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Summary and Key Points: Muammar Gaddafi had drawn a “line of death” across the Gulf of Sidra and swore to shoot down any aircraft that dared cross it. On the morning of April 15, 1986 — in the aftermath of an American bombing raid on Libya — an SR-71 Blackbird crossed that line anyway, at full throttle, to photograph the damage. When a missile alert flashed in the cockpit, the pilot pushed the legendary spy plane harder than it had ever flown.

Summary and Key Points: In the spring of 2005, the United States Navy set out to sink one of its own aircraft carriers — and for most of a month, it failed. The decommissioned USS America absorbed torpedoes, missiles, and bombs and refused to go under until the Navy finally scuttled her with charges set off inside the hull. To this day, she is the only supercarrier ever sent to the bottom, anywhere on earth. That ordeal is often cited as proof that the American aircraft carrier is nearly unsinkable — and in one sense, it is.

The British Army has deployed new Bolt loitering munitions in Estonia, less then 70 kilometres from the Russian border, highlighting NATO’s continued efforts to enhance its forward offensive capabilities near Russian territory at a time of continuing hostilities in the Ukrainian theatre. The Bolt is a single use attack drone capable of identifying and striking armoured vehicles and other battlefield targets with precision.

Summary and Key Points: For the first time in history, all 22 National Guard generals who command America’s Air National Guard fighter squadrons have signed a single letter to Congress — and the warning inside it is blunt. The U.S. Air Force, they say, has never been older, smaller, or less ready in its entire existence. The alarm comes at a striking moment: the same Air Force just proved its worth over Iran during Operation Epic Fury, even as the generals warn that pilots are being sent into combat in jets built before they were born.

The U.S.

The U.S. Air Force is facing an unexpectedly severe capability gap after suffering extensive combat losses of MQ-9A Reaper drones during operations against Iran and Iranian-aligned Yemeni Ansurullah Coalition Forces forces, leading the service to initiate an urgent search for replacement aircraft. This has included efforts to purchase unused MQ-9A Block 5 airframes from the producer, General Atomics, although fewer than ten new aircraft remain available worldwide.

Summary and Key Points: When two American pilots ejected from their F-15Es over Iran and were pulled to safety, they survived something most people never think about: one of the most violent experiences a human body can endure. The pilots who’ve been through it describe a brutal, split-second ordeal. The moment the handle is pulled, rockets blast the seat out of the cockpit with a force that can bruise shoulders to the bone and snap collarbones — and a pilot who fails to tuck in fast enough risks far worse.

What Every Fighter Pilot Fears: Ejection 

A U.S.

North Korean state media has shown footage of a major facility producing tactical ballistic missiles for the KN-23 system, as the country’s leadership has announced plants for a 2.5 fold expansion in ballistic and cruise missile production capacity over five years. The planned increase in capacity was ordered as North Korea faces both high demand for its missiles abroad, most notably from Russia, as well as an increasingly unstable security situation as conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East continue.

Footage from Moscow’s Sokolniki District has shown continued operations by the world’s largest and most powerful transport helicopters to position Pantsir-SMD-E stationary air defence systems onto the rooftops of high rise buildings, which appears to be part of an effort to rapidly expand a multi-layered defensive network across the capital to respond to the threat of drone attacks from Ukraine.

The French Ministry of Defence has announced the first successful supersonic launch of the MICA NG air-to-air missile from a Rafale fighter, marking a significant milestone in efforts to keep the ageing mid-1990s missile design viable into the 21st century. The MICA NG is available in two primary variants, including one with infrared thermal imaging passive guidance and one with active radar guidance. Both are equipped with a new dual pulse motor, resulting in improved manoeuvrability and combining beyond-visual-range and close-range combat capabilities.

The French Joint Staff on June 5 published footage showing a Rafale fighter conducting a close-range visual interception of a Russian Aerospace Forces Su-35 long range fighter,in a tense encounter over the Baltic Sea. The engagement, which took place on June 2, occurred after the Su-35 was deployed to escort five other Russian aircraft, including a An-30 reconnaissance and survey platform, two transports, and Su-24M and Su-34 strike fighters.