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Model 407 optionally manned drone Northrop grumman
Loyal Wingman

Northrop’s Stealthy Loyal Wingman Drone Breaks Cover And It Has A Cockpit

The Model 437, which was built by Northrop Grumman's subsidiary Scaled Composites, looks like the concept art aside from one very glaring detail.

Tiny JSX-2 microjets able to act as surrogates for drones and cruise missile threats are supporting the Northern Strike 24-2 exercise.
Air Combat Exercises

Tiny Jets Masquerading As Cruise Missiles Featured In Michigan Airpower Exercise

Tiny and nimble microjets are playing an important role in mimicking cruise missile and drone threats, including those to the homeland.

Two U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons assigned to the 92nd Fighter Squadron, Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina, fly alongside a KC-135 Stratotanker assigned to the 91st Air Refueling Squadron over the western United States during Exercise Bamboo Eagle 24-3, Aug. 5, 2024. Through employment of the KC-135 aircraft, the 91st ARS extends U.S. global power and global reach by planning and executing aerial refueling missions for U.S. and allied combat and support aircraft. During Bamboo Eagle, Air Mobility Command assets will support warfighters implementing all-domain combat-power generation from disaggregated basing locations throughout the western part of the U.S., along with distributed command and control, agile logistics, and tactical air-to-air refueling. Bamboo Eagle provides participating units opportunities to reoptimizing for Great Power competition and to focus on mission readiness by to deliver cross-functional and lethal combat capabilities with the speed and agility required to meet pacing challenges. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Alexander Cook)
Air Combat Exercises

Massive China-Focused Air Combat Exercise Underway Off California Coast

Playing out over large stretches of the eastern Pacific, the Bamboo Eagle war games are rehearsing for a potential future conflict with China.

US Navy F/A-18E Super Hornets brandishing full loads of nine air-to-air missiles have touched down at a base in Jordan ahead of expected Iranian attacks against Israel.
F/A-18E/F

F/A-18E Super Hornets Fully Loaded With Air-To-Air Missiles Arrive In Jordan

Navy F/A-18Es with impressive air-to-air loadouts based ashore are a potent addition to America's air defense posture ahead of expected Iranian attacks.

Ukraine's F-16s arrived with self protection pods
Ukraine

F-16s Delivered To Ukraine With Advanced Countermeasure Pods For Self-Protection

Ukraine's F-16s came with additional self-protection features that will help them survive a very dangerous battlespace.

Ukraine now has at least 2,000 troops inside Russia and continues to pour more in.
Russia

Ukrainian Forces Make Major Gains Inside Russia On Day Three Of Kursk Invasion (Updated)

Ukraine is continuing to pour troops and equipment into Russia as it sees success in its bold but risky operation in Kursk.

France will have sent Ukraine 600 Hammer bombs by the end of the year.
MiG-29

Ukrainian MiG-29’s Special Pylon For Hammer Rocket-Boosted Bombs Emerges

A picture of a Hammer-armed Ukrainian MiG-29 shows a previously unseen pylon that is similar to the one used with U.S. JDAM-ER glide bombs.

Defense technology contractor Anduril has announced plans to build a novel “hyperscale” production facility that will be able to churn out significant numbers of different military products, including uncrewed combat aircraft and autonomous underwater vehicles. The project closely aligns with the Pentagon’s aim of securing the ability to manufacture at scale, to meet future demands, especially for uncrewed systems that would be critical in potential peer-state conflicts.
U.S. Air Force

“Hyperscale” Weapons Factory Vision Outlined By Anduril

Anduril aims to change how guided munitions and drones are developed, bought, and produced with the help of its new factory concept.

Kratos, manufacturer of the XQ-58 Valkyrie, has confirmed that a new version of the drone is in the works that will feature built-in landing gear, which points to a larger derivative possibly with greater performance.
XQ-58

New XQ-58 Valkyrie Variant With Built-In Landing Gear To Fly Soon

The addition of internal landing gear points to a bigger and possibly higher-performance version of the Valkyrie now being in development.

