Browsing: All news

T.

Chris Gordon, A&SF
Air Force pilots are not flying enough, and the service must fix what has become a chronic issue and the myriad of factors that contribute to it, particularly a lack of…

The WarZone
Northrop Grumman hopes to begin air-launched flight testing of Lumberjack, which can also drop its own small munitions, next year.

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force has made its first known deployment of GJ-11 Sharp Sword unmanned stealth fighters, which are stationed at Shigatse Air Base in Tibet, marking the first operationalisation of an unmanned fighter squadron by any country in the world. Confirmation by satellite footage of the operationalisation of the world’s first known unmanned fighter squadron marks a major landmark in the Chinese defence sector’s rapid development of new unmanned aircraft.

In 2017, the world’s largest shipping company, Maersk, went dark. A state-sponsored cyber attack known as NotPetya spread from Ukraine into global networks, paralyzing terminals from Los Angeles to New Jersey. Cargo piled up, factories waited on missing parts, and workers resorted to moving containers with Post-it notes and WhatsApp messages. The White House later attributed the attack to Russia’s military intelligence agency, calling it “the most destructive and costly cyber attack in history.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced that significant progress has been made in trails or a new class of strategic nuclear weapon.“I think we will have the opportunity in the near future to break some news about a new weapon that we announced a long time ago,” he stated, adding that it “is undergoing tests [which] are proceeding successfully.” He further noted that a “certain arms race is underway” in the world, and warned that a number of countries are nuclear tests to ensure the capabilities of their arsenals.

The Egyptian Air Force has received its first new Rafale fighter aircraft since 2017, as the French defence sector began delivering a second batch of 30 fighters that were first ordered more than three years ago in 2021. The Egyptian Defence Ministry signed a €3.75 billion ($4.5 billion) contract for 30 Rafale fighters in May that year, bringing the aircraft’s average costs per unit down to $150 million.

The Pentagon’s new Barracks Task Force will steer toward private sector “investment opportunities” and contracting to overhaul the miltary’s junior enlisted barracks under directives in a memo released by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth Thursday.
Hegseth announced earlier this week that the Pentagon was creating a task force to come up with a “barracks investment plan.” The memo released Thursday laid out what that group’s work will be.

The Army’s official relief group has already approved more than $7 million in payments to active-duty soldiers and their families facing a missed paycheck next week amid the government shutdown. The Air Force’s designated charity says it has received hundreds of applications for help and has “several million in potential funds available” for airmen and Space Force guardians.
With troops’ Oct. 15 pay date rapidly approaching and no resolution to the federal government shutdown in sight, three major service relief nonprofits are seeing a surge in requests for financial assistance.

The Air Force is considering creating standalone squadrons for its future fleet of robotic wingman drones known as Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA), according to the nominee for chief of staff.
“We’re thinking that they’re not going to be embedded in current fighter squadrons, but rather they’re going to be their own squadrons,” Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach said Thursday during his confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee.