American military and intelligence officials have concluded that the war in Ukraine is no longer a stalemate as Russia makes steady gains, and the sense of pessimism in Kyiv and Washington is deepening.
Israel’s punishing airstrike against Iran last month shredded Tehran’s strategic air defenses and severely damaged missile production facilities, leaving it badly exposed to future attacks, U.S. and Israeli officials said.
Iran’s supreme leader vowed Nov. 2 to give a “crushing response” to Israel’s attacks on Iranian military and missile defense sites, saying they would “not go unanswered” and hinting at a potential role for Iranian-backed groups in any reprisal.
In recent years, Air Force leaders have put a renewed emphasis on electronic warfare, recognizing the importance of the nonkinetic fight. As new kinds of EW threats emerge from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and more, learn more about how USAF is keeping up with the change.
Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works has shown a new concept of an optionally crewed tanker outfitted with wing-mounted booms as the U.S. Air Force is refining its plans for a future refueler.
Taiwan is bracing for the results of the U.S. election, with some officials worried about what a new Trump administration could mean given the former president’s isolationist views. On the presidential trail, Taiwan has not been a major campaign question, though a key foreign policy topic has centered on how to take on China.
“On Oct. 26, Israeli F-35 stealth fighter aircraft penetrated highly defended Iranian airspace, struck a broad number of military targets and returned home safe. Days earlier, U.S. B-2 stealth bombers struck multiple deeply buried Houthi arms caches. These missions illustrate a key point: Despite trendy arguments to the contrary, the United States still requires the most advanced fighters and bombers in our arsenal if we want to win in future conflicts,” writes retired Gen. T. Michael Moseley, the 18th Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force.
Colorado-based propulsion company Ursa Major plans to start building solid rocket motors next year at scale—moving from concept to production in just a year and a half. The company is one of a few new entrants eyeing the solid rocket motor business—an industry that has been consolidated into two domestic suppliers: Aerojet Rocketdyne and Northrop Grumman. With global conflict straining existing production lines, the Pentagon has been trying to foster new ones.
On Nov. 5, Americans will head to the polls to cast a vote for either Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump in an election where national security has taken a backseat to domestic issues like the economy, immigration and abortion rights. Neither Harris nor Trump have provided details on their defense priorities and the budget it will take to bring them to fruition. But both have spent four years in the White House, leaving plenty of clues as to how they could lead the most powerful military in the world.
As part of the Biden administration’s global push for “Responsible Artificial Intelligence,” the Defense Department is building a growing library of interactive online guides to help program managers and other officials develop safe and ethical AI.
Japan has grounded its fleet of V-22 Osprey aircraft again after an incident Oct. 26 where one of the hybrid helicopter-aircraft tilted unexpectedly and hit the ground while trying to take off. The V-22 was taking part in the joint U.S. military exercise Keen Sword and carrying 16 passengers, including three U.S. service members. During takeoff it “became unstable as it swayed from side to side, and the left wing, the lower part of the aircraft came into contact with the ground and part of the aircraft was damaged, so the flight was aborted,” Japan’s Ground Self Defense Forces said in a statement.
A new government watchdog report has found that the Pentagon is not doing enough to track how much housing is available in communities around its bases, and that's forcing some service members to leave families in other states, work extra jobs, or live in recreational vehicles just to afford rent.
Satellite manufacturer Astranis announced Nov. 1 it is teaming up with navigation startup Xona Space Systems to compete for a U.S. Space Force contract aimed at developing a backup to the military’s GPS system.
The Army has racked up 170 kills with Coyote counter-drone interceptors in operational deployments globally. This underscores Coyote’s centrality in the service’s arsenal of systems to help tackle growing threats posed by uncrewed aerial systems.
Jeanne M. Holm Center for Officer Accessions and Citizen Development, located at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., inducted retired Lt. Gen. David A. Deptula, a former headquarters U.S. Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, into its Holm Center alumni program during an induction ceremony at the University of Virginia, Nov. 1, 2024.
An AH-64 Apache attack helicopter pilot etched a message of good-time island vibes in a recent flight path over Hawaii. Captured by the Flightradar24 tacking site, and later shared by U.S. Army W.T.F! Moments, an Apache flying as Chaos 65 took off from Kahului Airport on the afternoon of Oct. 21 and drew a hand sign in the air before landing again, a little over an hour after takeoff.
