More from Joseph Trevithick (Page 3)

U-28 retirement

Plans To Axe Special Operations Surveillance Planes Come Under The Microscope

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Sep 27, 2024
Imagery said to show the aftermath of a highly targeted air strike on a car in Lebanon has prompted questions about whether a previously unknown miniature munition designed to produce extremely little collateral damage may have been employed.

Was A Mini “Sword Bomb” Just Used To Strike A Car In Lebanon?

By Joseph Trevithick
Updated on Sep 27, 2024
The U.S. Marine Corps says it has demonstrated new capabilities for operating future drones with high degrees of autonomy in expeditionary operations with another test flight of one of its stealthy XQ-58 Valkyries.

Third Marine XQ-58 Valkyrie Flight Test Uses Link 16 For Control

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Sep 26, 2024
For the first time in more than four decades, China has fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) out in the Western Pacific, ostensibly for training purposes.

First Chinese ICBM Test Into The Pacific In Decades Is A Big Deal (Updated)

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Sep 25, 2024
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is looking to explore concepts for a new drone capable of lugging around up to 70,000 pounds of cargo, roughly twice what the U.S. Marine Corps' CH-53K King Stallion helicopter can lift.

Search For Cargo Drone That Can Lift Twice As Much As A CH-53K King Stallion Kicks Off

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Sep 25, 2024
Canadian authorities have released an image of an unidentified object that was shot down over the country's Yukon Territory by a U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor stealth fighter in February 2023.

First Look At Mystery Object Shot Down Over Canada By F-22 Raptor Last Year

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Sep 25, 2024
The U.S. Air Force is interested in adding an active electronically-scanned array (AESA) radar to its X-62A test jet. The radar is part of larger plans to acquire a new modular sensor suite for the uniquely modified F-16 specifically to help expand its ability to support advanced autonomy developments.

New Radar Sought To Help X-62A Test Jet Take Next Leap In Autonomy Testing

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Sep 24, 2024
Plans to slash F-16 aggressors at Nellis Air Force Base highlight broader questions about the future of the Air Force Viper fleets.

Aggressor F-16 Fleet Set To Be Slashed By Air Force

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Sep 23, 2024
Collins Aerospace has put forward a vision for what a high-end air combat engagement between the U.S. and Chinese armed forces, with the American side employing crewed fighters and Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) drone wingmen, could look like in the future.

What American Fighters And Their Drone Wingmen Fighting Chinese Jets Might Look Like

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Sep 20, 2024
The U.S. Air Force says the once-secretive Off-Board Sensing Station (OBSS) drone program has been fully folded into the service's Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) effort. General Atomics has already disclosed that its current CCA design is derived from the XQ-67 drone it developed for OBSS.

Collaborative Combat Aircraft Program “Ingesting” Modular Chassis Concept Pioneered By XQ-67 Drone

By Joseph Trevithick
Updated on Sep 20, 2024
The U.S. Air Force's top special operations officer says AC-130J Ghostriders will continue being armed with 105mm howitzers for the foreseeable future despite the gunships evolving to as focus shifts to preparing for high-end fights.

AC-130J Ghostrider Gunships Will Keep Their 105mm Howitzers, For Now

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Sep 19, 2024
The U.S. Air Force and Northrop Grumman have expanded testing of the B-21 thanks to two ground test articles, which are being used to evaluate the bomber's core construction and the time it takes before certain parts break. The tempo of flight testing of the initial pre-production Raider is also growing, with the jet now sometimes taking to the skies twice a week.

B-21 Ground Test Airframes Join Flying Pre-Production Raider

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Sep 19, 2024
The U.S. Air Force has released new video footage of its first pre-production B-21 Raider stealth bomber undergoing flight testing.

New Look At B-21 Raider Stealth Bomber Flight Testing Released

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Sep 18, 2024
The U.S. Air Force is pushing ahead with experimentation that could lead to the transformation of KC-135 tankers into optionally crewed aircraft, as well as the development of other autonomous aerial refueling capabilities. U.S. military interest in autonomous airlifters, an area where China has been notably surging forward in the past few years, is also growing.

Work Toward KC-135 Tankers That Fly Themselves, Uncrewed Cargo Aircraft Pressing Ahead

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Sep 18, 2024
Lockheed Martin's losing entry in the first increment of the U.S. Air Force's Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) drone program was a very stealthy design, the head of the famed Skunk Works advanced projects division has disclosed. The company is now expecting future CCA increments to revolve around proposals that might lean closer to not just being lower-cost, but maybe even expendable, to support a concept of operations that requires tolerance for very high losses.

Skunk Works’ Losing Loyal Wingman Drone Was Very Stealthy “Gold Plated” Design

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Sep 18, 2024
The U.S. Air Force has no plans to acquire stealthy uncrewed combat air vehicles (UCAV) capable of operating with very high degrees of autonomy independently of crewed aircraft, at least in the near term publicly, despite surging Chinese developments in this domain.

