Angry Kitten pod: the future of electronic warfare?
The US Air Force’s Angry Kitten electronic warfare training pod is being developed as an operational system to enhance the self-protection of the air force’s uninhabited aerial vehicles.
The curious tale of how two airshow Strikemasters ended up in an African civil war
In February 2003, two aircraft best-known for flying at British airshows left the UK for ‘film work’ in South Africa — but neither ever arrived there. How did two BAC Strikemasters repeatedly slip through the fingers of customs officials, and end up taking part in one of Africa’s bloodiest civil wars?
Aeroplane meets Jim Tobul
The American warbird pilot who honours both the Korean War and his late father with a fine F4U Corsair
Mighty Mirage 2000 hits 40
In July 1984, the Mirage 2000 entered service at Dijon, with Escadron de Chasse 1/2 ‘Cigognes’ becoming the first front-line operator of the delta interceptor. Forty years later, as Henri-Pierre Grolleau reports, EC 1/2 still flies the ‘Deux Mille’, albeit in the Mirage 2000-5F variant and from Luxeuil. With the recent announcement of the transfer of Mirage 20005Fs to Ukraine, its immediate future is unclear.
New life for the BelugaST
As the Airbus BelugaST celebrates 30 years in the skies, Thomas Haynes travels to Toulouse/ Francazal to visit Airbus Beluga Transport, to find out how the airframes have found a new calling carrying cargo for commercial clients
The intricate process of loading the Airbus BelugaXL
With a BelugaXL making a rare visit to Heathrow today we present a in-depth article on this unusual cargo aircraft that was published in the January 2022 issue of Aviation News...
Mark Broadbent profiles this distinctive airlifter and learns about the intricate process of loading wings onto Airbus’ unique in-house transport jet
End in sight for French nuclear Boeings
With all the C-135FRs now replaced with Airbus A330 MRTTs, the final three French Boeing KC-135RGs of the 4/31 Sologne Refueling Squadron are all that is left of the mighty Boeing fleet. Frédéric Lert details how their retirement is now planned for 2025
REVEALED: Electronic Intelligence gathering Chipmunks over Berlin
Cold War Berlin, and the RAF Gatow Station Flight’s Chipmunks are a familiar sight over the city, carrying out photographic ‘spy’ sorties that brought back imagery of the highest value. But sometimes they undertook another, even more clandestine task, one that’s not been publicly documented until now: the gathering of electronic intelligenc
The Qatari Amiri Flight
Babak Taghvaee recounts the history and recent activities of the VIP fleet of the Qatar Amiri Flight
SR-71 Blackbirds in Britain
Bob Archer celebrates the 50th anniversary of the mysterious black SR-71 arriving in the UK