All four Navy aircrew members involved in a midair collision Sunday over an Idaho airshow survived ejecting from their planes, Navy officials confirmed Monday, an outcome that several retired fighter pilots described as extraordinary.
The mishap came when two Navy E/A-18G Growlers appeared to become stuck together in midair during a demonstration flight over Mountain Home Air Force Base. All four crew of the two-person jets ejected almost instantly as the planes stalled, including the two aviators whose jet had become stuck underneath the other plane.

U.S. Special Operations Command, or SOCOM, is focused on moving quickly to get technology into the hands of special operators, a senior acquisitions official with the command said on Monday.
“We are not building aircraft carriers here,” said David Breede, SOCOM’s deputy director for acquisition. “We are not launching million-dollar satellites here. What we are doing is integrating the latest technology into systems that can be fielded quickly for our quick turn prototyping, quick turn testing, validation — get them to the field.

TAMPA, Fla. — Officials across the services are racing to get disparate military platforms to talk to each other, an effort buoyed by the idea that the speedy transfer of information across multiple domains and automated systems will give U.S. forces an advantage on the battlefield.
For America’s most elite forces, the development of such a network — one that doesn’t rely on equipment-specific software — is not moving fast enough, according to one of U.S. Special Operations Command’s top acquisition officials.
Other parts of the military have echoed those concerns.

The Pentagon just released its budget request for the upcoming fiscal year and, if an organization’s budget reflects what it values, cyber operations are not a top priority. While President Donald Trump’s national cyber strategy affirms that this administration will “act swiftly, deliberately, and proactively” and no longer “tinker at the edges” of America’s cybersecurity problem, the Pentagon bureaucracy does not appear to have gotten the memo.

This video describes the military situation in

In the 1960s, America underwent the trials of the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War, both of which Col. Paris Davis took head-on. He was one of the first Black officers to earn the coveted Green Beret of the U.S. Army’s Special Forces.
“I said, ‘Look, you can call me Capt. Davis, but you can’t call me a n****r,’” he said of his experience as a Black officer. Despite the discrimination that he faced, Davis was a bona fide hero.

Dr. Ryan Burke is a Professor of Military & Strategic Studies (MSS) at the U.S. Air Force Academy (USAFA).
Dr. Burke teaches classes on international security studies, military power projection, military affairs, and defense policy, per the Academy website.
Dr. Burke has a long academic resume and has combat experience.
Dr. Burke wrote what is in my opinion a seditious oped at Real Clear Defense. You can read it here.
To quote his oped, “When ostensibly serious people refer to the Department of Defense as the “Department of War,” we are no longer being precise.

An RAF chef who helped feed hundreds of deploye

Reigning champions look to defend their crown🏆 Don’t miss a moment of the President’s Cup! ⚽️UKAF Women vs Dutch Forces 🔴LIVE on BFBS Forces News YouTube | BFBS TV 📅20 May | 16:45 BST More💻: www.forcesnews.com/sport/football/presidents-cup-how-watch-uk-armed-forces-women-take-dutch-forces-live #bfbsforcesnews #forcesnews #news #uk #shorts #military #sports #football #armedforces #netherlands

Welcome to The Ukraine Compass, a weekly digest of Ukrainian commentary and analysis from across the political spectrum only for War on the Rocks members. Each Monday, we bring you a curated selection of articles from Ukrainian media offering insight into how Ukrainians themselves debate the issues shaping their country.American coverage often narrows the view to the battlefield — these pieces widen it, revealing the texture of daily life, politics, and public argument in a nation at war.

The US Army has entered into an agreement with Czech manufacturer U&C UAS for the delivery of specialised drones to its units stationed in Europe.

North Yorkshire based RAF Leeming takes on Pete

Anglesey based RAF Valley takes on Cyprus based

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The UK MoD has chosen four companies to progress the development of drones to operate alongside British Army Apache attack helicopters.

The Army is buying SMASH 2000LE rifle-mounted s

Another Air Force general now has a large sword.
This past week, Lt. Gen. John P. Healy was inducted into the Air Force’s Order of the Sword, the service’s weapon-themed society that honors leaders for their work, the Air Force announced.
Healy, the Chief of Air Force Reserve and Commander of Air Force Reserve Command since 2022, was inducted into the Order of the Sword on May 14, 2026 in a ceremony at Robins Air Force Base in Georgia.

