Airstrikes (Updated)

The fall of Assad has resulted in open season on legacy Syrian military capabilities and ISIS from the air.

What will happen to highly strategic Russian air and naval bases in Syria is now very much now an open question following the downfall of long-time strongman Bashar Al Assad and his flight to Moscow.
Syria

Fate Of Russia’s Prized Syria Bases: What We Know

Moscow's naval port in Tartus and airbase in Latakia are in very precarious states after the fall of the Assad regime.

The United Kingdom has taken an important step toward its Tempest next-generation fighter, with the start of a trials campaign for the Flight Test Aircraft (FTA), nicknamed Excalibur, which will serve as a flying laboratory for the new combat aircraft. Based on a Boeing 757 airliner, the FTA joins a growing band of dedicated trials aircraft that are being used to prove out technologies for current and future-generation fighter programs, also in the United States and China.
Airborne Radar

UK’s 757-Based ‘Excalibur’ Avionics Testbed For Tempest Future Fighter Emerges

The 757-based flying laboratory will be tasked with helping get the Tempest future fighter into service, planned for 2035.

HMAS Brisbane fires a Tomahawk Weapon System off of the cost of San Diego, United States of America.
Royal Australian Navy

Australian Navy Fires Tomahawk Cruise Missile For The First Time

Tomahawks will give Australia the ability to reach deep into China's anti-access bubble, striking ships and land targets.

Ukraine’s Drone Boats Are Now Shooting Machine Guns At Russian Helicopters, Boats
Naval Gun Systems

Ukraine’s Drone Boats Are Now Shooting Machine Guns At Russian Helicopters, Boats

Gun-armed Sea Baby uncrewed vessels have emerged amid growing Russian efforts to stymie Ukraine's kamikaze drone boat attacks.

The entire fleet of U.S. V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft has been temporarily grounded after a mishap involving an AFSOC CV-22 last month at Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico.
Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC)

V-22s Grounded Again After Special Operations Osprey Mishap

The Navy, Marines, and Air Force have stopped or severely limited Osprey operations following a scare aboard a CV-22 out of Cannon AFB.

A huge underground bunker complex, said to be beneath the mansion of Maj. Gen. Maher al-Assad, the disposed dictator’s brother. Maher al-Assad was best known as the leader of the Syrian Army’s elite Fourth Armored Division.
Syria

Descend Into The Depths Of The Assad Regime’s Massive Bunker

The labyrinth of an installation is remarkably modern and deeply buried, filled with creature comforts and regime oddities.

A portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is pictured with its frame broken, in a Syrian regime's Political Security Branch facility on the outskirts of the central city of Hama, following the capture of the area by anti-government forces, on December 7, 2024. Syria's embattled government said on December 7 it was setting up a ring of steel around Damascus, state media reported, as rebels on a lightning advance said they were bearing down on the city. The leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Islamist group which has headed the assault, told fighters to prepare to take Damascus, just over a week into a renewed offensive in the long dormant conflict. (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP) (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP via Getty Images)
Iran

The Assad Regime Has Fallen, Claims Swirl Around Possible Crash Of His Escape Jet (Updated)

In a stunning 12-day blitz, anti-regime forces have ousted Bashar al-Assad from Syrian rule.

Storage-tunnel for nuclear missiles at an abandoned soviet military in Brandenburg State, Germany
Bunker Talk

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

Better late than never!

The USS Zumwalt's hypersonic missile launchers are now installed.
U.S. Navy

USS Zumwalt Returns To The Water With A Hypersonic Missile Launcher Upgrade

It's hoped that the tiny and hugely expensive Zumwalt class might find new utility with its hypersonic missile launch capability.

F-35 CCA under trump admin
F-35

Former Trump Acting SECDEF Talks About The Future Of Big Ticket Defense Programs

Chris Miller offered some insights into how the next Trump administration could approach defense procurement.

Gen. Bussiere said the number and speed of delivery of the B-21 is a “valid discussion” to have “based on the age of the B-1 and B-2” and the advancing strategic capabilities of Russia and China.
B-21

B-21 Raider Numbers Could Be Boosted With Existing Production Capacity

As the Air Force grapples with questions over B-21 force size, the head of Global Strike Command says the capacity exists to ramp up production.

Homs, Syria.s third-largest city, is close to being captured by rebels opposed to Bashar Al-Assad.
Iran

Syrian Rebels Closing In On Homs, Cutting Off Damascus From Coast An Imminent Possibility (Updated)

Homs is the last major city on anti-Assad forces' road to Damascus and its capture would put them 75 miles north of the city.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has raised the possibility of forward deploying new conventionally-armed Oreshnik missiles capable of carrying multiple warheads in neighboring Belarus in the latter half of next year.
MRBMs/IRBMs

Experimental Ballistic Missile Russia Used On Ukraine Could Be Headed To Belarus

The broader ramifications of the secretive Oreshnik missile only continue to grow after its emergence in an unprecedented attack on Ukraine.

5 inch Mark 45 deck gun firing.
U.S. Navy

USS Carney’s Red Sea Operations Highlight 5-inch Deck Gun’s Anti-Air Capability

USS Carney executed a whopping 51 engagements of Houthi drones and missiles during its deployment to the Red Sea.

The Pentagon has released a summary of a new classified strategy to guide efforts to protect American forces abroad and across the U.S. homeland from growing drone threats.
Unmanned

This Is The New ‘Counter-Drone Strategy’ Just Unveiled By Pentagon

The new Pentagon strategy is an important acknowledgment of growing drone threats, but also highlights long-standing lag in addressing them.

Ngad punted to trump adminstration
NGAD

Future Of NGAD Fighter Punted To Trump Administration

While the Air Force continues its deep review into the NGAD future crewed fighter, a final decision on its fate will be taken by the Trump administration.