A New Kind of CCA? Meet the Supersonic X-BAT By John A. Tirpak Shield AI has entered the increasingly crowded field of Collaborative Combat Aircraft, announcing Oct. 23 its “X-BAT” vehicle that stands out from others by having both vertical takeoff...
AIM-120 AMRAAM
Air Force Chief of Staff nominee Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach said he'll give special attention to coordinating with the Navy on buys of new weapons.
Ukraine Unveils Its First F-16 Fighters By Chris Gordon Ukraine’s first F-16s were unveiled by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Aug. 4, ending a lengthy wait for the Western fighters Kyiv says it needs to defend its airspace from Russia....
Controlling the air domain is an imperative if the nation and U.S. allies are to be successful in future operations.
RTX expects more than $2 billion of orders for equipment to replenish U.S. weapons provided to Ukraine, on top of $2 billion in orders already for Patriot missiles, artillery rounds, AMRAAM anti-air missiles and various anti-air and ground-to-ground weapons, company officials said in an earnings ...
The Air Force plans to get production of the classified AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile underway this year and will equip its new Collaborative Combat Aircraft with the weapon, senior USAF leaders said at a Senate Armed Services Hearing.
The most up-to-date version of the AIM-120 AMRAAM will be deployed this year, and the Air Force is pursuing a multiyear procurement strategy for the missile, according to manufacturer Raytheon and Air Force senior leaders and budget documents. The production profile suggests when the secret ...
A collection of quotes on air power, space power, and national security issues
Teams of autonomous vehicles collaborating with a crewed airplane, in which each aircraft in the formation performs a unique mission on its own, is far more effective than the so-called “loyal wingman” approach, in which a piloted aircraft pairs with just one similarly-equipped, autonomous multimission ...
The F-15EX successfully fired its first weapon on Jan. 25, launching an AIM-120D missile at a BQM-167 unmanned aerial target over the Gulf of Mexico. Maj. Benjamin Naumann and Maj. Mark Smith, pilots with the 40th Test Squadron, flew the fighter during the test fire, ...
The Chinese air force is developing new stealth aircraft and expanding the weapons-carrying capacity of its J-20 stealth fighter, the Pentagon said in its annual report on Chinese military power, issued Nov. 3. The Pentagon said U.S. advantages in the air domain are “eroding” as ...
The range of current Air Force weapons compels pilots of stealth aircraft to get too close to their targets, risking that they’ll be seen and shot down, Air Combat Command boss Gen. Mark D. Kelly said Sep. 22. The service must have longer-range “fifth-generation weapons” ...