Chester Bowles did not feel well on March 6, 1967.
Bowles, the United States ambassador to India, was home battling the flu when his phone rang. The caller informed Bowles that a Russian woman arrived at the embassy that evening and sought asylum. Not only that, but she claimed she was Joseph Stalin’s daughter.
Also Read: The United States created rules for encountering a Yeti during the Cold War“I don’t think Stalin has a daughter,” the ambassador responded.
Bowles was mistaken. Svetlana Alliluyeva existed, all right, and she was not lying.

Aviat.
Anduril will provide the U.S.

Barry Rosenberg, BrDef
Earlier this year, the Army stood up the Capability Program Executive Office for Mission Autonomy (CPE Mission Autonomy) to interconnect all unmanned operations in the…

Michael Peck, AF Times
The U.S.

gCaptain
America’s newest commissioned aircraft carrier USS Gerald R.

Global Def.
The U.S.

This video describes the military situation in

Before the invasion came the biggest military l

For nearly a century, America’s defense industrial strength yielded a subtle benefit: influence as the world’s security guarantor of choice. But the system that once anchored partner access to U.S. weaponry is now an obstacle. Modern statecraft — the interplay of industry, diplomacy, and defense — requires a fresh approach to regulating defense trade.While the American arsenal accounts for more than 40 percent of global arms transfers, that share largely comprises exquisite systems for which the United States is unable to meet its own demand, let alone the needs of other nations.

In 2006, the U.S. Army’s 25th Combat Aviation Brigade deployed to Iraq, where it paired Task Force ODIN (Observe, Detect, Identify, and Neutralize) with an Apache battalion from the 82nd Airborne Division — a first-of-its-kind teaming of attack helicopters with drones. These units combined manned and unmanned sensors to identify and destroy improvised explosive devices and high-value targets, leveraging drones to fill gaps in traditional rotary wing aviation. Col. Jamie LaValley, at the time a captain with the 82nd, told me he felt he was witnessing “the future of warfare.

Western airpower debates are increasingly driven by grim math. Analysts tally missile inventories, strike ranges, and sortie-generation capacity against a small number of critical runways, fuel systems, and aerial refueling aircraft. The prevailing conclusion is that U.S. and allied airpower could be severely disrupted early in a conflict with China. While China’s anti-access/area-denial capabilities place U.S.

Pakistan Air Force J-10C fighters were able to achieve a 9-0 kill ratio against Qatar Emiri Air Force Eurofighter combat jets during simulated combat engagements the Zilzal-II joint air exercise in Qatar in 2024, according to recent reports from multiple Pakistani and Gulf Arab sources.

Following the unveiling of a new variant of the Russian Su-57 fifth generation fighter with a twin seat configuration, an informed Russian source has reported that the aircraft was developed specifically in response to Indian Defence Ministry requirements for such a configuration to equip its own fleet. The source added that other potential clients have also shown an interest in procuring twin seat variants of the Su-57, without naming any specifically.

Photo AFP

Honolulu, HI – Senior military commanders from across the Indo-Pacific convened at the 2026 Land Forces Pacific Symposium and Exposition (LANPAC) this week to chart a path forward for regional security, placing heavy emphasis on technological innovation, military modernization, and deeper allied cooperation.
AFP was on scene reporting.
In a keynote address delivered on May 13, Gen.

…make your arguments, because this isn’t a make the donuts plan…

Public Domain

BZ to the folks who decided not to release it the Friday before Mother’s Day Weekend. Yesterday, Acting SECNAV Cao released the U.S. Navy’s Shipbuilding Plan.
Let’s dive in, but first, the usual caveats we’ve used over the last couple of decades when reviewing such items.

Ignore the out years. They are notoriously inaccurate in both numbers and type.
Focus on what you see four years from the year it is issued. The next four years, meh. Beyond that…don’t bet your lunch money on it.

The U.S. Navy has lost two EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft in a midair collision at the Gunfighter Skies air show at the Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho, with the four airmen onboard ejecting and surviving. Each EA-18G has two crew members, a pilot and an electronic warfare officer who handles the electronic attack mission of the aircraft. The aircraft gained considerable publicity in January after they were confirmed to have played a central role in providing U.S.

A new variant of the Russian Su-57 fifth generation fighter with a twin seat configuration has for the first time been unveiled, representing a major landmark in the program as the aircraft rapidly gains growing traction on global markets. The aircraft was photographed conducting ground taxi trials, with its designation remaining uncertain. Previously, the Chinese J-20 fifth generation fighter was the only aircraft of its generation with a twin seat variant developed, with the Soviet MiG 1.42 and its twin seat variant, as well as a twin seat variant of the U.S.

