The U.S. Air Force predicts it’ll need 1,509 combat-ready fighter jets by 2035 to cover a “moderate risk” operational profile, according to a senior officer and a new report reviewed by Breaking Defense. The figure is likely a jump of dozens of aircraft from last year’s estimates, based on significant increases in a parallel “low risk” calculation.
The U.S. Air Force has a hole in its spare parts inventory to the tune of about $14 billion, and climbing out of it requires more than just money, the service’s sustainment boss says.
A senior Ukrainian commander said he had dozens of armed drones soaring toward Russian military targets last week when, all at once, the video feeds streaming their flight paths went fuzzy. The drones had lost their connection to pilots on the ground through Starshield, a Pentagon-funded satellite internet service, said the commander, Oleh, who spoke on the condition that he be identified by only his first name to protect operational security.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a memorandum this week barring Pentagon and military personnel from placing financial wagers—specifically “including traditional betting platforms and prediction markets such as ‘Polymarket’ or ‘Kalshi’”—using non-public, government information.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has approved testing of a military-grade "heat ray" for potential use along the U.S.-Mexico border—a weapon that uses invisible energy beams to produce an intense burning sensation on human skin.
The Pentagon wants ketamine wafers. And it seems to want them now. Earlier this year, the Defense Department awarded a nearly $41 million development contract to Singapore-based iX Biopharma to develop Wafermine, a small, ketamine-packed wafer that dissolves under the tongue.
The U.S. and Israeli militaries have developed specific plans for renewed strikes against Iran after the American midterm elections, according to U.S. officials and other people briefed on the deliberations.
Middle East mediators are scrambling to revive talks with Iran, fearful that hostilities could flare anew as the U.S. moves another aircraft carrier to the region and Israel warns that it has prepared plans for possible new strikes.
Russia launched an intense missile and drone attack on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv overnight, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported on Oct. 22, hours after President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg for the latest round of U.S.-led peace talks.
A half dozen trailblazers in American aviation and space will be inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame as the Class of 2027. NAHF leaders, in partnership with the National Business Aviation Association, unveiled the list of new inductees on Oct. 19 at a joint reception on the eve of the NBAA BACE show.
