Special Operations Forces Week 2025
New Drone Boat Unveiled At Special Operations Conference In Afterglow Of Ukrainian Success
The Kraken3 Scout Medium is designed for one-way attacks, counter-drone missions and cargo and personnel delivery.
Stealthy Special Operations Speedboats Are Getting Kamikaze Drone Launchers
The Navy’s future Combatant Craft Medium Mk 2s will gain the ability to launch long-range strikes on their own.
AC-130 Gunship-Launched Black Arrow Small Cruise Missile Has A 400-Mile Range
Leidos is looking at also making the Black Arrow available for ground and sea-based launch platforms, from HIMARS to warships.
Red Dragon Highly-Autonomous One-Way Attack Drone Unveiled
AeroVironment’s Red Dragon, which is said to already be combat proven, can find its own targets and doesn’t need GPS for precision navigation.
Can The OA-1K Skyraider II Actually Be Useful In A Pacific Fight?
The USAF thinks air-launched drones, standoff weapons, and its ability to fly from remote locations may give the OA-1K relevance in high-end combat.
Electronic Warfare Lessons From Ukraine Informing Air Force Special Operations Future
Observations from Ukraine about rapidly adapting platforms and systems to changing battlefield realities is also driving major change in AFSOC.
First OA-1K Skyraider II Handed Over To Air Force Special Operations Command
It took the USAF decades to field a light attack aircraft and many are questioning its relevance in a new age of ‘great power competition.’
Machine Gun With Longer Reach Sought By U.S. Army
A machine gun in .338 Norma Magnum caliber would give Army units significantly greater range than they have now with their 7.62x51mm M240s.
Green Berets Looking For FPV Drones To Help Them Clear Hostile Cave Complexes
SOCOM says these drones would be safer and more effective in some ways than relying soley on military working dogs.
Revised Fold-Away Rotor Aircraft Concepts Emerge From Special Operations X-Plane Program
Fast-flying runway-independent aircraft with folding rotors, crewed and uncrewed, could perform more than just special operations missions.
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.
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.
AC-130J Ghostrider Gunships Will Keep Their 105mm Howitzers, For Now
With a pivot to the Pacific and needing to keep the AC-130 relevant, its armament may change, but its Howitzer will stay put for the time being.
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.
Green Berets Hijacked WiFi To Control Home Security System Then Vanish In Mock Raid
Green Berets also used electronic warfare gear to eliminate evidence of their activities during the realistic infiltration and raiding exercise.
American Special Operations Forces Are At A Crossroads
Nowhere was the great pivot to near-peer threats clearer than at this year’s special operations convention in Tampa, Florida.
Grounded V-22 Osprey “1980s Technology,” Still Critical Capability Says AFSOC Commander
Air Force Special Operations Command’s top officer has no timeline for returning his Osprey’s to the air.