Read the latest articles from The War Zone (Page 78)

F-16 belonging to VFC-13, flying over Carson Valley, NV.
F-16

Navy Tried To Buy Greek F-16s To Turn Them Into Adversaries

The Navy nearly got a batch of Greek F-16s as 'red air' aggressors, before U.S. Air Force jets became available.

A video has emerged showing a Ukrainian Su-24M Fencer swing-wing combat jet carrying what is said to be new air-launched guided munition.
MiG-29

Mystery Munition Appears Under Ukrainian Su-24 Fencer Attack Jet’s Wing

Ukraine is in great need of more air-launched stand-off munitions and ones that can be used without foreign restrictions.

Chiefs aboard the USS Manchester created a huge security risk by setting up a private WifI network.
U.S. Navy

The Story Of Sailors Secretly Installing Starlink On Their Littoral Combat Ship Is Truly Bonkers

The fact that an LCS deployed with a Starlink system operating onboard and the captain had no clue about it is a very disturbing revelation.

Satellite imagery and videos offer new evidence of a surge in the development of the stealthy flying-wing uncrewed combat air vehicles in China, especially with regard to the GJ-11 Sharp Sword.
UCAVs

Chinese Flying Wing UCAV Testing Accelerating Based On Satellite Imagery, Videos

China's expanding work on flying-wing uncrewed combat air vehicles comes as similar designs have disappeared in the U.S., at least publicly.

Dutch Decide To Bring Back Main Battle Tanks
Leopard

Dutch Decide To Bring Back Main Battle Tanks

After more than a decade, the Netherlands has announced plans to reinstate a permanent tank battalion, as it continues to rebuild its armed forces.

Adversary air company Top Aces' F-16 Vips, the only ones currently in the hands of a private operator, are now flying with podded infrared search and track (IRST) systems.
F-16

World’s Only Privately Owned F-16 Aggressors Get Infrared Search And Track Pods

IRST sensors present particular challenges for stealthy aircraft and there is growing demand to include them in training and testing.

The U.S. Space Force second-in-command has provided updates on plans for the service’s introduction of space-based ground moving-target indicator and air moving-target indicator (GMTI/AMTI) capabilities.
U.S. Space Force

U.S. To Track Moving Air And Ground Targets Via Space By 2030, But Aircraft Will Still Play A Part

The U.S. Space Force has laid out plans for layered moving-target surveillance capabilities, not only in orbit.

The use of thermite-dispersing drones by Ukraine has proliferated.
Ukraine

Thermite-Spewing ‘Dragon’ Drones Are Ukraine’s Newest Battlefield Innovation

Multiple videos have emerged showing Ukrainian drones pouring streams of the incendiary thermite over Russian positions over the last three days.

The U.S. Air Force is re-examining the very core of its requirements for a new sixth-generation stealth combat jet as part of its ongoing review of that element of the larger Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) initiative.
Loyal Wingman

Air Force “Starting At The Beginning” With NGAD 6th Gen Fighter Requirements Review

Signs that big changes are coming to the USAF's NGAD combat jet plans, or that the program may be supplanted entirely, are growing.

Kursk incursion a bargainin chip says Zelensky
Russia

Kursk Invasion A Bargaining Chip Zelensky Says

Ukraine has no immediate plans to leave Russia's Kursk Oblast where it holds hundreds of square miles of territory.

Above All Else JASSM Would Give Ukraine A Steady Supply Of Cruise Missiles
F-16

Above All Else JASSM Would Give Ukraine A Steady Supply Of Cruise Missiles

JASSM can penetrate Russian air defenses unlike anything Ukraine has now, but the numbers that could be provided is its biggest advantage.

Ukraine has developed a balloon-carried electronic warfare system designed to detect enemy drone operators, which can then be targeted, offering a more comprehensive solution than tackling individual drones. While the status of the system, known as Aero Azimuth, is unclear, its unveiling points to a resurgence in interest in elevated sensors, especially mounted of aerostats.
Airships & Blimps

Balloon-Based Sensor That Pinpoints Location Of Drone Operators Emerges In Ukraine

The Aero Azimuth is designed to detect and assist in engaging the drone controller, rather than the drone itself.

The U.S. Air Force recently awarded contracts to two companies for work on SHARK 'buddy store' podded aerial refueling systems able to work with aircraft that use the boom method to get gas in flight.
Loyal Wingman

Aerial Refueling Boom Pods That Could Go On F-15s In The Works

New boom refueling pods could turn combat jets or even drones into small tankers to help meet USAF demands, especially in a Pacific fight.

Ukraine is advancing slowly eastward to a key town in Russia's Kursk Oblast
Russia

Ukraine Pushing Slowly West In Russia Towards Key Kursk City

The town of Glushkovo is the last bastion for an estimated 3,000 Russian troops trapped south of the Seim River in Kursk.

AC-130
AC-130

The Future Of The AC-130 Gunship: Evolve Or Die

The AC-130 is at a crossroads as the focus shifts away from counter-insurgency and counter-terror operations in permissive airspace to peer-state conflicts, especially one in a hotly-contested Pacific.

Families walk down the driveway while touring a model site home with a concrete basement fallout shelter, Texas, 1961. Photo by Shel Hershorn/Getty Images.
Bunker Talk

Bunker Talk: Labor Day Weekend Edition

What's on your mind?

The War Zone delved into the digital engineer and advanced manufacturer techniques behind the stealthy Model 437 Vanguard aircraft, and more, an interview with Colin Miller, Vice President for Engineering within Northrop Grumman's aeronautics sector.
Loyal Wingman

Everything We Just Learned About The Model 437 Vanguard Technology Demonstrator Jet

We talked to one of Northrop Grumman's top engineers all about their Model 437 and the Digital Pathfinder program that made it happen.

Alternatively known as the Y-9LG, the Y-8GX-12 is another ECM version based on the Y-8 Category III Platform. It was first identified in satellite imagery in late 2017. Surprisingly, considering its assumed role, the Y-8GX-12 has a ‘balance beam’ radar antenna above its fuselage, as found on the KJ-200 airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft. It is believed, however, that the radar aboard the Y-8GX-12 is instead used for long-range jamming, using its powerful electronically scanned radar beams to suppress enemy radar signals.
Airborne Radar

Our Best Look Yet At China’s New Standoff Electronic Warfare Plane

The Y-9LG is the latest in a line of Chinese airborne standoff jammers, part of a huge investment in electronic warfare platforms.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky fired his Air Force commander days after a fatal F-16 crash.
MiG-29

Zelensky Fires Air Force Commander As Claims Swirl Around Fatal F-16 Loss

Ukrainian Air Force Lt. Gen. Mykola Oleschuk was replaced after the destruction of one of Ukraine's prized F-16s that also killed a well-known pilot.

Russian troops are now eight miles from the key Ukrainian logistics hub of Pokrovsk.
Russia

Fall Of Key Ukrainian City To Russia Could Be An “Operational Catastrophe”

Russian forces are only about eight miles away from Pokrovsk which is a key logistics hub for Ukraine.