Airforce News

On this page you will find news from the world’s airforces including first flights, latest deployments, procurement programs, weapon upgrades, training and technology, fleet retirements, the changing operational theatres and missions.

Whether it is the RAF, France’s Armée de l’air or the United States Airforce, airforces around the world are buying new platforms, choosing between legacy fleets, which maybe Russian, European or American, and building their own domestic capabilities in sub-systems, missiles or whole aircraft.

Whether the manufacturing contracts are for domestic or foreign firms, worldwide instability is driving airforce fleet renewals, recapitalisation and investment in support infrastructure, military technology, offensive and defensive systems, from missiles, super and hypersonic, to chaff and directed infra-red countermeasures.

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USAF now plans to buy less than 100 F-15EXs

As part of its FY25 budget request, the USAF has revealed that it now plans to purchase 18 F-15EXs, rather than the 24 Eagle IIs that were initially set to be acquired. This would take the total planned F-15EX procurement from a total of 104 aircraft to just 98

Pentagon clears Osprey flight operations to resume

The Pentagon has cleared all three variants of the V-22 Osprey to return to flight after what has been a three-month grounding. US Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) initially grounded its CV-22B fleet after the fatal loss of an aircraft on November 29, 2023, before US Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) grounded the rest of the US Osprey force

USAF scales back Grey Wolf acquisition plans

The USAF has scaled back its fielding plans for the MH-139A Grey Wolf multi-mission helicopter, reducing the size of the planned fleet by nearly 50%

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Special 50th anniversary Tornado scheme unveiled

A German Air Force Panavia Tornado IDS has been painted in a special scheme to mark the 50th anniversary of the aircraft type’s first flight.

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The aircraft type you (probably) didn’t know the RAF flies

Those well-versed on the RAF may think they know all the aircraft types flown by the service, but there may be one which has evaded their attention lurking in deepest Nottinghamshire.

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The long way home: 'Kiwi' Corsair back where it belongs!

Following a six-year hiatus, Goodyear FG-1D Corsair NZ5648 has taken to the skies of New Zealand once again – as Gavin Conroy reports

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A-10 Demo Team announce 2024 is final airshow season

The A-10 Demo Team has announced that this will be its last season on the airshow circuit.

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Pentagon unveils $850bn FY25 budget request and eyes further aircraft retirements

Released on March 11, the $849.8bn FY25 President’s Budget for the US Department of Defense (DOD) represents an increase of $7.8bn in spending when compared to the FY24 base request. The $167.6bn procurement budget includes $61.2bn for new military aircraft and related systems

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Brazil bids fond farewell to legacy Hercules fleet

The Força Aérea Brasileira (FAB; Brazilian Air Force) bid a fond farewell to its remaining C-130 Hercules tactical transports at Galeão Air Base (AB) in Rio de Janeiro on February 29, with the type having flown more than 377,000 operational flight hours over the past 60 years

Singapore to buy eight more Lightning IIs

Singapore will acquire eight examples of the conventional take-off and landing (CTOL)-configured F-35A Lightning II fifth-generation multi-role stealth fighter to supplement the 12 short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL)-capable F-35Bs it has already purchased

Your source for all the latest Airforce and military aircraft news

As the latest fifth-generation platform, the Lockheed Martin F-35 is in use globally for international partner airforces, from the United States Airforce (USAF) to the RAF and the Australian airforce, the sixth-generation fighters are already on the drawing board.

Find out which airforces are looking at virtual cockpits, networked platforms and piloted aircraft working with drone wingmen for the stealth fighters of the 2030s and discover which airforces are planning to replace their existing fleets with the fighter planes of the future.

Military Aircraft Retirement and Technology Updates

International forces around the world are deploying military aircraft manufactured in France, Russia and America including aircraft from Saab, France’s Dassault Rafale, Russian Mig-29s and the Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon, which it will operate for years to come.

What will also be flying well into the next decade is the USAF’s Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor air superiority fighter. The next decade will also see the USAF’s newest stealth bomber, the Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider enter service, while the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress strategic bomber will be in its seventh decade of operational service after refurbishments and restorations. This page is the only place you need to be to find out all the latest news on retirements and new deployments.

Be the first to find out which existing platforms such as France’s Dassault Mirage 2000 light weight jet and the Eurofighter Typhoon are facing the need for wholesale technology updates. The Eurofighter is being upgraded for an electronic warfare role in the 2020s and the USAF is improving some of its Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcons with F-35 fifth generation technology.

From restorations to retirement and procurement, international projects for new networked technologies including piloted and autonomous platforms and the contracts to manufacture them, all of this fast-moving defence aviation news and analysis can be found here.

Related Airforce Topics

Want to find out more about other types of military aircraft? We have dedicated pages for the latest Military Aircraft Shows, Military Fighter Aircraft and all the latest cutting-edge Military Aircraft Technology.

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