No Flying Wing UCAVs Being Developed By U.S. Air Force While China Surges Ahead

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Sep 17, 2024
The U.S. Air Force's still evolving requirements for a next-generation aerial refueling 'system of systems' will directly impact the service's reassessment of plans for a new sixth-generation stealth 'fighter.' The Next-Generation Air-Refueling System (NGAS) effort will also inform work on a second tranche of Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) drones.

Future Stealth Tanker Plans Tied To NGAD 6th Generation Fighter’s Fate

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Sep 16, 2024
Russia putting tires on top of bombers and other aircraft was about confusing seekers with image-matching capability on incoming munitions, a senior U.S. military technologist has confirmed.

Russia Covering Aircraft With Tires Is About Confusing Image-Matching Missile Seekers U.S. Military Confirms

By Joseph Trevithick
Updated on Sep 13, 2024
What appears to be one of the first looks at members of the German armed forces with new 5.56x45mm Heckler & Koch HK416 A8 rifles, also known as G95A1s, has come from an unexpected source: the U.S. Army. With help from the U.S. Army, the Germans have been stress-testing the guns in very hot and humid conditions at a facility in Panama and in the Arizona desert.

Germany’s New HK416 Service Rifles Appear At Panama Test Site

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Sep 13, 2024
Israel raid

Israeli Commando Raid In Syria Sends A Message To Iran That Its Underground Bases Are Not Untouchable

By Howard Altman, Tyler Rogoway, Joseph Trevithick
Updated on Sep 13, 2024
The U.S. Marine Corps legacy F/A-18C/D Hornets are getting a major boost in stand-off strike capability in the form of AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) cruise missiles

Marine Legacy F/A-18 Hornets Getting Major Firepower Boost With JASSM Cruise Missiles

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Sep 12, 2024
Defense contractor Anduril has unveiled Barracuda, a new family of what it is calling "expandable autonomous air vehicles" that are scalable, highly modular, and already being flight-tested. The company is heavily focused now on "M" versions configured as relatively low-cost air-breathing precision munitions that could be launched from helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft, as well as maritime and ground platforms.

Anduril Introduces Barracuda-M That Aims To Disrupt The Cruise Missile Market

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Sep 12, 2024
China has offered a new and closer look at the catapults on its newest aircraft carrier, the Fujian. We also now have what appears to be the first look inside the retractable enclosed control station built into the flight deck that catapult officers on the ship will use to launch planes.

New Chinese Aircraft Carrier’s Catapult Control ‘Bubble’ Looks Very Familiar

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Sep 11, 2024
The Piasecki Aircraft Corporation's Aerial Reconfigurable Embedded System Demonstration Vehicle (ARES-DV), a vertical takeoff and landing capable tilt-rotor drone designed to carry interchangeable payload modules, has left the ground for the first time.

Tilt-Ducted Fan ARES Drone Designed To Carry Modular Payloads Has Finally Lifted Off

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Sep 10, 2024
The U.S. Army has renewed interest in new longer-range artillery shells, such as ramjet-powered types, following its axing of plans to buy a next-generation tracked self-propelled 155mm howitzer.

Focus Grows On Longer-Range Artillery Shells After Army Axes Next-Gen Howitzer

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Sep 9, 2024
A Boeing 737 carrying Senator J.D. Vance, former President Donald Trump's running mate for Vice President, and others, inadvertently intruded briefly into some of the most restricted airspace on the planet earlier this week as it left Washington, D.C.'s Reagan National Airport.

J.D. Vance’s Campaign Jet Inadvertently Buzzed The Washington Monument

By Joseph Trevithick, Howard Altman
Posted on Sep 6, 2024
A video has emerged showing a Ukrainian Su-24M Fencer swing-wing combat jet carrying what is said to be new air-launched guided munition.

Mystery Munition Appears Under Ukrainian Su-24 Fencer Attack Jet’s Wing

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Sep 6, 2024
Chiefs aboard the USS Manchester created a huge security risk by setting up a private WifI network.

The Story Of Sailors Secretly Installing Starlink On Their Littoral Combat Ship Is Truly Bonkers

By Howard Altman, Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Sep 6, 2024
Satellite imagery and videos offer new evidence of a surge in the development of the stealthy flying-wing uncrewed combat air vehicles in China, especially with regard to the GJ-11 Sharp Sword.

Chinese Flying Wing UCAV Testing Accelerating Based On Satellite Imagery, Videos

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Sep 5, 2024
Adversary air company Top Aces' F-16 Vips, the only ones currently in the hands of a private operator, are now flying with podded infrared search and track (IRST) systems.

