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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Battle of Britain's forgotten 'Few': a Canadian desperate to join the RAF's fight

The mother of Camille Bon Seigneur said her son was “filled with the highest ideals”. Alas, his participation in the Battle of Britain was to be brief

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Lockheed U-2: everything you've ever wanted to know

In the 2021 special publication Spyplanes, Bob Archer detailed one of America's most notable and famous spy planes, the high-flying Lockheed U-2

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F-22 Raptor: King of the fighters

A recent special publication, ‘The US Air Force at 75’ gave an overview of the world’s premier fighter – the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor 

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KC-135Q Pilot: Special Blackbird procedures and rescuing an SR-71

Pilot Lt Col Erik C Swanson (ret.) concludes his description of serving on the KC-135Q force supporting the SR-71A Blackbird on its secret missions

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F-86 Sabre pilot on fighting MiGs in the Korean War

In the August 2009 issue of FlyPast, Warren E Thompson takes a look at Sabre versus MiG and presents an American pilot’s account of fighting Soviet jets in the Korean War

RAF trials low-level parachute capability on A400M

As the RAF continues to expand and develop the capabilities of its Airbus A400M Atlas C1 fleet, the service revealed on September 7 that it has successfully completed a series of low-level parachute trials on the type

Queen’s final flight sets all-time flight tracking record

The flying of Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin by a Royal Air Force (RAF) C-17 Globemaster III from Edinburgh Airport to RAF Northolt on September 13 set a new flight tracking record, website Flightradar24 has said

USAF’s 16th ACCS completes final Joint STARS flight

The 16th Airborne Command and Control Squadron – a part of the USAF’s 461st Air Control Wing – marked a major milestone on September 8, when the unit flew its final local sortie with the Northrop Grumman E-8C Joint STARS from Robins AFB, Georgia

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Flying the KC-135Q – Global Reach for the SR-71 Blackbird

A force of KC-135Qs was dedicated to air-to-air refuel the SR-71A Blackbird.  In the August 2012 issue of Aviation News pilot Lt Col Erik C Swanson (ret.) described his experiences flying the ‘Q’ variant of the Stratotanker supporting the SR-71A on its secret missions

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USAF Starfighters Scrutinized

Warren E Thompson, in the December 2016 issue of Aviation News, looked back at the USAF career of the iconic Lockheed F-104 Starfighter – including its service in the Vietnam War 

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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