The Aviationist Blog

During a recent mission, Spanish Air Force F-18M Hornets intercepted a Russian Naval Aviation Su-30SM2 carrying an unusual loadout for operations over the Baltic region. On Jan. 28, 2026, the Spanish Ministry of Defense released details about an interesting mission carried out by Spanish Air Force EF-18M (or F-18M) aircraft deployed to Šiauliai, Lithuania, in […]

The Type 076 is moving rapidly towards becoming the first ship with an EMALS catapult to operate combat drones, with the GJ-21 possibly being prepared for testing. China’s Type 076 Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD) was recently spotted with a fully covered collaborative combat aircraft/unmanned combat  aerial vehicle (CCA/UCAV) in visuals that appeared on Jan. 31, […]

The first production representative MQ-25 taxied under its own power at Boeing’s facilities, following a series of rigorous ground trials over several months. Boeing and the U.S. Navy’s Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) announced on Jan. 30, 2026, that the production representative prototype of the MQ-25 Stingray unmanned refueling tanker has started taxi trials at […]

A Wildcat helicopter conducted simulated Martlet missile strikes on moving targets at the National Drone Hub, Predannack, using live data provided by Puma and Providence UAVs.  The trials, involving a Wildcat from 815 Naval Air Squadron (NAS), uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) from 700X NAS at nearby RNAS Culdrose, and support from 847 NAS and industry […]

USAF F-35As deployed to Puerto Rico for the attack on Venezuela might now be part of what Trump called a ‘massive armada’ moving towards Iran. In recent days, a series of U.S. military movements have drawn heightened attention across the Middle East. These developments have coincided with ongoing regional tensions following domestic unrest in Iran […]

Launched between 1971 and 1987 primarily to collect intelligence data on foreign weapon testing, the last satellites in the JUMPSEAT family were withdrawn from service in 2006.  A memorandum dated Dec. 4, 2025 from the office of Christopher J. Scolese, Director of the U.S. National Reconaissance Office (NRO), formally declassified the existence of and some […]

Recently emerged images show a Mi-28NE helicopter in a hangar geolocated in Iran, following reports of multiple Russian Il-76MD cargo aircraft flying into the country. Photos emerged on Jan. 28, 2026, show what has been described as a single Mi-28NE Havoc in an Iranian facility. Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) profiles later geo-located the pictures of the […]

The fifth of five Airbus A300-600ST ‘Beluga’ transports has flown into retirement at Airbus’ Broughton facility in North Wales, where it will be used to promote STEM to schools and community groups.   As the Airbus fleet of Beluga super transporter aircraft readies for withdrawal by 2027 in favour of the larger, more efficient A330-743L BelugaXL, […]