Testbed for the Navy's helicopter escape system in the 1960s
Helicopters

Navy’s Cold War-Era Helicopter Crew Escape System Literally Sliced Fuselages Apart

The little-known history of the Navy's wacky escape capsule concept for helicopter crews.

Ukrainian drone operators are increasingly taking the fight to the Russian helicopters operating over and around the battlefield, by launching direct attacks with first-person view (FPV) drones. While there has been one previous report of a Russian rotorcraft successfully being attacked by a drone and several videos showing near-misses, the increasing quantity of such incidents indicates that this is now becoming a more established practice.
Russian Air Force

Russian Mi-28 Havoc Attack Helicopter Engaged In Mid-Air By Ukrainian Drone

Ukraine's use of drones to hunt for and take down enemy helicopters operating near the front is expanding.

Ukraine's incursion into Kursk, Russia.
Around The Globe

Ukrainian Forces Fight Inside Russia For Second Day (Updated)

As the peculiar incursion operation continues, Ukrainian troops still hold territory inside Russia's Kursk region.

A drone-hunting rifle-armed robot dog is being demonstrated at a US Army event dubbed Operation Hard Kill.
Machine Guns

Robot Dog With Gun Turret For Hunting Aerial Drones Being Tested By Army

Growing U.S. military interest in armed robot dogs now extends to potentially using them to help shield friendly forces from drone threats.

A brief video clip of a U.S. Navy E-2D Advanced Hawkeye linking up with an Air Force HC-130J tanker somewhere over in the Middle East calls attention to how this aircraft has become even more of a force multiplier with the added ability to refuel in flight.
E-2

E-2D Refueling From HC-130 Over Middle East Highlights The Hawkeye’s Potential

The E-2D's in-flight refueling capability could help it defend against an Iranian attack and opens up new ways to employ its abilities around the globe.

Russia battled an incursion by Ukraine into Kursk Oblast on Tuesday.
Russian Army

Ukraine Situation Report: Cross-Border Raid Shakes Russia’s Kursk Region

Russia rushed reserve troops and aircraft to the Kursk region to repel a cross-boarder mechanized attack.

Israel and Hezbollah traded attacks as the Lebanese militant group's leader issued a new threat.
Around The Globe

Attacks In Lebanon-Israel Border Region Intensify Ahead Of Anticipated Large-Scale Strikes

Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah warned that a looming massive attack on Israel "will be strong, influential and effective."

An already massive hangar in northwestern China is now even bigger after receiving a 300-foot-long extension.
People's Liberation Army Air Force (China)

China’s Gigantic Secretive Blimp Hangar Has Gotten Even Larger

A 300-foot-long extension to a huge hangar at a secretive Chinese test range points to plans for larger, more capable lighter-than-air craft.

Photos have emerged showing the extent of the destruction at Morozovsk Air Base, in Russia’s Rostov region, after it was struck by Ukrainian forces at the weekend.
Su-34

Aftermath Of Ukrainian Attack On Russian Su-34 Fullback Base Emerges (Updated)

A drone strike obliterated a weapons storage area at an air base that has played a major role in the war in Ukraine.

The U.S. Navy supercarrier USS Abraham Lincoln is heading toward the Middle East with an air wing that includes EA-18G Growlers equipped with new AN/ALQ-249(V)1 Next Generation Jammer-Mid Band (NGJ-MB) electronic warfare pods.
EA-18G

EA-18G Growlers With New Jamming Pods Onboard Carrier Heading To Middle East

This appears to be the first cruise for the AN/ALQ-249 Next Generation Jammer, the most advanced publicly known tactical electronic warfare capability.

A B-1B Lancer assigned to the 419th Flight Test Squadron conducts flight tests on the Load Adaptable Modular pylon in the skies over California, Feb. 15.
B-1

B-1B Tests New Pylon That Could Drastically Increase Its Weapons Carriage Capabilities

Boeing's Load Adaptable Modular pylon, or LAM, has the ability to greatly expand the B-1B's flexibility and kinetic punch.