The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is famous as the first and only aircraft to drop nuclear weapons in combat. B-29s Enola Gay and Bockscar dropped the atomic bombs Little Boy and Fat Man on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively, to end WWII. With its pressurized cabin, four powerful engines, and remote-controlled turrets, the Superfortress was the pinnacle of bomber technology for its time. However, with the dawn of the jet age, the propeller-powered heavy bomber had to adapt to remain relevant in the new U.S. Air Force.
A KB-50J refuels a pair of F-105s (U.S.

In an unimaginable tragedy over Veterans Day weekend, five Special Operators were killed in a training accident while refueling over the Mediterranean Sea. According to the Department of Defense, there are no indications the crash was caused by enemy / hostile actions. The MH-60 Blackhawk was conducting aerial refueling training when the aircraft experienced an in-flight emergency, resulting in the crash.
Earlier today, Department of Defense officials identified the service members as Chief Warrant Officer 3 Stephen R. Dwyer, 38, of Clarksville, Tennessee; Chief Warrant Officer 2 Shane M.

A Spanish Air Force Eurofighter of Ala 14 at Albacete Air Base. In front of the aircraft are its primary weapon systems, including the AMRAAM missile. (Janes/Gareth Jennings)
Spain is to buy the extended-range Raytheon AIM-120C-8 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) for its fleet of Eurofighter (C.16 in national service) and Boeing EF-18 (C.15) Hornet combat aircraft, as well as for the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) ground-based air-defence system.

An artist’s impression of the UAE Edge Group Reach-M UCAV revealed at the Dubai Airshow 2023. (Edge Group)
The United Arab Emirates’ (UAE’s) Edge Group has showcased a range of new unmanned aircraft and effectors.
Revealed for the first time at the Dubai Airshow 2023, held from 13 to 17 November, the new product range includes fixed- and rotary-winged unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), as well as air-launched munitions and a jammer.

The Army announced that the five 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment aviators killed on a training mishap this weekend were, from top-left, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Stephen R. Dwyer, 38, of Clarksville, Tennessee Chief Warrant Officer 2 Shane M. Barnes, 34, of Sacramento, California, Sgt. Andrew P. Southard, 27, of Apache Junction, Arizona, Staff Sgt. Tanner W. Grone, 26, of Gorham, New Hampshire, Sgt. Cade M. Wolfe, 24, of Mankato, Minnesota. Army courtesy photos, Air Force photo by Senior Airman Kristine Legate,.

EDGE Group launches its new X Range defence training and testing facility in the GCC region, which will soon be open to third party clients.
The post EDGE Group launches X Range, a multi-domain testing facility appeared first on Army Technology.

The RN has taken delivery of six REMUS 300 vehicles to meet its SAUV requirement. (HII)
The UK Royal Navy (RN) has begun training on the new REMUS 300 small autonomous underwater vehicles (SAUVs) delivered by HII’s Mission Technologies division.
Being introduced to support mine-countermeasures (MCM) operations, the REMUS 300 is intended to enhance the capability of the RN’s Hunt-class MCM vessels to deliver a full-spectrum ‘find-fix-finish’ capability to maximum depth.

Freedburg, BrDef
Soldiers burdened by 15-plus pounds of batteries — of multiple, incompatible types — could benefit from more efficient, standardized power sources like the Small…

DOne
Building a shared image of the battlespace in the Middle East is crucial because threats “go across boundaries,”

PM
The F-35 Lightning was designed to replace the A-10 “Warthog” Thunderbolt, but is it actually better?

Stuart Scheller, The Federalist John Waters’ novel “River City One” explores the difficulties veterans face readjusting to an America that has lost its way.

Stars & Str.
STUTTGART, Germany — Five U.S. service members were killed when their aircraft went down during a training mission in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, the U.S.

The move is intended to reinforce end-to-end accountability and ownership in the business lines and improve competitiveness.
The post Signal: Airbus launches “transformation” of its defence division appeared first on Army Technology.

The Czech parliament has renewed its mandate to allow Ukraine Armed Forces members to train within the Central European republic.
The post Czech Senate renews policy of Ukrainian aid and training appeared first on Army Technology.

Most open source researchers following the Chinese military space program are well aware of China’s perceptions of the U.S. Space Force and its public technology and operation plans. However, I was surprised to find the People’s Liberation Army Strategic Support Force discussing their perspectives of U.S. and Russian space-based jamming. This isn’t the typical thing that the People’s Liberation Army includes in their discussion of the former Strategic Defense Initiative.

