NATO plans to offer Ukraine a security package when the alliance convenes its annual summit this summer in Washington, though it’s expected to stop short of accepting the nation’s long-standing request for membership amid Russia’s invasion.
An Air Force combat controller dodged bullets, artillery shells and even direct fire from enemy tanks as he coordinated U.S. firepower against an oncoming battalion of Russian and Syrian tanks and fighters in early 2018. By the end of the four-hour shoot-out, the Air Force commando had directed airstrike and artillery that wiped out hundreds of Russian and Syrian soldiers and vehicles, while an isolated post of about 40 U.S. special ops troops suffered no casualties. The Air Force confirmed last week that the commando was awarded the Air Force Cross—a valor award second only to the Medal of Honor in September 2020 for his actions in the Battle of Khasham, an engagement widely covered for its heavy death toll but whose details remain murky.
The White House is threatening to veto the annual Department of Veterans Affairs and military construction funding bill over GOP-backed riders that would undo VA policies on LGBTQ+ veterans and abortion.
Video and images have emerged on social media claiming to show the destruction of an S-400 or S-300 surface-to-air (SAM) system in Belgorod, Russia, by an M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS. The attack on the SAM, located about 30 miles north of the border, comes just days after the Biden administration approved the use of U.S.-donated weapons like HIMARS on Russian soil to disrupt the ongoing offensive pushing toward Kharkiv.
The once highly-classified ability to detect and pinpoint the locations of radio frequency (RF) emissions from space is rapidly transitioning to the commercial sector—giving companies new powerful capabilities for all sorts of surveillance and intelligence gathering. Interest in RF monitoring from space has soared in recent years as geopolitical conflicts disrupt vital maritime shipping lanes and supply chains, underscoring vulnerabilities.
A fighter jet hurtles toward an adversary head-on. Mere moments before a collision, it swerves—but not before dealing a lethal blow to its opponent. This risky maneuver would be reckless even for the most skilled pilot. But to artificial intelligence, such a simulation scenario showcases one of the most effective dogfighting techniques, scoring kill rates of nearly 100 percent against human pilots. In a warfighting revolution turbocharged by the conflict in Ukraine, autonomous decision-making is quickly reshaping modern combat, experts told Defense News in a series of interviews.
The life expectancy of a future Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) is not a trivial question. The answer could influence everything from the strength of its landing gear to the endurance of the engine and the sophistication of the autonomy algorithms.
Airbus has unveiled a new fighter-like stealthy loyal wingman drone concept. The European aviation consortium is pitching the design heavily to the German Air Force, or Luftwaffe, which has previously expressed interest in an uncrewed companion specifically for its forthcoming Typhoon EK electronic warfare jets. The pilotless wingman is also being presented as a more near-term project that will precede its larger Future Combat Air System (FCAS) plans for the 2040s.
The idea of creating a drone corps within the U.S. Army has been floating around for several months, but got a burst of energy when it was inserted into the most recent draft of the House’s defense policy bill. Retired Army Maj. Gen. John Ferrari argues moving forward with its creation would be a good thing.
The mother of an Air Force Airman who was fatally shot in the doorway to his home by a Florida sheriff’s deputy said June 3 that the deputy’s firing was not justice for her son’s killing. Chantemekki Fortson spoke at a news conference in Atlanta accompanied by her attorney, Ben Crump, who said the firing of Okaloosa County Deputy Eddie Duran was a “step forward,” but that Duran should also be charged in Senior Airman Roger Fortson’s killing.
Parachutists hurled themselves from World War II-era planes into the now peaceful Normandy skies where war once raged, kicking off a week of ceremonies to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day. On June 2, three C-47 transport planes, a workhorse of the war, dropped three long strings of jumpers, their round chutes mushrooming open in the blue skies with puffy white clouds, to whoops from the huge crown that was regaled by tunes from Glenn Miller and Edith Piaf as they waited.