World’s Only Privately Owned F-16 Aggressors Get Infrared Search And Track Pods

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Sep 5, 2024
The U.S. Air Force is re-examining the very core of its requirements for a new sixth-generation stealth combat jet as part of its ongoing review of that element of the larger Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) initiative.

Air Force “Starting At The Beginning” With NGAD 6th Gen Fighter Requirements Review

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Sep 4, 2024
The U.S. Air Force recently awarded contracts to two companies for work on SHARK 'buddy store' podded aerial refueling systems able to work with aircraft that use the boom method to get gas in flight.

Aerial Refueling Boom Pods That Could Go On F-15s In The Works

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Sep 3, 2024
The War Zone delved into the digital engineer and advanced manufacturer techniques behind the stealthy Model 437 Vanguard aircraft, and more, an interview with Colin Miller, Vice President for Engineering within Northrop Grumman's aeronautics sector.

Everything We Just Learned About The Model 437 Vanguard Technology Demonstrator Jet

By Tyler Rogoway, Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Aug 30, 2024
U.S. Army Green Berets covertly hijacking a WiFi network to disable a building's security systems so their companions can sneak inside, grab intel, and leave after using electronic warfare gear to conceal they were ever there sounds like the opening scene to a Mission Impossible movie or Call of Duty video game. Very real Army Special Forces soldiers executed this exact scenario during a training exercise in Sweden earlier this year.

Green Berets Hijacked WiFi To Control Home Security System Then Vanish In Mock Raid

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Aug 29, 2024
The first known prototype of the Model 437 from Northrop Grumman subsidiary Scaled Composites has flown.

Stealthy High-Tech Model 437 Vanguard Jet Has Flown For The First Time (Updated)

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Aug 29, 2024
The U.S. Coast Guard's heavy icebreaker USCGC Polar Star has returned to its home port of Seattle, Washington, after a major service life-extending overhaul – and not a moment too soon.

U.S. Coast Guard Has A Working Heavy Icebreaker Again

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Aug 29, 2024
The U.S. Army has awarded a massive contract valued at close to $1 billion to AeroVironment for Switchblade-series loitering munitions, also known as kamikaze drones, over the next five years.

Army Just Signed $1B Deal For Massive Order Of Switchblade Kamikaze Drones

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Aug 28, 2024
Saab Gets Big XM919 Shoulder-Fired Anti-Armor Launcher Order From The U.S. Army (Updated)

Saab Gets Big XM919 Shoulder-Fired Anti-Armor Launcher Order From The U.S. Army (Updated)

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Aug 28, 2024
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says that his country has conducted the first successful test of a new domestically-developed ballistic missile.

Ukraine Says It Has Tested A New Domestically-Designed Ballistic Missile

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Aug 27, 2024
Before the Ukrainian Air Force received its first batch of F-16 Viper fighters, the U.S. Air Force helped optimize electronic warfare (EW) systems on those jets against Russian threats.

Electronic Warfare Systems On Ukraine’s F-16s Getting Specially Tuned To Russian Threats By USAF

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Aug 27, 2024
North Korea has revealed two new kamikaze drones that look to be virtual copies, at least externally, of the Israeli-made Harop and Hero-400.

North Korea Unveils Clones of Israeli Kamikaze Drones

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Aug 26, 2024
All eyes were on presidential candidate and sitting Vice President Kamala Harris this week as the Democratic National Convention kicked off. One clip of Harris's movements, in particular, got a lot of attention from those interested in military technology — the Vice President boarding an MV-22 tiltrotor on a short trip to the convention hall.

MV-22 Ospreys Have Actually Been Flying The Vice President For Years

By Tyler Rogoway, Joseph Trevithick, Howard Altman
Posted on Aug 24, 2024
The War Zone has learned new details about the Ghost Shark extra-large autonomous undersea vehicle in an interview with Dr. Shane Arnott, Senior Vice President for Engineering at Anduril and the company's maritime lead.

Everything We Just Learned About The Ghost Shark Uncrewed Submarine

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Aug 23, 2024
The U.S. Army has chosen the Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) to lead the conversion of Bombardier Global 6500 business jets into new High Accuracy Detection and Exploitation System (HADES) aircraft.

Army’s HADES Surveillance Bizjet Program Moves Forward With Sierra Nevada Corp. Deal

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Aug 23, 2024
Australia To Help Maintain Visiting U.S. Nuclear Submarine For The First Time

Australia To Help Maintain Visiting U.S. Nuclear Submarine For The First Time

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Aug 22, 2024
The U.S. Navy says it is on the verge of having persistent, reliable, and secure high-speed internet connections across its fleets thanks to a project leveraging commercial satellite constellations like SpaceX's Starlink.