The Sky Scout-M combat UAV is being integrated with Edge Group’s RASH-1M precision guided munition, which is seen under the UAV’s wings on the far left and far right. (Janes/Jon Grevatt)
The United Arab Emirates’ (UAE’s) Edge Group and Thai defence firm RV Connex have announced a partnership to collaborate on “unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), loitering munitions, and precision-guided munitions (PGMs)”.

US Special Forces provided armed training to 240 YPG/PKK members at the Al-Malikiyah district in the Al-Hasakah province, Syria on September 7, 2022. (Hedil Amir/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
(Hedil Amir/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images).

American forces carried out another round of airstrikes in eastern Syria earlier today, targeting buildings used by Iranian-linked groups.
The strikes hit a training facility and safe house located near the Syrian towns of Abu Kamal and Mayadin, according to a statement by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.

US World War II veterans: 2Lt Betty L. Huffman-Rosevear (Army Nurse Corps) (R) shakes hands with US Navy veteran SM3c Gilbert D. Nadeau (aka “Shorty”) next to US veteran Andre Chappaz (C) from the 1885th Aviation Engineer Battalion, during the celebrations for the 78th D-Day anniversary, marking the WWII Normandy landings of June 6, 1944, in Sainte-Mere-Eglise on June 5, 2022. (Photo by JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER / AFP) (Photo by JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER/AFP via Getty Images).
Nearly 80 years after World War II ended, the surviving veterans of the conflict are getting free healthcare.

Air Force Colonel Frank Frederick Borman II made history as the commander of Apollo 8, the first manned mission to fly around the moon. For this achievement, he is one of only 28 astronauts to be awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor. On November 7, 2023, Borman passed away in Billings, Montana, at the age of 95.
Born in Gary, Indiana, on March 14, 1928, Borman’s family soon moved to Tucson, Arizona, which he considered to be his hometown. He attended elementary through high school there and also discovered his love of flight.

On December 2, 2022, the Air Force unveiled its new stealth bomber, the B-21 Raider. Named for the famed Doolittle Raiders who struck back at Japan after Pearl Harbor, it is the world’s first six-generation aircraft to be produced and the DoD’s first new bomber in 25 years. Just under a year after it was shown to the world, the B-21 took to the skies for the first time.
The B-21 takes off for the first time (reddit.com/r/airforce)
On November 10, 2023, plane spotters witnessed the Raider take off from Northrop Grumman’s facility in Palmdale, California.

USS Gerald R. Ford steams in the Mediterranean Sea on Aug. 11, 2023. (Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jackson Adkins/U.S. Navy).
Five U.S. service members died on Friday after a mishap on a training flight caused their aircraft to crash.
The crash occurred on the evening of Friday, Nov. 10. The unspecified aircraft was flying over the eastern Mediterranean Sea in a training operation. U.S. European Command said that the aircraft “suffered a mishap” while performing a “routine air refueling mission,” causing the aircraft to go down.

Editors & Cole Lyle, Real Clear Defense
Military veterans represent about

Shortly after the Hamas pogrom of October 7, the United States sent two aircraft carriers, additional ground warplanes and, finally, a guided-missile submarine to the region. This was said to be a “clear message of deterrence” to Hezbollah and its sponsor, Iran, warning them not to escalate the subsequent war between Israel and Hamas by attacking Israel from southern Lebanon.

With 150,000 precision-guided missiles embedded among the Lebanese civilian population and capable of striking all of Israel, Hezbollah represents a far greater threat to Israel than Hamas.

Host L Todd Wood speaks with AFP contributor Dr. John Hughes, West Point grad, combat doctor, on his new book, American Doctor, Coming Home to War.
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The X-37B after landing at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility. (Space Force).
A year after the U.S. military’s secretive X-37B set a record for spending more than 900 days in orbit, Space Force’s space plane  is heading back to outer space.
U.S. Space Force confirmed this week that the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle will take flight again next month. The OTV’s seventh mission, dubbed USSF-52, will launch Dec. 7 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This time around, the space plane is using a Falcon Heavy rocket from SpaceX for its launch.

The aircraft carriers Gerald R. Ford and Dwight D. Eisenhower along with their strike groups operating together in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea on Nov. 3, 2023. (Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Janae Chambers/U.S. Navy).
An American military aircraft “went down” in the eastern Mediterranean Friday night, U.S. European Command announced Saturday afternoon.
The unspecified aircraft was conducting a training flight the evening of Nov. 10 and “suffered a mishap and went down,” EUCOM reported.

