12/8/2023 141 F-16 Vipers Geared-Up To Thwart Potential Chinese Invasion As Taiwan Completes Final Flight Testing .jpg) As China aggressively pushes boundaries in the Indo-Pacific, there is a proliferation of advanced Western-origin fighters like F-16s, Rafales, and F-35s underway in the region. In a significant development that took place recently, the last F-16 fighter, upgraded to the F-16V standard as part of the Feng Zhan or Phoenix Rising program, completed flight testing in Taiwan, paving the way for the induction of these jets in the Taiwanese Air Force. |
12/8/2023 Ukraine Destroyed a Russian Su-24M Strike Aircraft over the Black Sea  Ukrainian anti-aircraft gunners successfully downed a Russian Su-24M (NATO reporting name "Fencer-D") over the Black Sea on Tuesday. The Soviet-era supersonic, all-weather tactical bomber was reported to be near Snake Island (also known as Zmiinyi Island), which is about 30 miles from the Ukrainian coastline and near Romania. |
12/8/2023 South Korea to upgrade its F-15 fighter jets  According to Dong-A Ilbo, this transformation involves outfitting the cockpit, radar, and other components with state-of-the-art equipment to introduce an advanced variant. Boeing representatives disclosed ongoing discussions between the U.S. and South Korea during a meeting held on October 29th at the Boeing Mesa facility in Arizona. They highlighted the imminent shift towards a new model by integrating cutting-edge technology into the entire front section of the aircraft. |
12/8/2023 Defense bill would let Air Force retire A-10s, F-15s — but not F-22s  A compromise defense policy bill released Wednesday night would grant the Air Force’s request to retire older F-15 Eagle fighters, A-10 Warthogs, and other aircraft, but again block its attempt to mothball 32 older F-22A Raptors. And lawmakers want to see more of the Air Force’s plans for folding drone wingmen known as collaborative combat aircraft into its fleet at an affordable rate, and how it plans to create the Next Generation Air Dominance future fighter platform. |
12/7/2023 Taiwan tracks 10 Chinese military aircraft, 6 naval ships around nation  The Ministry of National Defense (MND) tracked 10 Chinese military aircraft and six naval vessels around Taiwan between 6 a.m. on Wednesday (Dec. 6) and 6 a.m. on Thursday (Dec. 7)
Of the 10 People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, one BZK-005 reconnaissance drone crossed the Taiwan Strait median line in the southwest sector of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ), according to the MND. Meanwhile, one Shenyang J-11 fighter jet entered the southwest corner of the ADIZ. |
12/7/2023 US military grounds entire fleet of Osprey aircraft in wake of deadly crash in Japan  The military announced late Wednesday it was grounding all of its Osprey V-22 helicopters, one week after eight Air Force Special Operations Command service members died in a crash off the coast of Japan. The Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps took the extraordinary step of grounding hundreds of aircraft after a preliminary investigation of last week's crash indicated that a materiel failure — that something went wrong with the aircraft — and not a mistake by the crew led to the deaths. |
12/7/2023 Netherlands human rights groups challenge F-35 fighter jet parts export to Israel  Human rights groups Oxfam Novib, PAX, and The Rights Forum are seeking to halt the Dutch government‘s export of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel in a hearing that began Monday. During summary proceedings in front of the Hague District Court , they argued that such exports make the Netherlands complicit in potential war crimes, pointing to Israel‘s alleged use of these planes in attacks on Gaza. The Israel-Hamas war has resulted in more than 15,000 civilian casualties. |
12/5/2023 China Reveals ‘World’s Longest Air-To-Air Missile’; PL-17 Missile Spotted On PLAAF’s J-16 Fighter Jet  China has reportedly revealed its longest-range air-to-air missile (AAM), the PL-17, on a J-16 fighter, putting to rest speculations about what the missile looks like after its existence began to be noted a few years ago. |
12/5/2023 The U.S. Air Force Is in Serious Decline  In September, the United States Air Force celebrated another birthday. At age 76, it is in bad shape. Despite lowering qualification standards, it cannot attract enough recruits to fill its ranks. The size and serviceability of its combat aircraft are at all-time lows. And truncated training has weakened pilot readiness. |
12/4/2023 Navy ‘safely’ recovers military spy plane stuck in Kaneohe Bay for almost 2 weeks  The Navy announced they ‘safely’ recovered the Military plane that overshot the runway and has been stuck in Kaneohe Bay for almost two weeks. Navy officials say it took meticulous planning and assembling specialized equipment from off island, a multidisciplinary team of military and civilian experts to carefully raise the P-8A Poseidon from the bay. |