Military Aviation News Archive
10/08/2025
Details remain scant about an unspecified U.S. Air Force aircraft, widely believed to be a drone of some kind, which came down in southern Nevada not far from Area 51 nearly two weeks ago. Whether the aircraft was ever actually inside Area 51’s highly restricted airspace, also known as “The Box,” is unknown. The mishap prompted authorities to temporarily close the airspace above the crash site, with some exemptions, while the wreckage was cleared.
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10/08/2025
India and Brazil are in talks over a landmark defense deal that could see both nations swap high-value military platforms instead of paying in cash, according to local media. While specifics remain undisclosed, reports suggest New Delhi would acquire Brazil’s Embraer C-390 Millennium transport aircraft, while Brasília would receive an equivalent value of Indian-made defense systems.
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10/08/2025
The appearance of purported photos of the Russian Sukhoi Su-75 Checkmate fighter aircraft has created a stir in the combat aviation community. Images show what appears to be the preparation of a flying prototype for a flight test on a tarmac. That facility is assessed to be the factory aerodrome of the Komsomolsk-na-Amure Aviation Production Association (KNAAPO) in Khabarovsk Province, Russian Far East.
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10/08/2025
After months of delay, the Pentagon will select as soon as this week the defense company to design and build the Navy's next stealth fighter, a U.S. official and two people familiar with the decision said, in what will be a multibillion-dollar effort for a jet seen as central to U.S. efforts to counter China.
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10/07/2025
This month, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported that China has revealed a previously undisclosed aerial confrontation in 2024 involving a domestically produced J-16 fighter jet and two unidentified foreign stealth aircraft near its coastal waters, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
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10/07/2025
NATO allies are increasing pressure on Greece to transfer part of its Mirage 2000-5 fighter fleet to Ukraine amid the Russian invasion. The push reflects broader NATO efforts to reinforce Kyiv’s air defenses using allies’ stockpiles, according to Piraeus-based news agency Kathimerini.
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10/07/2025
The Air Force may upgrade 35 older F-22 Block 20 Raptors once slated for retirement, converting training airframes into combat-coded jets to bolster stealth capacity before sixth-generation NGAD arrives. Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works says talks center on adding modern sensors, infrared search-and-track, electronic warfare, open-mission systems, and manned-unmanned teaming links for Collaborative Combat Aircraft.
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10/07/2025
The U.S. Navy’s maintainers have had to strip submarines and fighter jets for spare parts to repair other planes and subs, a government watchdog found. In at least one case, mechanics repairing a Navy fighter jet could not repair a radio because the cables needed for the job were only available from the manufacturer.
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10/07/2025
Spain is reportedly considering acquiring Turkey’s incoming fifth-generation KAAN fighter jets after shelving plans to purchase US-made F-35s in August in favor of European-built platforms. Madrid’s alleged interest in the KAAN is tied to growing defense ties with Ankara, including the prominent presence of Turkish defense companies at the Madrid defense fair in May and Spain’s acquisition of the Hürjet training aircraft in July, according to El Economista.
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10/06/2025
Human rights lawyers and the Greens are accusing the federal government of "hiding" details of Australia's involvement in a global supply chain Israel uses to maintain its F-35 fighter jets.
A page on the Department of Defence website once explained how the global F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program was "transforming Australian industry".
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10/06/2025
Raytheon has announced a new variant of its APG-82 radar for the F-15EX fighter aircraft that offers increased effective range without requiring additional power. The new solution was unveiled during the Air, Space and Cyber Conference in mid-September.
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10/06/2025
A newly leaked document allegedly from Russian state defense conglomerate Rostec appears to outline detailed pricing, delivery schedules, and export plans for advanced Sukhoi fighter jets destined for several foreign clients — including Iran, Algeria, and Ethiopia. The material was published online on October 3 by the hacker collective Black Mirror, which claims to have accessed more than 300 internal documents from Rostec’s systems.
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10/06/2025
Turkish drone maker Baykar Technologies has completed the second captive munition flight test of its Kizilelma unmanned fighter jet, this time using Roketsan’s TEBER-82 precision-guided bomb. The test involved two 500-pound TEBER-82 laser and GNSS-guided bombs mounted on external hardpoints of the Kizilelma PT-3 prototype.
