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After the acquisition of 50 AGM-158B JASSM-ER missiles last year, Japan has now been granted the approval for 16 additional AGM-158s, reinforcing the JASDF’s long-range stand-off strike capabilities of the F-15J, F-35 and possibly other assets. The United States’ DSCA (Defense Security Cooperation Agency)  announced on Jan. 15, 2025, the approval of a possible sale […]

The post U.S. Approves Japan’s Purchase of More AGM-158 JASSMs in $39 Million Deal appeared first on The Aviationist.

Denmark plans to replace the F-16MLUs with F-35s to meet its needs for national QRA and NATO’s Air Policing missions, but is also looking to support F-35 operations from Kangerlussuaq airport in Greenland. The Danish Defense Command announced that three more F-35As arrived in the country at Skrydstrup Air Force Station, in the Southern Jutland […]

The post Denmark Repatriates Three More F-35s as it Plans to Reinforce Greenland appeared first on The Aviationist.

The Shenyang J-16 Qianlong (Chinese for hidden dragon) is a Chinese all-weather 4+/4,5 generation supersonic twin-seat, twin-engine, multirole fighter based on the Russian Su-27 fighter and built by Shenyang Aircraft Corporation for the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). The Shenyang J-16 is a multirole combat airplane capable of supersonic flight and developed by the […]

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The White House announced that the Navy chose to name the fifth and sixth Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers as USS William J. Clinton (CVN-82) and USS George W. Bush (CVN-83), after the two former presidents. The U.S. President Joe Biden announced the names chosen by the U.S. Navy for its next two aircraft carriers […]

The post U.S. Navy’s Names Next Two Aircraft Carriers After Bill Clinton and George W. Bush appeared first on The Aviationist.

An adjusted process for the U.S. Air Force’s acquisition of the Boeing T-7A Red Hawk trainer has been announced, with the decision on commencing production delayed by one year. A joint venture between U.S. aerospace giant Boeing and Swedish manufacturer Saab, the T-7 Red Hawk was selected as the U.S. Air Force’s future jet trainer […]

The post USAF T-7A Red Hawk Production Phase Pushed Back to 2026 appeared first on The Aviationist.

The UK’s House of Commons committee’s GCAP report admits that 2035 is an ambitious target date and, even if progress has been positive, the program needs to avoid mistakes and break the mold set by previous programs. The UK’s Parliament released on Jan. 14, 2025, the House of Commons committee report on the Global Combat […]

The post Delivering GCAP by 2035 Is Not Easy as it Needs to Break the Mold and Avoid Mistakes, Says UK Report appeared first on The Aviationist.

Six A-10C jets of the U.S. Air National Guard have been stuck in Italy since November 2024, waiting for spare parts before the transoceanic flight that will take them back home. Six A-10C Thunderbolt II attack jets of the U.S. Air National Guard have been stuck at Naval Air Station Sigonella, Italy, for two months, […]

The post ANG A-10s Stuck for Two Months at NAS Sigonella Waiting for Repairs appeared first on The Aviationist.

Canada acquired 11 MQ-9Bs and six ground control stations, with the first deliveries expected by 2028. While the aircraft will be based at 14 Wing Greenwood and 19 Wing Comox, the operations will be based in Ottawa. Canada’s Department of National Defense (DND) has released images of the first two of its MQ-9B SkyGuardian RPAS […]

The post First Two Canadian MQ-9B SkyGuardian RPAS are in Production appeared first on The Aviationist.

An expansion of unmanned operations is underway at the Royal Navy airfield, which could soon be used by General Atomics MQ-9 and Leonardo AW09 (Proteus) type aircraft. Located in the far south-west of the United Kingdom, and only around three miles from mainland Britain’s most southerly point, Predannack Airfield has operated since 1958 as a […]

The post New UK National Drone Hub Facility to be Constructed at Predannack Airfield appeared first on The Aviationist.

The internal launch, the first ever by a Turkish aircraft, demonstrated the ANKA III’s ‘ability to perform stealth strikes by maintaining a low Radar Cross Section (RCS) until the strike moment.’ Turkey’s ANKA III UCAV (Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle) released a TOLUN guided bomb from its internal weapons bays in a first-of-its-kind test, announced the […]

The post Turkey’s ANKA III UCAV Drops TOLUN Guided Bomb from Internal Bays for the First Time appeared first on The Aviationist.

