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German contractor Diehl Defense has unveiled a new “remote carrier” — a long-range effector that can be launched from aircraft, as well as from land and sea platforms. The missile-like store, known as FEANIX, which stands for Future Effector — Adaptable, Networked, Intelligent, eXpendable, is being pitched as an adjunct to the pan-European Future Combat Air System (FCAS) next-generation air combat program, as well as for the in-service Eurofighter Typhoon.
Typhoon

FEANIX ‘Remote Carrier’ Aims To Be The Ultra-Adaptable Missile Of The Future

Somewhere between an expendable drone and a cruise missile, the FEANIX is planned to operate alongside crewed fighters starting from the 2030s.

The Airbus Wingman concept aircraft, which broke cover earlier this week, was formally unveiled at the ILA Berlin aerospace show today. More details have now also come to light about the program, which Airbus leadership says should provide a unit cost that’s equivalent to one third that of a modern crewed fighter.
Luftwaffe

The Airbus Wingman Stealth Drone: What We Learned In Berlin

Airbus says it wants the Wingman drone to enter service in the 2030s and to cost about a third as much as a crewed fighter aircraft.

Russia is now installing metal cope cages on Chinese-made DesertCross All Terrain Vehicles.
Russia

Russia Adds Anti-Drone ‘Cope Cages’ To All-Terrain Buggies, Motorcycles

In an effort to protect these small, highly-mobile vehicles from marauding drones, Russians have installed do-it-yourself armor.

DONETSK OBLAST, UKRAINE - MAY 1: A drone operator, a Ukrainian soldier of the 56th Motorized Brigade with the call sign "Indianets", prepares a combat FPV drone in the Bakhmut area on May 1, 2024 in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. Ukrainian drones operators of the 56th Motorized Brigade are using combat FPV drones to destroy enemy targets and conduct round-the-clock reconnaissance in the Bakhmut area. (Photo by Yevhenii Vasyliev/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
Ukraine

Competition To Supply Ukraine With FPV Drones Gets Underway

As FPV drones rapidly redefined the battlefield, Ukraine's appetite for them has exploded.

The latest iteration of Russia’s TOS series of thermobaric rocket launchers has been seen, apparently for the first time, in military service. The TOS-3 Dragon was shown during an official event in Russia’s southwest Saratov region, with its anti-drone screens pointing directly to experience from the war in Ukraine. With that in mind, it likely won’t be long before we start to see the TOS-3 being deployed in combat, especially as losses of the legacy TOS-1A continue to mount.
TOS-1

Russia’s New TOS-3 ‘Dragon’ Thermobaric Rocket Launcher Breaks Cover

Lessons from the war in Ukraine have been incorporated in the latest Russian thermobaric rocket launcher, the TOS-3 Dragon.

Congress is moving to block the Air Force from retiring or preparing to retire any U-2 spy planes in the next fiscal year.
U-2

U-2 Retirement Reprieve Emerges In Proposed Defense Spending Bill

The Pentagon moved to clear the way last year to end the U-2 program once and for all by 2026, but its replacement remains unclear.

South Korea will resume military drills near the border in the wake of Kim Jong-un's poop balloon incursion.
North Korea

South Korea To End Long Pause In Drills Near DMZ After Poop Balloon Incursions

For South Korea, the launching of about 1,000 trash- and manure-filled balloons was the final straw in a series of provocations by the North.

A USAF Boeing F-15EX flies at low level in Nevada.

How 50 Years Of Eagle Experience Has Shaped The Advanced F-15

Branded Content: Five decades of Eagle production has resulted in the newest F-15 incarnation, which is primed for manned-unmanned teaming.

ERCS doomsday satellite of the Cold War
Nuclear Ballistic Missiles

America’s Cold War Doomsday Satellite

The AN/DRC-8 Emergency Rocket Communications System was built to send the orders for Armageddon when nothing else could.

Photos have emerged showing a U.S. Navy F/A-18E/F Super Hornet carrying what appears to be an air-launched version of the RIM-174 SM-6 missile, a weapon that can counter aerial threats at long ranges, as well as ground and surface targets.
F/A-18E/F

Super Hornet Armed With SM-6 Missile Spotted Over California

F/A-18E/Fs armed with adapted SM-6 surface-to-air missiles that also possess major surface strike capabilities could be a boon for the Navy.

European aviation consortium Airbus has unveiled a new stealthy fighter-sized loyal wingman-type drone concept
Stealth

Stealthy Fighter-Like Wingman Drone Concept Unveiled By Airbus (Updated)

The sleek, tailless, canard-equipped design looks to be optimized for high performance while retaining significant low-observable qualities.

Why no LCAC used in Gaza aid mission.
U.S. Navy

Why Aren’t U.S. Navy LCAC Hovercraft Being Used To Deliver Aid To Gaza?

While the LCACs need no pier, the reason why they haven't been used could be due to semantics and messaging more than operational needs.

A SAM system inside Russia was struck by a HIMARS.
S-300

Ukraine Strikes Long-Range SAM System Inside Russia With U.S. Weapon

The S-300/S-400 SAM system located dozens of miles inside Russia was hit, signally a new phase in Ukraine's air defense destruction campaign.

The Defense Innovation Unit and the US Air Force have picked four different companies design, build, and flight test new low-cost cruise missile concepts.
U.S. Air Force

‘Cheap’ Long-Range Cruise Missile Designs To Be Tested By Air Force

$150K cruise missiles are a priority for the USAF, which could have many thousands of long-range targets to hit in a major conflict.

Ukraine Liman
Russia

Ukraine Situation Report: Kyiv’s Forces Push Back In Kharkiv

Bolstered by strikes on Russian territory using U.S.-supplied munitions, Ukraine is improving its situation in the Kharkiv region.

A government approved air raid shelter on display at Stern's department store
Bunker Talk

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

It's that time again, folks.

The US Air Force has awarded its first contract for the purchase of production Joint Strike Missiles which are set to give its F-35A Joint Strike Fighters a new and capable stand-off strike option against targets on land and at sea.
F-35

USAF F-35s Are Officially Getting Joint Strike Cruise Missiles That Fit In Their Bays

Joint Strike Missiles will give Air Force F-35A new options for conducting stand-off strikes, especially in the maritime domain.

Testing at the Upside-Down Air Force, RADC
U.S. Homeland

The Fascinating Story Of The USAF’s “Upside-Down Air Force”

From fighters to tankers, the Upside-Down Air Force has tested numerous inverted aircraft since the early 1970s.

Progressively clearer photos of one of Shenyang’s prototype fighters seems to reveal key features different to those found on the carrier-based J-35, as well as on the earlier FC-31 prototypes. This raises questions about China’s own plans for a potential land-based variant, as well as future export plans, with Pakistan known to have made official plans to acquire a version of the jet.
J-31

Land-Based Variant Of China’s J-35 Naval Stealth Fighter Makes Sense

Mounting evidence of a new land-based version of the J-35 fighter points to what could be a big boost for PLAAF modernization efforts.

A U.S. B-2A Spirit bomber assigned to the 509th Bomb Wing and a Royal Netherlands air force F-35A conduct aerial operations in support of Bomber Task Force Europe 20-2 over the North Sea March 18, 2020. Bomber missions provide opportunities to train and work with NATO allies and theater partners in combined and joint operations and exercises.
F-35A

Dutch F-35s Take On A Full Nuclear Role

As of tomorrow, a Dutch F-35A squadron will be the first in Europe to have full responsibility for nuclear strike with the stealth fighter.