Richard Thomas

RAF Typhoon marks first air-to-air kill over Syria

A Royal Air Force (RAF) Typhoon has shot down an uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) while operating over Syria, marking the first operational air-to-air engagement conducted by the type in UK service

Airbus H160 helicopter News Premium

Airbus nets French Guépard deal to close out sales year

Airbus looks to have been the beneficiary of an €8.6bn deal for the development, manufacture and delivery of more than 160 H160M ‘Guépard’ helicopters for the French Armed Forces

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USAF challenges: Retaining the combat edge

Balancing the need to sustain its fleet while embarking on key bomber and fighter procurement programmes, the US Air Force finds itself pressured as the demand to meet new challenges increases

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Skynet Evolutions - Analysis of UK milsatcom

As the first metal is cut for the UK’s future Skynet 6 military satellites, Richard Thomas takes a closer look at the history of the programme

UK F-35B News Premium

UK assumes risk of F-35B loss every 30,000 hours

The crash of a UK F-35B Lightning II fighter during take-off from the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth (R08) in the Mediterranean Sea recently came only one-third of the way into the planned for risk of loss of an airframe, based on fleet flight hours conducted

A UK Merlin Mk4 in flight News Premium

Bundle of surplus UK Merlin kit offered for sale

The UK Ministry of Defence’s Defence Equipment & Support is selling more than 1,000 pieces of equipment previously utilised by the country’s Merlin rotary fleet, valued at more than £45m in total

RAF bases News Premium

Exclusive: RAF bases record hundreds of bird strikes or near-misses

More than 250 bird strikes or near-misses have been recorded at Royal Air Force (RAF) bases in the Southern and Eastern Regions since 2017, including a high of 73 incidents reported by RAF aircrews in 2020, with a further 46 up to October 28 this year

BAE Systems has been contracted to develop synthetic training systems for RAF Typhoon pilots Feature Premium

Synth Wave: UK military embraces virtual training

For much of the past decade, the UK military has been busy shifting its real-world pilot training into synthetic environments, looking to utilise simulators instead of expensive fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, whose precious flight hours are considered better spent elsewhere

NATO meeting to amend Article 5 Feature Premium

Peace on Earth? NATO rewrites Article 5 to include space

NATO has rewritten the Article 5 clause of the North Atlantic Treaty to include the space domain for the first time, meaning that an attack on a member’s space-orientated assets could incur a response from across the alliance

Romanian IAR-330 helicopter News Premium

Romania continues IAR-330L sustainment ahead of post-2030 replacement

Romania will operate its IAR-330L helicopters into the 2030s before considering a replacement of the type, as the Ministry of Defence awards a contract to IAR Brasov for sustainment services as part of an ongoing maintenance programme