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10/06/2025
While much of the attention in recent years has been focused on the development and production of the new KAI KF-21 Boramae, the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) has also been making steady progress in other capability enhancement programs. In particular, the one centered on upgrading 134 of its KF-16 Fighting Falcon fighters to the Block 72 Viper standard, with confirmation last September that the flight simulators will also be brought up to the same new configuration.
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10/05/2025
A leaked document regarding KRET equipment for Russian fighter jets to be exported revealed that Iran will receive 48 Su-35 fighters to modernise its fleet. The leaked document was shared on social media platforms, which provides information on the amount of the state-owned KRET’s RF equipment.
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10/04/2025
Two new F-16 fighter jets arrived in Bulgaria on October 3 in fulfillment of the 2019 contract, the country’s Defence Ministry said. The aircraft landed at the Graf Ignatievo near Bulgaria’s city of Plovdiv. Of the combat aircraft that arrived on October 3, one is a single-seater and one a double-seater, the Defence Ministry said.
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10/04/2025
With the Trump administration’s counter-narcotics operations in the Caribbean expanding to become a “non-international armed conflict,” the prospects of some kind of confrontation between the U.S. military and Venezuela are rising, too. On top of the counter-narcotics effort, some officials in the Trump administration are pushing to oust Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro.
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10/04/2025
The United States Air Force’s Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk has officially been “retired” from service. Yet the twin-engine stealth attack aircraft continues to turn up in the most unexpected places—and at times doing the quite unexpected. So it was earlier this week, when trade publication The Aviationist reported that two of the advanced Nighthawk fighters were seen being refueled from a Boeing KC-46 Pegasus tanker on Tuesday over Los Angeles.
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10/03/2025
The Air National Guard lost a fighter unit Sept. 23 when the Maryland National Guard formally ended the A-10C Thunderbolt II mission at Warfield Air National Guard Base outside of Baltimore. The last A-10 departed the base two days later. The 104th Fighter Squadron had operated the aircraft for 45 years. The action was part of an Air Force plan announced in March 2024 to convert the 175th Wing from a dual-mission wing to an exclusively cyber wing.
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10/03/2025
In US President Donald Trump’s view, NATO countries have every right to shoot down Russian jets and drones crossing into their airspace. The alliance Secretary General Mark Rutte took a similar stance, saying members can target Russian drones and airplanes “if necessary.” CEPA asked its military and security experts: How should NATO respond? Their warning is clear — the alliance must establish and enforce clear red lines or risk the collapse of the very deterrence on which it relies.
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10/02/2025
A Dutch Air Force F-35 fighter jet has shot down a Russian Shahed drone, as evidenced by a marking left on the aircraft’s fuselage, according to Defensie.nl. As evidence, the outlet published a photo of the aircraft featuring a marking of a Russian attack drone on its fuselage.
The downing likely occurred in Polish airspace on September 10.
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10/02/2025
Japan and the United Kingdom are deepening their defense ties as security challenges grow across the Indo-Pacific and Europe. Following the U.K. Carrier Strike Group’s three-week visit to Japan in August and September 2025, which included joint fighter jet training over the Sea of Japan, the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) dispatched F-15 fighters and support aircraft to Europe and North America for unit-to-unit exchanges.
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10/02/2025
In an interview with the BBC on Sunday, First Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Lieutenant General Ivan Havrylyuk, warned that Russia is poised to increase its airstrikes and said that more Western aircraft are desperately needed. Havrylyuk added that help is on the way and that Kyiv is expected to receive “additional deliveries of F-16 aircraft, as well as French Mirage and Swedish Gripen” jet fighters.
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10/02/2025
The Air Force is racing toward 2035 with a simple idea: keep the edge by mixing a few game-changers with smarter versions of what already works. The B-21 Raider sneaks in first; the B-52J lugs big magazines from afar. Up top, the new F-47 NGAD leads with stealth and sensor fusion while “loyal wingman” drones add mass. In the middle, refreshed classics—F-15EX for big weapons and jamming, a “Super” F-22, and a “Ferrari-ized” F-35—stretch every dollar.
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10/02/2025
The Air Force is laying the groundwork to start incorporating the T-7A Red Hawk into its pilot training operations. But the service is still about two years away from the first student pilots learning in the new, fifth-generation, Boeing-made jet. Before that can happen, the Air Force has to train its own trainers, said Air Education and Training Command deputy commander Maj. Gen. Clark Quinn.
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