Location selected for Slovak F-16 pilot training
Slovak Air Force pilots will train to fly the F-16C/D Block 70 Fighting Falcon with the Arizona Air National Guard’s 162nd Wing at Morris Air National Guard Base in Tucson, the USAF announced on November 15
Poland conducts highway landing ops for first time in two decades
For the first time in 20 years, the Polish Air Force has conducted landings and take-offs using a public road. Bartosz Głowacki reports on the action from beside the highway airstrip
Pentagon confirms USAF MQ-9As are operating over Gaza
The Pentagon Press Secretary, Brig Gen Pat Ryder, recently confirmed that the USAF has been carrying out “unarmed UAV flights over Gaza” since October 7 in support of “hostage recovery efforts”
USAF B-52Hs pay historic visit to South Korea
A routine Bomber Task Force (BTF) mission by a pair of B-52H Stratofortress strategic bombers from the USAF’s 2nd Bomb Wing (BW) provided the backdrop for a historic visit by one of the aircraft to South Korea, marking the first time the veteran ‘BUFF’ had landed in the nation for years
Boeing completes ‘hat trick’ of USAF KC-46A deliveries
Boeing Defense has recently delivered a further three KC-46A Pegasus tankers to the USAF from the firm’s production facility at King County International Airport (otherwise known as Boeing Field) in Seattle, Washington
USAF's third F-15EX Eagle II takes flight ahead of delivery
Boeing completed the first flight of the third F-15EX Eagle II for the USAF on October 27, some ten weeks after the new fighter was rolled off the assembly line. That day, two sorties were flown from the firm’s facility at St Louis Lambert International Airport in St Louis, Missouri
Israel scores F-35's first confirmed cruise missile kill
An Israeli Air Force-operated F-35I Adir (or ‘Mighty One’) has been credited with scoring the type’s first known air-to-air kill against a cruise missile on October 31, probably using an AIM-9X Sidewinder short-range air-to-air missile to achieve this feat
USAF’s 9th ERS swaps Dragons at Fairford
Two U-2S Dragon Lady high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft assigned to the 99th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron – a component of the USAF’s 9th Reconnaissance Wing – arrived at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, UK, on November 3 for the unit’s biannual rotation to and from RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus, and Beale AFB, California
Omega KDC-10 tanker refuels deployed USAF F-16Cs in new first
The USAF recently conducted the first commercial air-to-air refuelling of F-16C Fighting Falcon fighters while supporting a deployment in the Indo-Pacific theatre
Canadian Hornet fleet deemed ‘not credible’ as it suffers instructor shortage
A report by the UK-based RUSI – commissioned by the Canadian Department of National Defence – was leaked to The Globe and Mail newspaper, revealing that its author, Professor Justin Bronk, had assessed that Canada’s CF-188A/B Hornet fighter fleet may be unable to meet its commitments, judging that it was “not credible in a NATO context against many of the higher-end mission sets”
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.
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