#cold-war-era-jets

#cold-war-era-jets

CMCs are a composite material, one in which the fibers are ceramic or carbon, embedded in a ceramic matrix. They are created to overcome the brittleness of traditional ceramics, while providing high-temperature resistance, light weight, and high strength. According to DSTL, they are capable of withstanding temperatures exceeding 1,000°C (1,832°F), and unlike metals, they hold their strength and shape under extreme heat and stress.

The images, collected on Monday by the US spatial intelligence firm Vantor and obtained by Business Insider, show visible wreckage of at least two F-14 Tomcats on the apron at the 8th Tactical Air Base in Isfahan, a city in central Iran. The base is a hub for the Iranian Air Force's fleet of vintage F-14s.

You're stuck in that airplane until you land safely, the veteran Australian pilot says. Amid the expanding war in Iran with missiles piercing the skies over the Middle East pilots' regimented routes have been thrown into chaos. They've been forced to turn planes around mid-flight or squeeze into narrowing air corridors, with hundreds of lives in their hands.

Three U.S. fighter jets, F-15E Strike Eagles involved in the operation against Iran, were shot down mistakenly by Kuwait's air defenses in "an apparent friendly fire incident," the U.S. military's Central Command said. All six crew members "ejected safely," were recovered and were in stable condition, Centcom said.

NATO is deploying a Turkish drone carrier to the Baltic Sea to boost its surveillance and defense in response to "repeated" Russian airspace violations, the alliance announced on Friday. The TCG Anadolu will support Eastern Sentry, a defensive operation the alliance launched in September after Russian drones crossed into Polish airspace, forcing a military response. The Turkish drone carrier is deploying toward the coast of Latvia, where it will contribute to air surveillance and defense along NATO's eastern edge.

According to the cybersecurity group InformNapalm, hackers from the Fenix analytical cyber centre monitored Russian military personnel around the clock from mid-2025 to February 2026, accessing drone monitoring systems and intercepting operational chats. The intelligence was passed directly to Ukraine's Defence Forces, helping counter waves of drone attacks and contributing to strikes on Russian command posts and launch sites. Read more related news:

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.

President Donald Trump rattled the defense sector yesterday by signing an executive order prohibiting contractors from issuing dividends or repurchasing shares until they prioritize investments in new facilities and machinery to boost production speed and quality. He specifically targeted RTX ( ) as the most egregious violator, accusing it of favoring shareholders over military needs and warning it could lose access to future contracts unless it ramps up capital spending.

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,

The United States has dispatched fighter jets after multiple Russian military aircraft were observed operating in international airspace near Alaska, according to the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). Two Russian Tu-95s, two Su-35s and one A-50 were detected and tracked operating in Alaska's Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), NORAD said in a statement on Friday, adding that it responded by sending two F-16s, two F-35s, one E-3 and four KC-135s.

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.

Russia has attacked Ukraine with a new type of long-range drone that uses a powerful jet engine to fly 600 miles with a 200-pound explosive warhead, Kyiv's military intelligence agency said. The Ukrainian intelligence directorate, or GUR, released a statement on Sunday providing new details about what it dubbed the "Geran-5." GUR said the drone was used during an attack in early 2026.

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.

On Thursday, Ukraine's energy minister, Denys Shmyal, warned Ukrainians to prepare for more power blackouts in the coming days as Russian air attacks continued. Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said Russia had struck energy infrastructure 217 times this year. Shmyal said 200 emergency crews were working to restore power to 1,100 buildings in Kyiv alone. Russia has been targeting Ukrainian power stations, gas pipelines and power cables since mid-January, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without heat or electricity at various points.

Some aircraft succeeded even though they made life harder for the people flying them. They demanded constant attention, punished mistakes, and left little margin for error. Instead of relying on forgiving design, these platforms forced crews to compensate through skill, planning, and coordination. Over time, combat proved that the human element was the decisive factor behind their success. Here, 24/7 Wall St. is taking a closer look at these aircraft that embodied the human factor.

Ukrainian special forces who are part of the elite Alpha Special Operations Center have struck a vital Russia n drone factory in Taganrog, Rostov Oblast on Tuesday morning. A "series of loud explosions" rocked the drone factory, Ukraine 's Security Service (SBU) stated. The Russian factory is involved in the production of strike and reconnaissance "Orion" drones, electronic warfare facilities and digital integrations systems for First Person View (FPV) drones. The SBU said in a statement, "The SBU's Alpha Special Operations Center, together with units of the Ukrainian Navy's forces and equipment group, struck the production buildings of the Atlant Aero plant." "The destruction of the plant will reduce the production of (unmanned aerial vehicles) UAVs and weaken the technical capabilities of the occupiers to conduct reconnaissance and strike operations using drones," the SBU added.

Russian "inspector" satellites are once again in the spotlight after evidence emerged that two spacecraft have been maneuvering unusually close to critical communications satellites in orbit, raising concerns across the wider tech and satellite industries about surveillance, signal interception, and the growing militarization of orbital infrastructure. According to defense and intelligence sources, the satellites, known as Luch-1 and Luch-2, have been conducting sustained proximity operations near European government and commercial satellites and are believed to be part of Russia's "inspector" satellite program.