Partners Fund 68% of Lockheed’s $43.7 Million F-35 Threat-Data Lab Upgrade
International partners are supplying roughly 68% of a $43.7 million Lockheed Martin award to upgrade the ground laboratories that build…
military aviation
Satellite Image Puts B-21 Raider Wingspan at 152 Feet, Near B-2
A commercial satellite image has produced a substantially revised estimate of the Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider’s size. Measurements taken from…
Lockheed Martin’s 850-Jet F-35 Agreement Still Needs Congress
At least 850 F-35 fighter jets over 10 years and a stated production pace of 156 aircraft annually form the…
Around 20 US Military Flights Signal Taura Expansion After Ecuador Rejects Bases
About 20 US military flights, newly cleared ground and rapidly deployable structures are changing the operating picture at Ecuador’s Taura…
RAF Plans Chinook and A400M Firefighting Without Aircraft Count or Start Date
Britain has assigned two Royal Air Force fleets a new domestic mission without saying how much operational capacity it will…
Russia Says Tu-160 Bomber Production Base Rebuilt, 80% of Systems Modernized
Russia says it has rebuilt the industrial foundation needed to manufacture the Tu-160 strategic bomber, potentially reversing the long production…
309th Aircraft Boneyard Preserves 3,000 Planes for Parts or Flight
Before an aircraft joins the long desert rows at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, mechanics remove its fuel, introduce preservative oil…
US Air Force Pulls All RAF Fairford Bombers, Says Missions Can Continue
RAF Fairford has lost its entire deployed U.S. bomber contingent, but the Pentagon says that does not end the Air…
China Reportedly Holds Two Australian F-35 Parts Bound for U.S.
Chinese authorities reportedly took possession of two components from an Australian military F-35 after a UPS shipment bound for the…
V-22 Osprey Gearbox Output Puts 2027 Retrofit Goal in Doubt
The Pentagon’s goal of replacing proprotor gearboxes across the V-22 Osprey fleet by 2027 is running into a basic production…
Older Super Hornets, Growlers, F-15s and F-16s Exit Squadrons in 2026
The familiar names are staying, but many of the oldest aircraft carrying them are not. During 2026, the U.S. Navy…
Air Force Falls 47 Fighters Below Congress’s Statutory Minimum
The U.S. Air Force reported 1,098 fighters on May 5, 2026 47 fewer than the statutory minimum of 1,145 primary-mission,…
F-35 Block 4 Shrinks, Slips to 2031, Adds at Least $6 Billion
The F-35’s next major capability expansion is getting smaller even as it becomes later and more expensive. The reduced Block…
Air Force Says OA-1K Was Lost After Fuel Control Mistake
An Air Force Special Operations Command investigation says an OA-1K Skyraider II was destroyed after a trainee pilot selected the…
NATO Drill Links Three Nations’ F-35s for Shared Eastern-Flank Air Defense
NATO linked F-35 fighters from Denmark, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom with surveillance, refueling, command, naval and land elements…