Read the latest articles from The War Zone (Page 80)

Trash-carrying balloons launched across the border by North Korea are seen floating in the sky above Seoul on October 4, 2024. Relations between the two Koreas are at one of their lowest points in years, with Pyongyang ramping up weapons tests and bombarding the South with balloons carrying rubbish, and Seoul suspending a military deal and resuming propaganda broadcasts in response.
Airships & Blimps

North Korea Sending GPS-Equipped Balloons Across The Border

The purpose for the balloons' GPS capabilities isn't clear, but none of the possibilities are good news for South Korea.

Experimental Fly-By-Wire UH-60M Black Hawk To Become Autonomy Testbed
UH-60

Experimental Fly-By-Wire UH-60M Black Hawk To Become Autonomy Testbed

Evolving autonomous resupply and other capabilities could open up new and valuable tactical opportunities for the Army's Black Hawk fleet.

USS Chosen VLS resupply at sea test off San Diego.
Indo-Pacific

Navy Just Reloaded A Vertical Launch System For The First Time While Underway At Sea

Having the ability to replenish surface combatants' vertical launch system cells while underway is seen as critical to sustaining a fight in the Pacific.

The Dallison family leave their Anderson shelter to view the wreckage caused by a nearby bomb explosion the night before, January 1, 1940. Photo by Keystone Features/Getty Images.
Bunker Talk

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

The bunker is open!

North Korea accused South Korea on Friday of sending drones to scatter a "huge number" of anti-North leaflets over its capital Pyongyang, in what it called a political and military provocation that could lead to armed conflict.
Unmanned

Drones Penetrate North Korean Air Defenses To Drop Propaganda Leaflets On Pyongyang

South Korea is not admitting responsibility for sending multiple waves of drones over the North Korean capital.

A new counter-drone focused variant of the 8x8 Stryker light armored vehicle armed with a laser directed energy weapon, laser-guided 70mm rockets, a 30mm automatic cannon, radars and other sensors has broken cover.
FIM-92 Stinger

Counter-Drone Stryker Armored Vehicle Armed With Lasers, Rockets, Guns Unveiled

The new Stryker aims to offer the Army another layer of highly mobile lower-tier air defense capability to help rebuff drone attacks.

The Amiral Ronarc’h (hull number D 660) officially started sea trials earlier this week, setting sail from the Naval Group’s Lorient shipyard, in Brittany, northern France, on October 7.
French Navy

France’s Radical-Looking New Frigate Has Gone To Sea

The first of France’s Defense and Intervention Frigates is a new-generation multi-mission warship that features an inverted bow.

Search For Barrett .50 Caliber Sniper Rifle Replacement Halted By SOCOM
Sniper Rifles

Search For Barrett .50 Caliber Sniper Rifle Replacement Halted By SOCOM

The Extreme Long Range Sniper Rifle was also being eyed as a replacement for .50 caliber Mk 15 bolt-action rifles in U.S. special operations inventory.

The US Air Force's Chief Scientist reportedly described the AGM-183A missile as the service's "most mature" hypersonic weapon, prompting new questions about whether that program's future.
ARRW

ARRW Hypersonic Missile Program Gets New Funding Despite Signs Of Cancellation

The curious $13 million infusion of cash into the ARRW program comes amid continued questions about its future.

Bolt-M drone
Loitering Munitions

Bolt-M Aims To Make Kamikaze Drone Attacks More User Friendly, Effective

In the next six months the U.S. Marine Corps will start testing the advanced quadcopter loitering munition, designed to put easy-to-use aerial firepower into the infantry's hands.

North Korea is wading deeper into the Ukraine war on behalf of Russia
North Korea

North Korea Wading Deeper Into Russia’s War Against Ukraine

Ukraine Situation Report: North Korea is sending troops to assist Russia with attacks on Ukrainian cities while Ukraine strikes back against weapons storage areas.

One of America's secretive X-37Bs is set to perform a series of maneuvers called aerobraking that will significantly change its orbit, which is said to be a first-of-its-kind event for the mini-space shuttle.
Anti-Satellite Capabilities

Secretive X-37B Spaceplane To Use Aerobraking Maneuvers To Rapidly Change Orbit

New details about the latest X-37B mission showcase its high maneuverability and underscore long-standing questions about its capabilities.

Orphaned A-29 Super Tucano Attack Planes Join USAF Test Pilot School Fleet
Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC)

Orphaned A-29 Super Tucano Attack Planes Join USAF Test Pilot School Fleet

The close air support aircraft without a mission struggled to find a new home before the Test Pilot School stepped in.

U.S. Air Force officials at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia are looking at installing anti-drone nets to help protect F-22 Raptor stealth fighters on the flightline.
F-22

Protective Nets To Shield F-22s Eyed For Airbase Swarmed By Mystery Drones

Langley Air Force Base experienced weeks of still-unexplained drone incursions in December 2023 highlighting a critical for new defenses.

Aerial photo taken of MacDill Air Force Base on January 29, 2021. MacDill AFB includes 28 associate units from all brances of service to include U.S. Central Command, U.S. Special Operations Command and the 927th Air Refueling Wing. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Tiffany Emery)
KC-135

Hurricane Milton Could Be Sum Of All Weather Fears For MacDill Air Force Base

The home of U.S. Central Command and U.S. Special Operations Command could see record-breaking storm surge potentially swamping much of the low-lying base.

A TV screen shows an image of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at a ceremony on September 6 to celebrate the launch of a newly built "tactical nuclear attack submarine" during a news program at the Yongsanl Railway Station. North Korea has launched a newly built "tactical nuclear attack submarine" capable of carrying out an underwater nuclear attack, with leader Kim Jong Un vowing to "further strengthen the state nuclear deterrence," the North's state media said on September 8. (
Around The Globe

Signs Point To North Korea Building A Nuclear-Powered Submarine: South Korean Intel

A report from the South Korean military assesses that the new submarine under construction is North Korea’s biggest yet.

Aurora Flight Sciences has released new renderings of an uncrewed fan-in-wing vertical take-off-and-landing capable demonstrator aircraft it is currently working on, as well as of a revised vision for a scaled-up stealthy cargo aircraft based on the same technology.
C-130

New Vision For Lift Fan Aircraft Family Grows From Special Operations X-Plane Program

A new fan-in-wing concept could be scaled to offer valuable runway-independent capabilities for more than just special operations missions.

Roadrunner Anduril
Unmanned

Anduril’s Roadrunner Drone Hunting Drone Gets Expanded Order From Pentagon

The optionally reusable Roadrunner jet interceptor drone has been tested overseas in real world circumstances and now the DoD wants more.

France has unveiled plans to develop a new uncrewed combat air vehicle (UCAV) that will complement the forthcoming Rafale F5 crewed fighter, as part of a new-look French Air and Space Force. The industrial side of the drone program will be headed up by Dassault Aviation, drawing upon its previous nEUROn UCAV demonstrator, which has already been used in trials with crewed combat aircraft.
UCAVs

Stealthy Uncrewed Combat Air Vehicle To Work Alongside Future French Rafale Fighters

The advanced drone will pull from experience with the nEUROn stealth demonstrator and is seen as essential to executing high-end future missions.

Israeli defense contractor Rafael says it has developed a new version of its combat-proven Trophy active protection system (APS) that is better able to defeat top-down attacks including drones.
Armored Vehicles

Trophy Armored Vehicle Protection System Gains New Ability To Defeat Drones

The combat-proven Trophy system has gotten new improvements that provide a critical capability boost against various top-down threats.