10/14/2025 France Turns Mirage 2000D Fighters Into Shahed Hunters After Lessons From Ukraine  France is preparing to modify its fleet of Mirage 2000D fighter jets to intercept long-range suicide drones such as Iran’s Shahed-136, according to Opex360 on October 12. The move is part of a broader effort to develop a cost-effective aerial platform for countering UAV threats, taking cues from Ukraine’s experience defending against Russian drone attacks. |
10/14/2025 America’s F-22 Edge: The USAF Outpaces NATO in Both Stealth and Scale  The F-22 Raptor began a new era of aircraft in 2005–the fifth generation. As the first of this new generation, the Raptor featured a combination of stealth and speed that had never been seen before. While there have been new additions to the fifth generation, the F-22 is the poster child of this class. This aircraft alone sets the United States light years ahead of its NATO allies. |
10/14/2025 Swedish Armed Forces to receive first JAS 39 Gripen E fighters  The Swedish Armed Forces is set to receive their first Saab JAS 39 Gripen E fighter jets on October 20, 2025, during a formal handover ceremony at Skaraborg Air Wing (F 7) in Såtenäs, marking a major milestone in Sweden’s long-term defense modernization. During the ceremony, a pilot from the Swedish Defense Materiel Administration (FMV) will land one of the new aircraft and hand the logbook to Air Force Chief Jonas Wikman, symbolically transferring the jet into Swedish Air Force service. |
10/14/2025 Boeing unveils concept for Army unmanned tiltrotor aircraft amid military push for drones  Boeing is designing a tiltrotor drone wingman concept to support the Army’s helicopter fleet, similar to the Air Force’s push for collaborative combat aircraft, as the Army rushes to field unmanned drones. Renderings for the CxR aircraft revealed by Boeing on Monday at the Association of the U.S. Army’s conference in Washington. The company’s pitch would place unmanned vertical-takeoff-and-landing aircraft alongside Army helicopters in combat and cargo operations. |
10/14/2025 Sukhoi Fighter Jet-Launched ‘Boosted’ Grom-E1 Glide Bomb Hits Dnipro: Deep Strike Exposes Ukraine’s Eroding Air Defense?  On October 9, 2025, at approximately 18:15 local time (UTC+3), Russian forces struck a target in the Chechel district of Dnipro city, located roughly 120 km inside Ukrainian-controlled territory from the nearest front line in the Zaporizhzhia direction. A video posted on social media showed a blurred object flying through the night sky toward its target, followed by images of a column of dark gray smoke rising above the city. |
10/13/2025 Belgium to Receive First F-35A Fighters on October 13  Belgium will receive its first four F-35A fighter jets at Florennes Air Base on October 13, according to the service. Belgian Air Force pilots were preparing to fly these aircraft from the US to Europe over the weekend. The delivery initiates the next step in Belgium’s transition from F-16s to fifth-generation fighters. |
10/13/2025 The U.S. could move forward with the sale of new AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles for the Pakistan Air Force’s F-16 fighters  While the attention of the defense community has focused on the performance of new Chinese-origin platforms such as the JF-17 Thunder and J-10CE, the F-16 fighters remain one of the main pillars of the Pakistan Air Force’s combat aviation. Given their importance, the U.S. government could move forward—at Islamabad’s request—with the provision of new AMRAAM air-to-air missiles to equip them, according to a recent contract dated September 30 published by the Department of Defense. |
10/12/2025 India is now lead supplier of fuel additives for Russia’s fighter jets, Ukrainian think tank warns  India is now believed to be the biggest supplier of fuel additives used to enhance the capabilities of Russian fighter jets, according to a new report. More than half a dozen Indian companies – suppliers and manufacturers based in Delhi and Mumbai – were found to have supplied nearly half of the total of Russia’s imported fuel additives in 2024, a Kyiv-based think tank has found. |
10/12/2025 Canada’s F-35 Fighter Program Has Passed The Point Of No Return  A strong case is made that Canada is already “all-in” on acquiring the F-35, with the final contract signing being a mere formality. The proof lies in irreversible actions already underway: Canadian pilot training slots are booked in the U.S. for 2026, and air bases like Cold Lake and Bagotville are undergoing major upgrades to F-35 standards. The F-35 is not a standalone purchase but the “keystone” of a broader, integrated strategy to modernize Canada’s Arctic and NORAD defenses. |
10/12/2025 Ka-52 Attack Helicopter Crashes in Russia: Crew Did Not Survive .jpg) Russia has suffered another loss of combat aircraft – a Ka-52 Alligator attack helicopter crashed. The incident was reported by Russian propagandist Fighterbomber, who published an emotional post. Another Russian propaganda outlet, Voyevoda Veshchayet, reported that two ‘experienced’ pilots were killed. The Ministry of Defence of Russia has not commented on the situation, and there is no public information about the crash site or the circumstances of the incident. |