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General Atomics CCA
Unmanned

General Atomics Says Its Collaborative Combat Aircraft Is Like A Bic Lighter

General Atomics gave us a close look at their XQ-67 and CCA designs and some new insights into how they balanced affordability capability into an optimal package.

Hezbollah pager
Middle East

Hezbollah’s Exploding Pagers Could Be As Monumental A Cyber-Espionage Operation As Stuxnet

We live surrounded by networked devices equipped with packs full of potential energy, possibly offering adversaries an unprecedented vector for kinetic attacks.

The U.S. Air Force has no plans to acquire stealthy uncrewed combat air vehicles (UCAV) capable of operating with very high degrees of autonomy independently of crewed aircraft, at least in the near term publicly, despite surging Chinese developments in this domain.
UCAVs

No Flying Wing UCAVs Being Developed By U.S. Air Force While China Surges Ahead

The U.S. continues to pass over very stealthy, long-range, highly autonomous UCAVs in favor of pursuing lower-cost 'loyal wingman' drones.

AGM-158 XR
AGM-158 Joint Air-To-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM)

Everything We Just Learned About The Supersized AGM-158 XR Stealth Cruise Missile

Lockheed's XR variant of the JASSM family of missiles is stretched to accommodate more fuel, giving it a range that should approach or exceed that of the Tomahawk.

Military vehicles drive down a road past a sign indicating that the border to Russia is approaching north of Sumy on August 15th 2024, in Sumy Region, Ukraine. Ukraines's incursion into Russia's Kursk has continued into a second week.
Russia

38,000 Russian Troops Committed To Kursk Counteroffensive: Report

Worryingly for Ukraine, there are few signs that the incursion is seeing Russian troops redeployed from the eastern front lines.

The U.S. Air Force's still evolving requirements for a next-generation aerial refueling 'system of systems' will directly impact the service's reassessment of plans for a new sixth-generation stealth 'fighter.' The Next-Generation Air-Refueling System (NGAS) effort will also inform work on a second tranche of Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) drones.
Loyal Wingman

Future Stealth Tanker Plans Tied To NGAD 6th Generation Fighter’s Fate

Next-generation aerial refueling capabilities are also influencing USAF plans for a second tranche of Collaborative Combat Aircraft drones.

August 10, 2018. Long corridors form a labyrinth that leads to the different rooms of the anti-atomic shelter in Avdeevka, Ukraine. Photo by Gaelle Girbes/Getty Images.
Bunker Talk

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

What's on your mind?

Russia's Kursk counteroffensive is fully underway.
Russia

Russia’s Kursk Counteroffensive Fully Underway

After more than a month, Russia has finally launched a major effort to kick Ukraine out of the Kursk region.

Russia putting tires on top of bombers and other aircraft was about confusing seekers with image-matching capability on incoming munitions, a senior U.S. military technologist has confirmed.
Air-To-Ground

Russia Covering Aircraft With Tires Is About Confusing Image-Matching Missile Seekers U.S. Military Confirms

Russia's efforts to befuddle cruise missiles and drones with imaging-matching seeker capabilities speaks to issues that go beyond the war in Ukraine.

MQ-9 showcases capabilities to Joint Force during first-time Valiant Shield participation.
Q-9

MQ-9 Reapers Gathered In Florida, Simulated Fighting Over South China Sea

The recent Reaper Smoke competition included a scenario based on a simulated mission over Mischief Reef, a key flashpoint in the highly strategic region.

What appears to be one of the first looks at members of the German armed forces with new 5.56x45mm Heckler & Koch HK416 A8 rifles, also known as G95A1s, has come from an unexpected source: the U.S. Army. With help from the U.S. Army, the Germans have been stress-testing the guns in very hot and humid conditions at a facility in Panama and in the Arizona desert.
Around The Globe

Germany’s New HK416 Service Rifles Appear At Panama Test Site

Germany's evaluation of new G95-series rifles in Panama and Arizona follows reports it scaled back or even skipped key testing initially.

Israel raid
Iran

Israeli Commando Raid In Syria Sends A Message To Iran That Its Underground Bases Are Not Untouchable

The raid targeted a deep underground Iranian weapons facility and included grabbing large amounts of intelligence before blowing it up using planted charges.

Russia is now using thermite-spewing dragon drones in Ukraine.
Russia

Russia Now Using Thermite-Spewing ‘Dragon Drones’ To Torch Ukrainian Positions

A week after video first emerged of Ukraine's thermite-spewing drones Russia is now using a similar incendiary weapon.

BAE Systems has launched its new uncrewed ground vehicle, or UGV, the Autonomous Tactical Light Armor System (ATLAS) Collaborative Combat Variant (CCV), a roughly 11-ton 8x8 vehicle that’s being pitched as a “combat wingman” with the potential for a high degree of autonomy. The powerfully armed vehicle is the latest addition to a growing number of UGVs that are designed to provide more flexibility to ground forces’ commanders, primarily by reducing the risks that personnel are exposed to on the battlefield.
Royal Australian Army

ATLAS Uncrewed “Combat Wingman” Fighting Vehicle Unveiled

Notably heavily armed, the 8x8 wheeled ATLAS CCV is the BAE Systems entrant in the fast-expanding uncrewed ground vehicle, or UGV, category.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense has published a video showing the purported destruction of a Russian Su-30SM Flanker multirole fighter, which it claims was brought down by a shoulder-launched surface-to-air missile over the Black Sea.
Su-30

Russian Su-30SM Flanker Crashes In Black Sea, Ukraine Says They Shot It Down With MANPADS

Ukrainian claims its special forces brought down the Russian multirole fighter using a shoulder-launched surface-to-air missile.

The U.S. Marine Corps legacy F/A-18C/D Hornets are getting a major boost in stand-off strike capability in the form of AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) cruise missiles
F/A-18A-D

Marine Legacy F/A-18 Hornets Getting Major Firepower Boost With JASSM Cruise Missiles

JASSMs will let Marine Hornets hit targets further away than ever before, helping to ensure their relevance in the twilight of their careers.

Defense contractor Anduril has unveiled Barracuda, a new family of what it is calling "expandable autonomous air vehicles" that are scalable, highly modular, and already being flight-tested. The company is heavily focused now on "M" versions configured as relatively low-cost air-breathing precision munitions that could be launched from helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft, as well as maritime and ground platforms.
Air-To-Ground

Anduril Introduces Barracuda-M That Aims To Disrupt The Cruise Missile Market

Anduril's Barracuda missiles are intended to be modular, relatively cheap, easy to make and capable of performing missions beyond strikes.

Storm Shadow
Russia

Increasing Indications Storm Shadow Missiles Will Be Cleared For Use Inside Russia

Storm Shadow would wreak havoc on forces and critical logistics nodes in Russia, but the U.K. and the U.S. have been weighing the risks of escalation.

A Russian military correspondent narrowlly avoided being killed by a drone hunting him down in a house.
Ukraine

This Ukrainian Drone Hunting A Russian Inside A Building Has Big Horror Movie Vibes

A nerve-racking video offers a visceral depiction of what it is like hiding in fear of a drone trying to kill you.

China has offered a new and closer look at the catapults on its newest aircraft carrier, the Fujian. We also now have what appears to be the first look inside the retractable enclosed control station built into the flight deck that catapult officers on the ship will use to launch planes.
People's Liberation Army Navy (China)

New Chinese Aircraft Carrier’s Catapult Control ‘Bubble’ Looks Very Familiar

We are getting our first look at how catapult launch officers will send aircraft flying into the air from the deck of China's newest carrier.