Military Aviation

Twelve combat-hardened Afghan air force pilots and one of their crew chiefs are holed up in Tajikistan asking Canada to come and get them. The pilots, who flew attack helicopters and aircraft against the Taliban, grabbed a “Hellfire Caravan,” a Cessna 208 that carries Hellfire air-to-ground missiles, as the Taliban closed in on the airport […]

The Department of the Air Force has officially activated its Space Training and Readiness Command (STARCOM), the third field command of the U.S. Space Force. Brig. Gen. Shawn Bratton, who has been leading the STARCOM planning team since February 2021, assumed command of STARCOM in a ceremony held at Colorado’s Peterson Space Force Base on […]

Some airline crews will get some exotic new destinations in their logbooks as they head to the Middle East to help evacuate people from Afghanistan. The federal government has activated Stage I of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF) and will take over deployment of 18 airliners and freighters to help get the Americans, Afghans […]

The U.S. Navy and Boeing successfully refueled a Navy E-2D Hawkeye command and control aircraft using an MQ-25 Stingray unmanned aircraft system (UAS/drone) on Wednesday. The mission was the second carrier-based aircraft unmanned refueling mission to be completed using the Boeing-owned MQ-25TM T1 test asset following the successful refueling of a Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet […]

A team led by Boeing has completed a new demonstration of manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T) capabilities. Conducted in a “virtual environment,” the demonstration used Northrop Grumman’s portable E-2D Advanced Hawkeye simulator along with Boeing’s F/A-18 Super Hornet and MQ-25 Stingray uncrewed aerial refueling drone simulations. According to Boeing, the mission scenarios demonstrated included the “E-2D successfully […]

Bell Textron introduced several new aircraft design concepts on Monday that will use the company’s high-speed vertical takeoff and landing (HSVTOL) technology. The concepts include features such as low downwash hover capability, cruise speeds over 400 knots and runway independence. The technology is being developed primarily for military applications. “Bell’s HSVTOL technology is a step […]

Congress has ordered the Department of Defense to fix an issue with the F-35 breathing system that has pilots alternately gasping for air or awash in pure oxygen. As part of the 2022 appropriations for the military, the House Armed Services Committee has told the military to take action on a NASA study that found […]

Most highway landings are unplanned but there’s a lot of preparation going on for a military exercise in Michigan next month. The military is planning to set four A-10s and two C-146 (military Dornier 328s) down on a stretch of State Highway M-32 near the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center in northern Michigan on Aug. […]

Russia is reportedly working on a new airborne command and control aircraft that would be used in case of nuclear war or some other catastrophe. The so-called “Doomsday” plane will be based on an Il-96-400M airliner and will replace the current fleet of Il-80 aircraft modified for that purpose. The new aircraft will have a […]

A planespotter is being credited with potentially preventing the loss of an Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle and its pilot when he reported a malfunction with the aircraft as it left a base in the U.K. Ian Simpson was indulging his passion at the business end of the Royal Air Force base at Lakenheath in […]