The two crew members ejected from their fighter jet just seconds after it was hit by Iranian fire. The F-15E Strike Eagle, the first fighter jet lost to enemy fire in the war, crashed violently to the ground. The Air Force officers were deep in hostile territory on April 3, alone and armed only with pistols. The plane’s pilot was in “constant communication” with his unit and rescued about six hours later by a force that included attack planes and helicopters that came under heavy fire, military officials said. But the aircraft’s weapons systems officer was missing.
In the coming weeks, the Pentagon is expected to release in-depth budget justification documents detailing how it wants to funnel $1.5 trillion to specific programs next year. However, OMB and initial department documents broadly lay out the plan.
U.S. President Donald Trump on April 5 made expletive-filled threats against Iran and its infrastructure if it doesn’t open the Strait of Hormuz by his April 7 deadline, after American forces rescued a wounded aviator whose Iran-downed plane fell behind enemy lines.
As American special forces raced to locate a U.S. Airman stranded inside Iran after the downing of his fighter jet on April 3, U.S. intelligence officers mounted a bold plan to prevent Tehran from getting to him first. The CIA spread word inside Iran that U.S. forces had already found the airman and were exfiltrating him out of the country by ground, according to two senior administration officials.
President Trump threatened to destroy all of Iran’s power plants if the country’s leaders don’t agree to reopen the Strait of Hormuz by the evening of April 7, ratcheting up pressure on Tehran.
NATO’s secretary general is heading to the White House as President Donald Trump lashes out over European allies’ refusal to join the U.S. and Israel’s war with Iran.
The U.S. military often can’t fix parts of jets, ships, infantry fighting vehicles, and other equipment because they are not allowed to under the contracts the Pentagon signs with manufacturers. Instead, only the manufacturer can fix the equipment, which is a problem in a combat zone or out on a far-flung training exercise.
In this episode, the Aerospace Advantage team discusses Operation Epic Fury from an air and space set of perspectives. We also explore top defense issues in Washington, D.C., with a special focus on the fiscal 2027 defense budget. Plus, we explain the latest in spacepower—everything from missile warning & tracking developments to the Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program.
The Pentagon has added Operation Epic Fury to its casualty database, as of April 3 showing 365 U.S. troops wounded in action and 13 killed. The update marks the first time the Department of Defense has publicly included Operation Epic Fury in its official casualty tracking system, offering the clearest snapshot yet of the human toll tied to the operation.
he A-10 may be in the twilight of its career, but that doesn’t mean it’s done proving new capabilities, some of which could impact the USAF’s larger tactical airpower force. In particular, it just tested one capability we have been highlighting as a huge opportunity and potential necessity for a future fight in the Pacific.
The Space Force intends to tap the acting director of the Space Development Agency, Gurpartap “GP” Sandhoo, to lead its new Missile Warning and Tracking Portfolio Acquisition Executive office, multiple sources have told Breaking Defense.
The Maven Smart System is increasingly at the heart of the U.S. military’s plan to fuse all its sensors and assets across a single, flexible network, Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg suggested in a March 9 memorandum that elevates Palantir’s widely-used software platform to an official Pentagon program of record.
The Trump administration is, once again, going all in on the development of the Air Force’s sixth-generation fighter while seeking only a fraction of its funding for the Navy’s future combat jet.
The question of what kind of gun should be issued to aircrew for survival, should they be brought down for whatever reason, potentially behind enemy lines, is one that air forces have long grappled with. The highly specific demands of the role, coupled with the fact that the gun needs to be compact enough to fit in a cramped cockpit (and in many cases, on the aircrew themselves), mean that there have been a wide variety of solutions to the problem, some more successful than others.
