Military Aviation

The U.S. Air Force announced yesterday (April 3) that the first three F-16 fighters have arrived at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida for autonomous flight modifications. The USAF 96th Test Wing and 53rd Wing accepted the Fighting Falcons for participation in the Viper Experimental and Next-gen Operations Model – Autonomy Flying Testbed (VENOM-AFT) program. […]

The Marines have trained their last two AV-8 Harrier II pilots as the Corps begins the final phaseout of the VTOL jet. “The significance of the last replacement pilot training flight in the Harrier community is that it is the beginning of the end for us as a community,” said Capt. Joshua Corbett, who with Capt. […]

The U.S. Navy has modified its multi-aircraft contract with Boeing for the remaining 17 F/A-18E/F Super Hornets. The Navy calls the $1.1 billion deal adjustment a “win.” Contract talks between Boeing and the Navy had stalled last year over pricing, which was bringing the cost per airframe closer to the tab for a fifth-generation Lockheed […]

The U.S. Marine Corps’ latest airplane acquisition is a supersonic interceptor that first flew off the drawing board 65 years ago. The Marines are buying 22 Northrop F-5 Tigers from the Swiss air force. The first one was loaded on a C-130 on March 18 for the trip back to the U.S. where it will […]

As revealed in Monday’s 1,040-page Pentagon budget justification document on its 2025 budget, the Air Force’s T-7A “Red Hawk” trainer program is facing yet another delay. Entry into service is now projected for mid-2028, a full year’s delay from the last published date. Air Force spokesman Andrew Hunter told reporters yesterday (March 12) that a […]

Ukraine claims it has damaged or destroyed another Russian AWACs plane, this time while it was on the ground. Newsweek is reporting the high value A-50 was hit when Ukraine launched a mass drone attack against a repair facility in Taganrog, just east of the front lines. Russian officials acknowledged the attack, saying they downed […]

The U.S. military cleared the V-22 Osprey aircraft to return to service after an unprecedented component failure led to the death of eight service members in Japan last November. The nature of the failure was not released. AP reported the crash was the second fatal in months and the fourth within a span of two […]

Ukraine officials say their military shot down a second Russian A-50 aerial command and control aircraft in less than a month but there are also reports the plane was downed by friendly fire. Whatever happened, it appears to be confirmed that the $330 million aircraft, one of eight in the Russian Air Force inventory, went […]

The Department of Defense said the balloon that was being tracked and intercepted over Utah on Friday was identified as a hobbyist balloon, according to a new report from CBS News. The balloon has since left U.S. airspace and is over the Atlantic if it’s still airborne. The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), responsible for air defense […]

Officials with the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command remain cautious but are eager to relaunch operations of the CV-22 Osprey tiltrotor. Their concern focuses on the Nov. 29 Osprey crash off the coast of Japan in which eight airmen were killed. At a press roundtable discussion yesterday (Feb. 13), Lt. General Tony Bauernfeind, who […]