A CH-47 Chinook helicopter piloted by Chief Warrant Officer 3 Larry Murphy and Chief Warrant Officer 3 Paul Barnes of the Pennsylvania National Guard’s 104th Aviation Regiment touches down on the roof of a house in northeastern Afghanistan to evacuate detainees on Nov. 10, 2003. Army photo by Sgt. Greg Heath.
What might be the most famous picture of the entire Afghanistan war turned 20 years old this week.
On Nov.

Over the past two decades, China’s People’s Liberation Army Air Force [PLAAF] has worked diligently to become an equal competitor with the United States Air Force. A recent Pentagon report highlights the various measures through which the Chinese Air Force has become a formidable contender and, at the very least, a close rival to the USAF.

In several respects, the numerical superiority of Chinese air power could swamp US forces in a hypothetical skirmish over Taiwan.

Capt. Bert Hornyak, commanding officer, Naval Supply Systems Command Fleet Logistics Center Pearl Harbor, and Capt. James Meyer, commanding officer, Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command Hawaii, give U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael S. Regan a tour of the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility on February 23, 2022. (U.S. Navy photo).
Five active-duty service members, including an officer, have sued the U.S. government over the 2021 Red Hill fuel spill in Hawaii.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday, Nov. 8, alleges that the five service members from the U.S.

“There is a good work environment, and deadlines are being met,” declared Major General Jean-Luc Moritz about the Franco-German-Spanish project of the future fighter system.
A leading French Air and Space Force officer told reporters this week that the Franco-German-Spanish Future Combat Air System (FCAS) project is studying four different fighter designs and that the Final election will take place in the first quarter of 2025.

Host L Todd Wood speaks with Sam Feola about his helicopter experience in Vietnam with the famous Seawolves squadron.
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Pacific SitRep – Is WWIII Coming? 11/10/23
BREAKING: DOD CONTROLLED COVID ‘VACCINES’ FROM THE START UNDER NATIONAL SECURITY PROGRAM – LIED THE ENTIRE TIME – Were NEVER ‘Safe and Effective’

The post LIVE 7pm EST: War Stories – Scramble The Seawolves! appeared first on Armed Forces Press.

The Hezbollah force in Lebanon is said to possess many anti-ship missiles, which can threaten US warships present off the coast of Israel.

The US Navy announced that it has deployed two aircraft carrier battle groups and amphibious ships to waters off the coast of Israel to show support for Tel Aviv in the fight against Hamas, as well as deter armed groups. Pro-Iranian in the Middle East, the most formidable of which is the Hezbollah group in Lebanon.

The U.S. State Department has approved a foreign military sale to the Government of Romania, encompassing M1A2 Abrams main battle tanks and associated equipment. The estimated cost of this sale is $2.53 billion. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) provided the necessary certification to Congress yesterday, notifying them of this potential sale.

The news of a four-hour daily ceasefire in the Gaza Strip initially appeared as a potential breakthrough in a conflict that has caused immense suffering and casualties. It was hailed as a move that could facilitate the evacuation of civilians from the war-torn area and enable the delivery of crucial humanitarian aid. However, the reality quickly shattered this hopeful outlook.
Israel’s agreement to the ceasefire, announced by the White House, came after strenuous diplomatic efforts by the Biden administration.

Israel faces many challenges when dealing with Hamas in the tunnel, from determining the entrance to underground operations.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced that they have destroyed about 130 tunnels in the Gaza Strip since launching a ground operation late last month. However, this is only a small part of the “matrix” of tunnels that Hamas has painstakingly built over the past 30 years, estimated to have a total length of more than 500 km.

The B-21 stealth bomber took off from the factory in California and moved to Edwards base to prepare for the test flight phase.

America’s first B-21 Raider stealth bomber took off from the runway at Factory No. 42 of Northrop Grumman Corporation in Palmdale, California, on the morning of November 10 and landed at Edwards Air Force Base about an hour later. 
The aircraft flew with its landing gear down, a rule that usually applies on the first flight of any aircraft, and was escorted by an F-16 fighter.

RespStatecraft
Marine John Waters’ debut novel reflects how an ‘ordinary life’ can remain out of reach, even decades after combat.

Peter Coy, The New York Times
With each passing Veterans Day, there are fewer veterans in America for other Americans to thank.

James Freeman, The Wall Street Journal
There have been various laudable efforts over the years to encourage businesses to hire U.S. military veterans.

Happy Veterans Day to all the veterans out there! (Task & Purpose composite image).
Veterans Day is usually packed with BBQs, going out for a drink, or getting together with your buddies.
But along with beer and BBQ, a more informal staple of the holiday are the Veterans Day memes. 
Veterans Day is based on Armistice Day, commemorating the end of World War I, which ended officially on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.

