USAF/Composite
Details are a bit thin on what appears to have been an unprecedented training mission flown by B-1B Bones that are currently forward deployed to RAF Fairford in the United Kingdom as part of the Bomber Task Force rotation. The Bones in question flew all the way to the Persian Gulf, and fired some very high-end weapons along the way — including AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles (JASSMs).
As Green Beret recruiting has faltered for years, the Army has also been chipping away at the size of its elite units.
The post Green Berets have struggled for years with recruiting, internal data shows first appeared on Sandboxx.
The post Green Berets have struggled for years with recruiting, internal data shows appeared first on Sandboxx.
The Russian BM-21 rocket launcher, also known as the “Grad,” is an iconic 122mm 40-barrel self-propelled rocket artillery system that originated in the former Soviet Union. Since its introduction into the Soviet Army Artillery Corps in 1964, it has played a vital role in various military operations. This article explores the history, technical specifications, and global impact of the BM-21 rocket launcher, shedding light on its significance as one of the world’s deadliest multiple rocket launchers (MBRL).
Japan’s Defense Ministry announced Wednesday, June 7, that it had signed four contracts worth 314.7 billion yen ($2.3 billion) with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) to develop their own missiles.
Tokyo is striving to acquire counter-strike capabilities as soon as possible amid rising tensions in the region over China’s assertive behavior, North Korea’s relentless nuclear and missile development and Russia’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine.
Among the four contracts, the one that the ministry has awarded to KHI for 33.
The latest progress report on major weapon systems from the U.S. government’s supreme audit institution sheds light on the reasons why the U.S. Air Force has, so far, only received two F-15EX Eagle II fighter jets. A combination of wrangling over the planned acquisition totals and production issues with the first batches of jets has pushed the timeline to the right.
The Pentagon’s repository for government-funded research and engineering information is set to experiment with Microsoft’s new service that enables cloud computing customers to access and apply sophisticated artificial intelligence models — built by ChatGPT-maker OpenAI — to its vast arsenal of defense data.
Trained by massive amounts of data from across the internet, the large language models can predict convincing, but not always correct, conversational responses based on prompts from humans.
On Wednesday, South Korea held an official presentation ceremony for the first FA-50GF light attack aircraft for the Polish Armed Forces, symbolically displaying the two countries’ growing cooperation in the arms industry.
Under the theme “Firm Commitment, Secure Future,” the ceremony took place at the headquarters of Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), South Korea’s sole aircraft manufacturer, in Sacheon, about 300 kilometers south of Seoul.
Following flight tests that will take place until next month, KAI plans to deliver 12 FA-50GFs to Poland before the end of the year.
The Ministry of Defense of the Netherlands announced the selection of H225M Caracal (formerly Eurocopter EC725) helicopters from Airbus Helicopters, ordering 14 such machines. These helicopters are intended to replace the Eurocopter AS532 Cougar (renamed H215M), which has been flying since the mid-1990s.
The price of the contract has not been announced, but the delivery dates are extremely delayed and are not expected to start until 2028. Therefore, the AS532 Cougars will be upgraded to be in service until 2030. The new vehicles are to be used by special operations forces.
Japanese MoD
Japan has kicked off a project to field a new coastal, anti-ship cruise missile as part of the country’s Defense Buildup Program. The “new SSM [surface-to-ship missile]” represents one of many new missile projects, including hypersonic missiles, recently announced by Japan’s Ministry of Defense specifically for “island defense.” It’s likely the new missile will be used on Japan’s southern islands, including around the Senkakus, to deter Chinese military aggression against what is known as the First Island Chain.
The Space Development Agency has awarded Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) a $64 million contract to develop and maintain the agency’s application factory that will automate battle management networks, SDA announced Thursday.
The Battle Management Command, Control and Communications (BMC3) Application Factory is a cloud-based environment that will allow users to test and quickly deploy software through a DevSecOps process to the Space Development Agency’s constellation in low-Earth orbit known as Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA).
