Tailhook 2025

Latest in Tailhook 2025

U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Daniel Cheever, commonly referred to as the service's "Air Boss," is still "eagerly awaiting" a new F/A-XX next-generation carrier-based fighter despite the uncertainty now swirling around that program.

F/A-XX Next Generation Naval Fighter Selection Could Still Happen

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Aug 25, 2025

Naval aviators need to be able to trust any future drone wingmen as much as their human counterparts, a U.S. Navy strike fighter tactics instructor has told TWZ.

Navy Fighter Pilots Need To Gain Trust In Pilotless Wingmen By Actually Flying With Them

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Aug 22, 2025

The Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) has shared new insights with TWZ into its proposal to replace the U.S. Navy’s T-45 Goshawk jet trainers.

Everything We Just Learned About SNC’s Freedom Jet Trainer Aiming To Replace Navy T-45s

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Aug 22, 2025

The Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) has rolled out a new pitch for a successor to the Navy's T-45 Goshawk jet trainers.

SNC’s Freedom Jet Enters Race To Replace Navy’s T-45 Goshawk Trainer

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Aug 21, 2025

Plans To Finally Give F-35 External Fuel Tanks Emerge In New Air Force Budget (Updated)

Plans To Finally Give F-35 External Fuel Tanks Emerge In New Air Force Budget (Updated)

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Jun 30, 2025

For the first time, at least publicly, the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force are seeking funds – nearly $670.5 million in total – to support procurement of AIM-260A Joint Advanced Tactical Missiles (JATM) for operational use in its latest annual budget request.

AIM-260 Air-To-Air Missile Funding To Start Production Sought In New Budget

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Jun 27, 2025

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has called into question the viability of using the C-130J Hercules cargo aircraft as the basis for a new plane, called the E-130J, to support the U.S. Navy's Take Charge And Move Out (TACAMO) mission.

Choice Of C-130 For New Navy ‘Doomsday Plane’ Questioned In Watchdog Report

By Joseph Trevithick

Updated on Jun 12, 2025

More details have emerged about the problems the U.S. Navy is facing with its ill-starred podded Infrared Search And Track System, or IRST, an important capability planned for its F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighters. The latest issues to be highlighted come after TWZ previously reported on delays caused by production quality issues with the system and a Pentagon assessment of “significant reliability problems during operational testing,” which emerged earlier this year.

New Details On F/A-18 Super Hornet’s Troubled IRST Pod

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Jun 11, 2025

The proven and in-production E-7 Wedgetail, based on the Boeing 737 and serving with multiple allies, was supposed to bridge the gap between the E-3's retirement and pushing the mission to space-based distributed satellite constellations. Now, if the administration gets its wish, that won't happen. The E-7 will be cancelled and the Navy's E-2D Hawkeye will step in to fill the gap.

E-2 Hawkeye Replaces USAF E-3 Sentry, E-7 Cancelled In New Budget

By Tyler Rogoway, Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Jun 11, 2025

Pilot-optional F-35 Joint Strike Fighters could be coming in the future as Lockheed Martin looks for ways to ensure the jets remain relevant for decades to come.

What We Just Learned A More Advanced “Ferrari” F-35 Could Include

By Thomas Newdick, Joseph Trevithick

Posted on May 30, 2025

U.S. carrier-based F-35C Joint Strike Fighters have been shooting down Houthi drones in the course of recent operations over and around the Red Sea, in addition to striking targets in Yemen, according to a U.S. official.

F-35C Naval Joint Strike Fighters Have Been Shooting Down Houthi Drones

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Apr 25, 2025

Imagery has emerged of a very rarely seen EA-18G Growler loadout involving four examples of the AGM-88E Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM), during ongoing operations against Houthi targets in Yemen. While we know very little about Houthi air defenses, and their associated radars and sensors, the imagery underscores the continued threat that these present.

EA-18G Bristles With Rare Four Anti-Radiation Missile Loadout On Yemen Mission

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Apr 21, 2025

The U.S. Navy is touting the U.S.-Australian MQ-28 Ghost Bat ‘loyal wingman’ type drone program as a model for future industrial partnerships, while confirming continued U.S. military interest in the drone. The fact that the Navy is now speaking about this is notable, on the one hand because the MQ-28 has so far been seen primarily as a program of interest for the U.S. Air Force, and on the other because the Navy is currently still trying to nail down its carrier-based Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) plans.

MQ-28 Ghost Bat Is Of “Strong Interest” To The U.S. Navy

By Thomas Newdick

Updated on Apr 15, 2025

M346N Navy trainer

Flight Training

M-346N Pitched To Replace Navy’s T-45 Goshawk Jet Trainers

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Apr 9, 2025