Two jets out of the four sent to Qatar have been allocated specifically to help Bahrain intercept incoming drones, as the US-Israel war with Iran has entered its second week. It comes as Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper landed in Saudi Arabia on Thursday amid continued concern about Iranian threats to the Strait of Hormuz - a key artery for commercial shipping.
British forces have shot down multiple drones across the Middle East over the past 24 hours as Iran continues to retaliate against countries across the region in response to US and Israeli strikes. The UK said that the interception of drones above Jordan marks 'the first time an RAF F-35 has destroyed a target on operations.' The fighters were supported by Typhoon jets and a Voyager tanker aircraft.
Swedish defense prime Saab is exploring the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System as a cheaper armament option for its JAS 39 Gripen fighters, firm executives told Business Insider this week. "The APKWS is in interest because other platforms are now integrating 70mm guided rockets. So we are, of course, eyeing that capability now," Jussi Halmetoja, operations advisor for Saab's air domain, said at the Singapore Airshow. Halmetoja said the company was looking at ways to integrate the weapons system, which uses a guided version of the Hydra 70mm rocket, onto its older Gripen C and latest Gripen E models.
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ŠIAULIAI AIR BASE, Lithuania - A Spanish fighter wing deployed to the Baltics for air patrol missions alongside anti-drone defenses for the first time, a reaction to growing uncrewed threats to European infrastructure. Spain's 15th Wing arrived at Šiauliai Air Base in December to begin a four-month rotation contributing to NATO's Baltic Air Policing mission, designed to protect the airspace around Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. The Crow counter-drone system came with it.
Leonardo owns Britain's last military helicopter manufacturing site, employing 3,000 workers, and was the only bidder for the contract. It is understood that the chancellor and prime minister chose to intervene to ensure the project would go ahead, in part to protect UK jobs.
Claims that elite Western F-16 pilots are secretly patrolling Ukraine's skies have sent shockwaves through defence circles - but Kyiv insists it's all Ukrainian pilots in action, and no, Tom Cruise is not starring as Maverick over the skies of Ukraine. Reports from French outlet Intelligence Online suggested a top-secret international squadron of US and Dutch veterans was deployed on temporary contracts to intercept Russian drones and missiles using advanced Lockheed Martin targeting pods. But Air Force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat hit back, calling the reports "just rumours" from a source of dubious reputation.
Ukraine's defense intelligence agency, GUR, has identified over a dozen American and Chinese electronics parts that it says were found in a new Russian jet-powered attack drone. GUR published its new analysis of the drone, dubbed the Geran-5, on Monday, as part of its ongoing directory of key foreign components used in Russia's weapons or defense industry. The intelligence directorate published images of what it said was the drone's wreckage last week,
David versus Goliath stories captivate us, especially when David brings a slingshot that looks like alien technology. Enter Stavatti Aerospace, a 25-person firm from Niagara Falls taking on Boeing and Northrop Grumman for one of the most lucrative defense contracts in naval aviation. Their weapon of choice? The SM-39 Razor, a fighter design so visually striking it demands a double-take. The triple-fuselage "Batwing" configuration breaks from a century of conventional aircraft architecture, presenting a form that's more science fiction than traditional aerospace engineering.
The cost for the US and other militaries to keep newer combat aircraft ready to fly is going to soar in the coming years, a new report on sustainment trends argues. A new report from the American consulting firm Oliver Wyman projects global military aircraft spending over the next decade, including an annual sustainment cost growth of 1.1% through 2036. That's a pace roughly 11 times faster than the previous decade.