The goal of the experimentation with FPV drones is to ‘accelerate cooperation between nano drones and Army Light Aviation aircraft,’ developing the employment doctrine for the Air-Launched Devices concept. The French Army (Armée de Terre) is moving towards integrating its armed helicopters with attack drones, aiming for “dronization” by 2040. Opex360, quoting French military publications, […]

The post French Army Tests FPV Drone Controlled from Gazelle Light Attack Helicopter appeared first on The Aviationist.

The Finnish Air Force will secure NATO skies by deploying four F/A-18 Hornets to Keflavik Air Base for the next rotation of the Icelandic Air Policing mission in February 2025. The Finnish Air Force is preparing to safeguard the NATO skies for the first time as a NATO member by deploying four F/A-18 Hornets to […]

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The planned delivery of the first six F-35B Lightning II fighters for Japan in FY2024 has now been pushed back to sometime during FY2025, Japan’s Defense Minister announced. The delivery of the first six F-35Bs to the JASDF (Japan Air Self Defense Force), which was planned to happen sometime during FY (Fiscal Year) 2024 (which […]

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By 2027, in areas west of the international dateline where U.S. assets are deployed, China will outnumber U.S. forces about 12 to 1 in modern fighter jets (including 5 to 3 in fifth-generation aircraft) and 3 to 1 in maritime patrol planes. Speaking from the base theater to both an in-person and virtual audience, Brig. […]

The post ‘The Chinese Military is the Largest and Most Modern It’s Ever Been,’ Edwards AFB Commander Warns appeared first on The Aviationist.

Footage from inside an Israeli Air Force KC-707 Re’em tanker aircraft was recently published on the official IDF Instagram page, providing a rare tour of the aircraft. The IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) uploaded a short Instagram reel on their official @idfonline page on Jan. 6, 2025, offering previously unseen footage inside one of the IAF’s […]

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NAVAIR is working to integrate the AGM-158C-1 LRASM (Long Range Anti-Ship Missile) on the U.S. Air Force’s F-15E Strike Eagles and F-15EX Eagle IIs, providing them with yet another tool for engaging surface targets at sea. The U.S. Air Force’s F-15E Strike Eagle and F-15EX Eagle IIs are now set to be armed with the […]

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The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration has announced the completion of the upgrade program of the new B61-12 nuclear weapons, and the impending start of manufacturing for the B61-13 variant. The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has just announced, seventeen years after starting the design process, that production of the most recent American tactical […]

The post U.S. Completes Upgrade of B61-12 Nuclear Weapons and Prepares Production of B61-13 Warheads appeared first on The Aviationist.

Scheduled to fly in mid 2025, Leonardo has unveiled an updated design of its Proteus rotary wing uncrewed aerial system demonstrator for the UK Ministry of Defence. Proteus is the culmination of a £60 million contract awarded in 2022 to Leonardo by the UK Ministry of Defence’s Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) Future Capability Group. […]

The post Further Detail Emerges On Leonardo’s Proteus Rotary Wing UAS Demonstrator appeared first on The Aviationist.

Super Hornets, which have been armed with five AIM-120s and four AIM-9Xs since April 2024, were recently referred to as “Murder Hornets” in a year-in-review factsheet published by the U.S. Navy. In a recently published year-in-review factsheet, titled “Delivering Warfighting Advantage,” the U.S. Navy mentioned under the ‘Aviation’ column that the Super Hornet’s heavy air-to-air […]

The post U.S. Navy Officially Adopts ‘Murder Hornet’ Moniker for F/A-18E/F Equipped with Nine Air-to-Air Missiles appeared first on The Aviationist.

The achievement of the IOC follows the first combat deployment of NGJ-MB with VAQ-133’s EA-18Gs embarked aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. The Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) has disclosed on Jan. 6, 2025, that the U.S. Navy declared initial operational capability (IOC) for the AN/ALQ-249 Next Generation Jammer Mid-Band (NGJ-MB) system in December 2024. The […]

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