Israel has launched massive strikes against the southern suburbs of Beirut just hours after its military ordered the entire population of the area—more than 500,000 people—to evacuate immediately.
For the Israeli F-35 pilot, it was hardly a fair fight. Lumbering up ahead was an Iranian air force Yak-130, a Russian-made subsonic jet trainer developed in the early 1990s and first flown almost 30 years ago. The Israeli pilot, flying one of the world’s most advanced warplanes, made in the U.S., took aim and downed the Iranian jet easily, sending it streaking to the ground in a ball of fire.
From its strikes on Iran to its global tariffs, the United States has wielded military force and economic threats to impose its will. China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, is preparing for this era of perilous rivalry by pouring resources into artificial intelligence, quantum computing and other strategic technologies, while also expanding the country’s armed forces.
The Defense Department won't say how much Operation Epic Fury might cost, but one bipartisan think tank is putting the price tag at some $891 million a day for the first four days of the attack—or $3.7 billion total. The Center for Strategic and International Studies says the eye-popping numbers are due largely to the intensity of the initial attacks that began March 1, during which the U.S. pounded Iran with some 2,000 precision munitions.
With a timeline for the U.S.’s war with Iran very much up in the air, a task force assigned to improving the U.S.’s ability to down small drones both at home and abroad is eagerly awaiting lessons from the conflict—while moving as quickly as possible to make sure bases around the world are protected from retaliatory drone strikes.
The United States and its allies in the Middle East are seeking Ukraine’s expertise in countering Iran’s Shahed drones, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Various countries, including the United States, have approached Ukraine for help in defending against the Iranian drones, Zelenskyy said late March 4.
The Defense Department is kicking off plans this month to deliver batches of small drones to roughly 17 military units, and officials will soon begin coordinating their deployments in real-world training exercises. At a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on March 5, senior defense officials shared new details about those and other pursuits to rapidly enhance the U.S. drone industry and associated weapons arsenal, and counteract China’s dominance in the global market.
The U.S. Air Force is seeking other vendors capable of supplying a radar-killing missile like one that the service already has on contract with Northrop Grumman, according to a recent notice.
Ukraine's F-16 fighter jets didn't have enough missiles to shoot down Russian drones and missiles for more than three weeks after supplies from Kyiv's partners dried up just as Moscow was preparing a massive winter air campaign, three sources said. The acute shortage from late November to mid-December, which has not been previously reported, lays bare the vulnerability of Ukraine's air defences which rely heavily on Western allies for missiles and defence systems to repel frequent Russian strikes.
Responding to a question from The War Zone at a press conference at CENTCOM headquarters in Tampa, Fla., the admiral leading the war against Iran praised the Low-Cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System kamikaze drone. Based on the Iranian Shahed-136, these weapons were used in combat for the first time just six days ago.
The U.S. military struck and set on fire an Iranian drone carrier ship March 5 as forces continue to degrade the Islamic Republic’s navy and continue pummeling the nation with missiles and bombs.
U.S. Central Command has denied claims circulating online of the loss of another F-15E Strike Eagle, this time over enemy territory, as part of ongoing operations against Iran. Earlier this week, three Strike Eagles were downed in an apparent friendly fire incident, reportedly by a Kuwaiti F/A-18 Hornet. All of this comes as the U.S.-Israeli air campaign continued to expand, and as the overall conflict has otherwise spilled further through the region.
