An upgraded Storm Shadow SPEAR Cap 4 long-range deep-strike weapon engages a target during operational evaluation trials at the US Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, California, in mid-2021. (UK Ministry of Defence)  MBDA is expected to finalise the Selective Precision Effects At Range Capability 4 (SPEAR Cap 4) regeneration of the UK's Storm Shadow air-launched, conventionally armed, deep-strike weapon inventory later in 2022.  SPEAR Cap 4 is the UK Ministry of Defence (UK MoD)-sanctioned Mid-Life Refurbishment (MLR) project for the MBDA-...

Seen at the ILA Berlin Airshow in 2018, the An-225 was reported destroyed on 27 February. (Janes/Gareth Jennings)  Ukraine reported the destruction of the Antonov An-225 Mriya airlifter on 27 February, with the Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba saying that the largest aircraft in the world was destroyed in a Russian strike on Hostomel Airport (also known as Antonov International Airport) on the northwestern outskirts of Kyiv.  Kuleba referred to the world's only six-engined airlifter in the past tense in a statement posted on his offi...

The Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF) is operating a previously undocumented medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), a tweet by Lieutenant General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the commander of Uganda's land forces and the president...

US Air Force Air Combat Command (USAF/ACC) is shaping its requirements for a new digital active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar threat system to support future air warfare training needs for addressing advancing adversary air-defence rada...

A pair of USAF F-35As arrive in Romania on 24 February as part of a wider shoring up of the NATO eAP mission. (US Air Force)  NATO members have increased the number of aircraft committed to the alliance's enhanced Air Policing (eAP) mission following Russia's further invasion of Ukraine on 24 February.  With the current already reinforced eAP mission comprising combat aircraft from Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States, additional aircraft have b...

A file photo of the A-50 'Mainstay‘ AEW&C aircraft that has been heading Russia‘s air offensive over Ukraine. (UAC)  Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) Beriev A-50 ‘Mainstay' airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft have been flying daily missions from an airbase in Belarus to co-ordinate Moscow's air offensive against Ukraine.  Images of two A-50 aircraft operating from Baranavichy airbase, south-west of Minsk, have been repeatedly posted online by anti-Belarus government activists since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine o...

Along with Poland and Slovakia, Bulgaria is a European operator of the MiG-29 combat aircraft (pictured) that the EU is looking to supply to Ukraine to help replace the country's battlefield losses. (Bulgarian Air Force)  The European Union (EU) is to provide the Ukrainian armed forces with combat aircraft to help replace battlefield losses in the face of Russia's renewed invasion of the country.  The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security, Josep Borrell, made the announcement on 27 February, saying that Kyiv had re...

The Chinese People‘s Liberation Army Air Force has made regular sorties into Taiwan's claimed airspace in recent months, deploying aircraft including Shenyang J-11 fighters. (Japanese MoD)  China has continued military aircraft deployments in Taiwan's air defence identification zone (ADIZ), the Ministry of National Defense (MND) has said, and Russia's invasion of Ukraine has not yet coincided with an increase in such sorties.  According to the MND, nine Chinese People‘s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) aircraft entered its ADIZ on 24 Februar...

US Marines with 1st Tank Battalion perform radio checks on a Harris 117 radio in preparation of exercises aboard USS   Makin Island  .  (US Marine Corps)  US Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA), in conjunction with BAE Systems, is developing prototype security software that will identify and mitigate potential threats to secure radio frequency (RF) transmissions in degraded or denied spectrum environments.  The security software development effort is being conducted under IARPA's Securing Comp...

The Dutch military has ordered Smart Shooter's Smash fire-control systems for C-UAS applications. (Technische Bureau H.A. Muller (TBM BV))  The Dutch military has ordered the Smart Shooter Smash AD (anti-drone) fire-control system for small arms after testing it over the past year, the Israeli company announced in a press release on 21 February. The system is being procured mainly for counter-unmanned aerial system (C-UAS) applications.  Smash is designed to ensure that each round finds its target by providing a standard assault rifle with pr...

Thousands of US military personnel will deploy to Germany in the coming days in response to Russia's multipronged attack on Ukraine, US President Joe Biden announced on 24 February.  Washington warned for several months about the Russian military b...

The Chinese People‘s Liberation Army Air Force has made regular sorties into Taiwan's claimed airspace in recent months, deploying aircraft including Shenyang J-11 fighters. (Japanese MoD)  China has continued military aircraft deployments in Taiwan's air defence identification zone (ADIZ), the Ministry of National Defense (MND) has said, and Russia's invasion of Ukraine has not yet coincided with an increase in such sorties.  According to the MND, nine Chinese People‘s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) aircraft entered its ADIZ on 24 Februar...

NATO leaders have activated their emergency military response force as a defensive measure for the first time. The move comes as Russian troops continue their push into the Ukrainian capital city and refugees are fleeing into neighbouring countries...

The UK Ministry of Defence's (MoD's) latest equipment plan has revealed a series of in-service date slippages affecting key UK air-launched weapons programmes, including Brimstone 3A, Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missile (ASRAAM) Block 6, and th...

The United Arab Emirates' Tawazun Industrial Park (TIP) announced at the UMEX tradeshow in Abu Dhabi on 23 February that it was launching an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) competition in collaboration with the Khalifa University of Science and Techn...

The 12th P-8I Neptune for the Indian Navy was delivered on 19 February. (Boeing)  India has received its 12th Boeing P-8I Neptune maritime multimission aircraft (MMA).  The manufacturer announced on 24 February that the aircraft was formally handed over to the Indian Navy (IN) on 19 February. This is the last P-8I to be delivered under an option for a further four that the Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD) exercised in 2016. The sale of six additional P-8Is to take the Indian fleet up to 18 was approved by the US government in May 2021 under...

Ukraine has made an official request to Turkey to close its airspace and Black Sea access to Russian Navy vessels as Moscow launched its military attack on the Eastern European country on 24 February.  Turkey called Moscow's military assault on Kyi...

Pictured in the Netherlands, F-35s of the Royal Netherlands Air Force have been sent to Eastern Europe without delay following the renewed invasion of Ukraine by Russia. (Royal Netherlands Air Force)  NATO has brought forward its deployment of Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters (JSFs) to the Southern Air Policing mission, with the Netherlands announcing its two jets have been sent to Eastern Europe immediately rather than in March as earlier planned.  The Dutch Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on 24 February that the R...

Thousands of US military personnel will deploy to Germany in the coming days in response to Russia's multipronged attack on Ukraine, US President Joe Biden announced on 24 February.  Washington warned for several months about the Russian military b...

A mock-up of of Turkey's TF-X at Singapore Airshow 2022. Pakistan has been confirmed as the first official partner in the TF-X programme, TUSAŞ CEO Temel Kotil said on 18 February. (Janes/Ridzwan Rahmat)  Turkey and Pakistan have joined forces in the development and production of a new fifth-generation fighter aircraft.  “This is a Turkish-Pakistani fighter programme,” said Turkish Aerospace Industries (TUSAŞ) CEO, Temel Kotil, while holding a scale model of the Turkish Fighter Experimental (TF-X)/National Combat Aircraft (MMU) single-seat, t...