Starlink Now Being Deployed On U.S. Navy Warships

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Aug 22, 2024
New ‘Cheap’ Cruise Missile Concept Flight Tested By Silicon Valley-Backed Start-Up

New ‘Cheap’ Cruise Missile Concept Flight Tested By Silicon Valley-Backed Start-Up

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Aug 21, 2024
Secret Service’s “Ground Force One” Presidential Armored Bus Emerges Wrapped For Harris-Walz Campaign

Secret Service’s “Ground Force One” Presidential Armored Bus Emerges Wrapped For Harris-Walz Campaign

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Aug 21, 2024
The U.S. Army is looking at paragliders as a way to give conventional forces, especially airborne units, new options for getting around the battlefield and surveilling enemy forces.

U.S. Army Has A Plan For Paragliding Paratroopers

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Aug 20, 2024
A drone scare around the U.S. Air Force's Plant 42 in California, a major hub for advanced aerospace development work, including highly classified military programs, has led to revelations about a real wave of mysterious drone incursions in recent months.

Palmdale UFO Scare Leads To Revelations About Mystery Drone Incursions Over Secretive Plant 42

By Joseph Trevithick, Howard Altman
Posted on Aug 20, 2024
Next summer, U.S. Air Force units will deploy from bases in Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, and elsewhere across the United States to forward locations in the Western Pacific as part of a massive new air combat exercise.

Air Force Units Will Flood The Western Pacific In Huge New Airpower Exercise Next Summer

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Aug 19, 2024
A major fire, which may still be ongoing, has reportedly broken out on the former Soviet Kiev class aircraft carrier Minsk, which has been rotting away in a man-made lagoon just off a stretch of the Yangtze River in China for years now.

Soviet Aircraft Carrier Turned Failed Chinese Tourist Attraction Is On Fire (Updated)

By Joseph Trevithick
Updated on Aug 17, 2024
A Cessna Model 208B Grand Caravan converted into a cargo drone was among the participants in a recently concluded U.S. Air Force-led large force air combat exercise focused on preparing for a potential future conflict with China.

Cessna Caravan Turned Into Cargo Drone Tested At China-Focused Airpower Exercise

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Aug 16, 2024
The USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) is now the first U.S. Navy supercarrier to have a complete dedicated Unmanned Air Warfare Center (UAWC).

Supercarrier USS George H.W. Bush Now Has First Of its Kind Drone Control Center

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Aug 16, 2024
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is moving to buy non-lethal distraction devices to mount on small hand-launched drones.

FBI Fielding Drones That Fire Off Deafening Bangs

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Aug 15, 2024
The Ukrainian Air Force has released a video offering the best look to date of one of the country's MiG-29 Fulcrum fighters employing French-made AASM-250 Hammer precision-guided bombs.

Best Look Yet At Ukrainian MiG-29 Releasing Hammer Rocket-Assisted Bombs

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Aug 15, 2024
Air National Guard F-16 Viper fighters pretending to be enemy cruise missiles together with tiny JSX-2 microjets mimicking cruise missiles and drones replicated complex threat scenarios during a recent large-scale exercise.

F-16s Team With JSX-2 Microjets To Replicate Complex Cruise Missile And Drone Attacks

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Aug 14, 2024
Secretive ultra-quiet special operations drones, now designated RQ-29s, that have been operating in the Middle East for years might now be headed for the Pacific.

Super Quiet Special Operations Drones May Migrate To Pacific Theater

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Aug 14, 2024
Russia has unveiled a new gunless version of its Pantsir air defense system it says is ideally suited to protecting critical infrastructure from drones using small short-range interceptors.

Pantsir Packed With Drone-Intercepting Mini Missiles Unveiled By Russia

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Aug 13, 2024
Chinese drone maker Tengden says it has conducted the first flight of a new cargo drone with a multi-metric-ton cargo capacity.

Chinese Cargo Drone Capable Of Carrying Two Tons Has Flown

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Aug 12, 2024
Tiny JSX-2 microjets able to act as surrogates for drones and cruise missile threats are supporting the Northern Strike 24-2 exercise.

Tiny Jets Masquerading As Cruise Missiles Featured In Michigan Airpower Exercise

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Aug 9, 2024
US Navy F/A-18E Super Hornets brandishing full loads of nine air-to-air missiles have touched down at a base in Jordan ahead of expected Iranian attacks against Israel.

F/A-18E Super Hornets Fully Loaded With Air-To-Air Missiles Arrive In Jordan

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Aug 9, 2024
France will have sent Ukraine 600 Hammer bombs by the end of the year.

Ukrainian MiG-29’s Special Pylon For Hammer Rocket-Boosted Bombs Emerges

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Aug 8, 2024
Kratos, manufacturer of the XQ-58 Valkyrie, has confirmed that a new version of the drone is in the works that will feature built-in landing gear, which points to a larger derivative possibly with greater performance.

New XQ-58 Valkyrie Variant With Built-In Landing Gear To Fly Soon

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Aug 8, 2024