U.S. Marine Corps photo by Staff Sgt. Kelsey Dornfeld
Welcome to Bunker Talk, a weekend open discussion post that this week coincides with Veterans Day here in the U.S. To all of our veterans, thank you!
The caption to this week’s top shot reads:
A U.S. Marine Corps Korean War veteran searches the names of those who lost their lives during the Korean War at the Korean War Memorial in Washington, D.C., on November 3, 2023, during a reunion for those who fought at the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir.

(Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)
Gaza City’s al-Shifa hospital is an overcrowded bastion of wounded, those seeking shelter from ongoing Israeli bombardment and a repository for bodies unable to be buried. It is also, say Israeli authorities, the epicenter of Hamas military activities. With Israeli troops closing in on the overburdened facility, concern is mounting for those caught in the cruel maw of urban warfare.
“Horrific reports of attacks on Al Shifa hospital coming out of Gaza today,” United Nations aid chief Martin Griffiths said on Twitter.

Contributor
The B-21’s first flight — a massive milestone for Northrop Grumman and the USAF — provides us with totally new looks at the world’s most advanced flying machine. Here are some key takeaways from what is really the Raider’s first full unveiling.
Check out our morning coverage of the B-21’s first flight here. You can read our past analysis on the B-21 and its mission set, which mirrors what we are seeing today with our own eyes, here and here.
First off, the name.

The absence of many workers from their jobs due to the ongoing war with the Hamas terrorist group has been costing the Israeli economy about NIS 2.3 billion ($600 million) per week, or about 6% of GDP, according to a research report by the Bank of Israel.
The report measures the weekly cost in the first three weeks of the war, which broke out on October 7, and attributes the decline in labor supply to the mass mobilization of reserve soldiers, the evacuation of residents in the south and the north, and the closure of the educational system, which makes the work of parents difficult.

We hope that our warriors are not drawn into another war in the Middle East.

Happy birthday to the meanest, fiercest, and most courageous fighting force on the planet – our United States Marine Corps🫡🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/DLjvX5COzy
— DC_Draino (@DC_Draino) November 10, 2023

pic.twitter.com/FrPNkjkPHy
— Dan Scavino Jr.

UKRAINE – SEPTEMBER 6, 2023 – Gunner ‘Molfar’, 39, a Bradley IFV crew member of the 47th Magura Mechanized Brigade who took part in the fighting to liberate Robotyne village from Russian invaders, stands in the hatch of the vehicle, Zaporizhzhia direction, southeastern Ukraine. (Photo by Ukrinform/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
As the war drags on, U.S. funding for Ukraine has nearly dried up and military aid, in particular, is now being rationed.

USAF
A portion of NATO-operated F-35A stealth fighters in Europe appears to have moved a step closer to becoming fully nuclear-capable platforms, with an announcement from the Netherlands that it has received “initial certification for the deterrence mission.” The U.S. Air Force had previously announced that the aim was to have the F-35A certified to carry the B61-12 nuclear bomb — as a so-called Dual Capable Aircraft (DCA) — by January 2024.
The red tail of an inert B61-12 is visible inside the bomb bay of this F-35A during a test flight.

USAF
Planned flight testing of a high-energy laser directed energy weapon on a U.S. Air Force AC-130J Ghostrider gunship has been pushed back again to next year. This once looked set to be the service’s first operational airborne laser weapon. However, the future of this project is ever more uncertain and there is now a broader review of the Ghostrider’s armament suite that could see the aircraft lose their 105mm howitzers in the future.

Happy 248th birthday, Marines! Make Chesty Puller proud today and don’t disgrace him either. (Wikimedia commons image. Task & Purpose composite image).
In case you hadn’t hear (and there’s no way you haven’t heard) it’s the U.S. Marine Corps’ 248th birthday. 
Almost 2.5 centuries of military history started in the Corps’ birthplace, Tun’s Tavern, on November 10, 1775. The Marine Corps was established to augment naval forces in the Revolutionary War. Capt. Samuel Nicholas recruited Marines straight out of the Tun Tavern on Water Street in Philadelphia.

The powerful Russian anti-ship missiles acquired by Hezbollah give it the means to carry out its leader’s veiled threat against American warships and underscore the serious risks of any regional war, according to sources familiar with the group’s arsenal.
Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah warned Washington last week that his group had something in store for US ships deployed in the region since war broke out last month between the Palestinian group Hamas and Israel, shaking the entire Middle East.