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Bunker Strike IDF lebanon
Israel

Israel Executes Massive Bunker Buster Strike On Hezbollah Command Headquarters In Beirut (Updated)

Israel targeted Hezbollah's leader in an unprecedented airstrike on a Beirut suburb.

Russians pushing toward Kharkiv Oblast city Ukraine liberated in 2022
Russia

Russians Advancing On Kharkiv Region City Ukraine Liberated In 2022

The city of Kupiansk was freed during Ukraine's stunning 2022 Kharkiv counteroffensive but now the Russians are again closing in.

U-28 retirement
Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC)

Plans To Axe Special Operations Surveillance Planes Come Under The Microscope

Retiring U-28As and MC-12s to help make way for new OA-1K light attack planes may risk creating a major aerial intelligence-gathering gap.

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

After 45 years, the final Dutch Vipers bowed out today, with the F-35A stealth fighter formally taking over all their missions.

Imagery said to show the aftermath of a highly targeted air strike on a car in Lebanon has prompted questions about whether a previously unknown miniature munition designed to produce extremely little collateral damage may have been employed.
Air-To-Ground

Was A Mini “Sword Bomb” Just Used To Strike A Car In Lebanon?

Damage to the car's windshield has prompted comparisons to the AGM-114R9X missile with its pop-out blades, but there are other possibilities.

The mysterious incident at China’s Wuchang Shipyard in the spring of this year resulted in the sinking of the country’s latest nuclear-powered attack submarine, according to U.S. officials.
Nuclear Attack Submarines (SSNs)

China’s New Nuclear Submarine Sank During Mysterious Incident In Wuhan: Report

A strange incident caught in satellite imagery was indeed a major mishap involving a Chinese submarine, according to a new report.

KC-10 Extender tail #86-0036 performs its final mission as it heads of to the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., following a July 13 ceremony at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., that marked the first retirement of 59 Extenders intended for eventual replacement by the KC-46A Pegasus. A total of three KC-10s from the Air Force’s Backup-Aircraft Inventory were congressionally approved for retirement during Fiscal Year 2020. As KC-10s are retired, the 309th AMARG will continue to support the remaining Extenders with spare parts as they are flown for several years while the KC-46A Pegasus is integrated into Air Mobility Command’s Total Force tanker enterprise. For nearly four decades, the KC-10 has helped secure global reach for America, providing in- flight refueling to U.S. and coalition aircraft, from Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm to Operation Inherent Resolve. The KC- 10 is flown from JBMDL by both the 305th AMW and its associate Air Force Reserve unit, the 514th AMW.
KC-10

Final KC-10 Extender Tanker Flies Into Retirement

The flight from Travis Air Force Base in California will bring down the curtain on a 43-year career for the trijet KC-10 Extender tanker-transport.

The U.S. Marine Corps says it has demonstrated new capabilities for operating future drones with high degrees of autonomy in expeditionary operations with another test flight of one of its stealthy XQ-58 Valkyries.
XQ-58

Third Marine XQ-58 Valkyrie Flight Test Uses Link 16 For Control

Marine Corps' plans to operate drones like the XQ-58 from far-flung forward locations will require robust command and control networks.

AGM-154 JSOW for Ukraine's F-16
Ukraine

Biden Surging $8B In Aid To Ukraine That Includes AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapons For F-16s

The new package that will give Ukraine's F-16s standoff strike capabilities was announced while President Zelensky is visiting the U.S. Capital.

Around The Globe

Israel’s Potential Invasion Of Southern Lebanon Looms Larger

After Hezbollah's launched a ballistic missile at Tel Aviv Israel's top commander told his troops to prepare to invade Lebanon.

Top Aces F-16
F-16

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

Top Aces ex-Israeli F-16s are receiving upgrades, including new avionics, radars and infrared search and track systems.

For the first time in more than four decades, China has fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) out in the Western Pacific, ostensibly for training purposes.
ICBMs

First Chinese ICBM Test Into The Pacific In Decades Is A Big Deal (Updated)

China last fired an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific in 1980 and its latest launch highlights its rapidly evolving nuclear posture.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is looking to explore concepts for a new drone capable of lugging around up to 70,000 pounds of cargo, roughly twice what the U.S. Marine Corps' CH-53K King Stallion helicopter can lift.
CH-53K

Search For Cargo Drone That Can Lift Twice As Much As A CH-53K King Stallion Kicks Off

Drones capable of lifting up to 35 tons could be valuable for sprinting cargo from ships to shore and getting forces inland across rivers.

Dutch missile ship
SM-2

New Dutch Navy Support Vessels Will Be Missile-Toting Wingmen To Frigates

Small and with a tiny crew, the new support vessels will add important magazine capacity to frigates, and launch loitering munitions.

The Ukrainian town of Vulhedar is about to fall to Russian forces.
Russia

Russia Poised To Capture Key Eastern Ukraine City

The city of Vuhledar has been a linchpin in the defense of the east but is now surrounded on three sides by Russian troops and appears ready to fall.

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

This is the only image that has emerged to date of any of the three still-unidentified objects shot down over the U.S. and Canada.

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

Work is now underway to integrate the low-observable AGM-158C Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) on the F-35.

NGAD Lite
NGAD

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

The Air Force now says it may want a 6th generation fighter that costs around $100M instead of $300M, but is that even possible?

The USNS oiler Big Horn suffered a mishap at sea in the 5th Fleet region, raising logistics concerns for the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group
Middle East

Navy Resupply Ship Mishap Could Have Big Impact On Mid-East Deployed Carrier Group

The USNS Big Horn is the Navy's only oiler in the U.S. Central Command region raising questions about logistics for the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group.

The U.S. Air Force is interested in adding an active electronically-scanned array (AESA) radar to its X-62A test jet. The radar is part of larger plans to acquire a new modular sensor suite for the uniquely modified F-16 specifically to help expand its ability to support advanced autonomy developments.
Loyal Wingman

New Radar Sought To Help X-62A Test Jet Take Next Leap In Autonomy Testing

The radar is part of plans for a more elaborate sensor suite to help demonstrate advanced air combat capabilities for autonomous drones.