Two U.S. Navy EA-18G Growler jets from the Growler Demo Team collided mid-air and crashed during the Gunfighter Skies Air Show at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho.

BREAKING: 2 U.S. Navy Super Hornets/Growlers crash and collide during Gunfighter Skies Air Show at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho.
Aviation sources tell KTVB that both aircrews ejected safely. pic.twitter.com/GPsdrwTFWq
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) May 17, 2026

The post WATCH: 2 U.S Navy F-18 Super Hornets Collide, Fuse Together During Idaho Airshow, 4 Crew Eject Safely appeared first on Armed Forces Press.

Mountain Home Air Force Base is on lockdown after two aircraft crashed into each other at an air show this afternoon.
The incident happened two miles northwest of Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho during the Gunfighter Skies Air Show, a base spokesperson told Task & Purpose
Video posted to social media of the scene shows two of the Navy’s E/A-18G Growlers flying close together and colliding, with four crewmembers ejecting. Four parachutes can be seen getting away from the planes as the two Growlers crash to the ground and explode.

This video describes the military situation in

Nearly two decades after the first littoral combat ship entered naval service, the final one was commissioned this weekend.
The crew, shipbuilders, officials and family gathered Saturday near the banks of Lake Erie in the city of Cleveland for the commissioning of the USS Cleveland, the Navy’s newest ship . The Cleveland is a 378-foot long ship, with a crew of roughly 90 sailors. It’s the 16th and final Freedom-class ship to enter service. 
The speakers at the ceremony were upbeat, with the ship’s captain, Cmdr.

Footage of the downing of a Ukrainian aircraft-type UAV by Russian military in the Belgorod border region.
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Every year, millions of people visit military memorials and cemeteries across the United States. And every year, visitors leave tokens of remembrance behind. From letters and flowers to small trinkets such as coins, rocks, origami birds, and, yes, even hair ties.
Also Read: An honest look at how relationships evolve during and after military service
On the surface, these may seem like simple gestures, but many carry specific and deeply personal meaning. These possessions show care. They carry connection, grief, and memory.

The Cuban Defence Ministry has procured more than 300 new unmanned aircraft from Russia and Iran, according to U.S. intelligence, as the small island country faces the threat of a U.S. military assault on its territory. Intelligence sources have reported that the Cuban Armed Forces have begun considering plans for attacks on the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, American warships, and the city of Key West in southern Florida which is located approximately 160 kilometres from Cuban territory, placing it within range of multiple types of assets.

This video describes the military situation in

Royal Navy Wildcat helicopters dodge P2000s in

Dear MilSpouses: It is our intent here at Mighty MilSpouse, to keep it real with you. To provide you with solid, grounded, and best practices based on expertise, experience, and evidence-based research so that we can help alleviate some of the guess work on real-life scenarios or circumstances we may find ourselves in at any given moment.

WASHINGTON — The FBI is offering a $200,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Monica Witt, a former U.S. Air Force counterintelligence specialist who defected to Iran in 2013 and faces espionage charges for allegedly sharing classified national defense information with the Iranian regime.
The bureau announced the reward on May 14, more than a decade after Witt’s defection and six years after her 2019 federal indictment in Washington, D.C.
Witt served in the U.S. Air Force from 1997 to 2008 and later worked as a government contractor until 2010.

Thousands of sailors from the Ford Carrier Strike Group were awarded the Presidential Unit Citation today for their active role in the war with Iran, where they dealt with constant threat of enemy attack while carrying out or coordinating hundreds of strikes on Iranian targets.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth presented the Presidential Unit Citation to the crews in Norfolk, Virginia.

American and Nigerian forces killed the Islamic State’s director of global operations in a Friday evening operation, U.S. African Command said.
The joint operation killed Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, according to President Donald Trump, who announced the mission and al-Minuki’s death in a social media post Friday night. Trump described al-Minuki as ISIS’s “second in command” globally. The strike was the largest U.S. operation in Nigeria since Christmas, when U.S. forces fired multiple missiles at militants in Nigeria’s northwestern Sokoto state.

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It’s been Navy Federal Credit Union’s missi

MC Times
At one point during Exercise Balikatan 2026 in the Philippines, one regiment of the U.S.