Air Forces

News and updates on air forces, fighter jets, UAVs, and aerial defense systems.

Category Highlights
Denel Unveils Skyler VTOL Scout Drone for South Africa’s Military

Denel Unveils Skyler VTOL Scout Drone for South Africa’s Military

Denel Aeronautics has publicly shown its Skyler vertical-takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) reconnaissance drone for the first time, displaying the fixed-wing scout aircraft at the Africa Aerospace and...

Category Highlights
China’s Air Defense Systems: HQ-9, HQ-19, HQ-29 and S-400

China’s Air Defense Systems: HQ-9, HQ-19, HQ-29 and S-400

China operates one of the largest and densest air and missile defence networks in the world. Its backbone is the long-range HQ-9 surface-to-air missile, supported...

Category Highlights
Spain Launches Atlas 26 Counter-Drone Exercise in Huelva With Armed Forces and Police

Spain Launches Atlas 26 Counter-Drone Exercise in Huelva With Armed Forces and Police

Spain's armed forces and state security forces began Atlas 26 on 19 October, a joint counter-drone exercise at the Médano del Loro training and firing...

Category Highlights
How Big Is Russia’s Air Force? Aircraft, Personnel, Structure

How Big Is Russia’s Air Force? Aircraft, Personnel, Structure

Russia has the second-largest air force in the world by total aircraft, with about 4,300 military aircraft of all types and roughly 1,200 combat jets....

Category Highlights
UK Defence Intelligence: Russia Lost a Tu-95, Su-35 and Su-34 in One Week

UK Defence Intelligence: Russia Lost a Tu-95, Su-35 and Su-34 in One Week

Russia lost three tactical and strategic aircraft in the space of a week, all of them types used in strike campaigns against Ukraine, according to...

Category Highlights
Does the F-35 Have a Kill Switch? What the US Can and Cannot Control

Does the F-35 Have a Kill Switch? What the US Can and Cannot Control

There is no evidence that the F-35 contains a kill switch, a hidden mechanism that would let Washington switch off another country's jets, and the...

Category Highlights
Missile Defense Layers Explained, From Boost Phase to Terminal

Missile Defense Layers Explained, From Boost Phase to Terminal

Missile defense layers exist because no single interceptor can cover a ballistic missile's whole flight, so defenders stack systems across the boost, midcourse and terminal...

Category Highlights
F-35 Problems: Readiness, Sustainment Costs and Delayed Upgrades

F-35 Problems: Readiness, Sustainment Costs and Delayed Upgrades

The F-35's biggest problems today are on the ground, not in the air: too few jets are ready to fly, keeping them flying costs far...