Military Aviation

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 […]

The U.S. military’s first war ace since Vietnam is fighting an enemy his predecessors couldn’t have imagined. Marine Capt. Earl Ehrhart has shot down seven explosives-packed suicide drones with his Harrier jump jet in the Navy’s effort to keep Red Sea shipping lanes open. The military defines an ace as any crew member whose aircraft […]

Autonomous flight pioneer Merlin has signed a deal with the Air Force that could eventually lead to its aircraft being refueled by autonomously flown KC-135 tankers. Merlin announced that the deal involves a stepped process of gradually integrating its technology into the 60-year-old airframes in a “multi-year” program. The first step is adding capabilities that […]

The B-21 Raider is already in “low rate production” even though flight testing has just begun. The stealth nuclear strike bomber had its first flight two months ago and the prototype is undergoing testing at Edwards Air Force Base as operational aircraft are being assembled at Northrop Grumman’s plant at nearby Palmdale. “This past fall, […]

Hampton, Virginia-based Advanced Aircraft Company (AAC) announced today (Jan. 17) it has received a $1.25 million U.S. Air Force contract to further develop its Hybrid Advanced Multirotor Unmanned Aircraft System (HAMR). The contract falls under the USAF AFWERX (shorthand for “Air Force works”) program. AAC’s HAMR program addresses the USAF Agile Combat Employment (ACE) concept, […]

The military-modified Boeing 737 carrying U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinkin experienced what officials described as a critical oxygen leak, just before its scheduled departure for Washington from the global summit in Davos, Switzerland. Blinken and his party were forced to take another aircraft home from Zurich. A State Department spokesperson told reporters the aircraft […]