The Aviationist Blog

Flight test cancelled at Groom Lake for a “Watchdog Tango” condition. Michał Rokita, is an aviation spotter and photographer who often travel to remote spots, on public land, in Nevada from where he can have [...]

The post Area 51 Helicopter Spots Aviation Spotter on Tikaboo In The Darkness: Sensitive Mission Aborted appeared first on The Aviationist.

July 27, 2024 marked the 75th anniversary of the first flight of the de Havilland Comet, the world’s first jet-powered airliner. This airliner had a troubled start to service, but eventually became a reliable workhorse. [...]

The post The de Havilland Comet at 75: From Troubled Jetliner to Military Icon appeared first on The Aviationist.

China could benefit from familiarizing itself with the Mirage 2000’s performance and capabilities, as well as from the possibility of engaging in dissimilar air-combat training. This preparation could be advantageous in the event of a [...]

The post Concerns Over UAE Mirage 2000s Involved In Air Combat Exercise In China appeared first on The Aviationist.

The NATO Support and Procurement Agency contracted Airbus Helicopters, Sikorsky and Leonardo to identify and exploit cutting-edge technologies for the Next Generation Rotorcraft Capability program. The NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) announced the award [...]

The post NATO Awards Contracts For Next Generation Rotorcraft Study appeared first on The Aviationist.

The network-enabled StormBreaker smart weapon was part of 28 test missions in 2023, of which 14 with the F-35Cs, and the remaining ones with F-35B, F/A-18E/F and F-15E. Raytheon conducted 28 tests of the StormBreaker [...]

The post StormBreaker SDB II Achieves 100% Success Rate During F-35C Testing appeared first on The Aviationist.

From cannons to rockets to nuclear-armed ordinance, the F-89 seemed a formidably armed interceptor, protecting North America in the early years of the Cold War from Soviet bomber fleets coming over the polar region. In [...]

The post With a Variety of Ways to Sting, the F-89 Scorpion Was the First Line of Defense appeared first on The Aviationist.

The world’s largest naval exercise with participation of roughly 29 nations, 40 surface ships, three submarines, 14 national land forces, over 150 aircraft, and more than 25,000 personnel, marked the first time an Australian P-8A [...]

The post Australian P-8A Poseidon Drops Mark 54 Torpedoes During ‘Hunt’ of US Submarine at RIMPAC 2024 Exercise  appeared first on The Aviationist.

Romania anticipates finalizing a government-to-government agreement with the United States to procure 5th generation F-35 fighter jets by this fall. Romania is poised to sign a government-to-government agreement with the United States to purchase latest-generation [...]

The post Romania Prepares to Modernize Its Fleet with $6.5 Billion F-35 Deal appeared first on The Aviationist.

In early 2023, Turkey announced the modernization of 35 F-16 Block 30 jets with domestically-developed software, avionics and electronics. Turkey is cutting back on its $23 billion contract with the US to modernize its fleet [...]

The post Turkey Seeks to Scale Down $23 Billion F-16 Deal with US, Perform Part of Modernization Locally appeared first on The Aviationist.

The RuMoD extensively captured in a video the bomb’s loading, carriage, release, flight and final target engagement in explicit detail. Almost a month after it released footage of the massive 2,993 kg FAB-3000 bomb strapped [...]

The post Russia’s Monster FAB-3000 Glide Bomb Shown Employed By Su-34 Bombers appeared first on The Aviationist.

For $12k Shipped, A 60% Scale Model of Canada’s Legendary Interceptor is Up for Grabs. The legend of the Avro CF-105 Arrow advanced interceptor, its fascinating development and bizarre cancellation, is well known in aviation [...]

The post Check Out This Massive Avro CF-105 Arrow Stage Prop That You Could Own! appeared first on The Aviationist.

Experts say pursuing a Minuteman III life-extension until 2050 would cost significantly less than its replacement. The Pentagon’s continuation of the LGM-35A Sentinel ICBM (Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile) program, after it triggered the Nunn-McCurdy breach, marks [...]

The post Comparing The Options Of Maintaining Minuteman III And Developing The $140 Billion Sentinel ICBM appeared first on The Aviationist.

In two years, the U.S. will begin episodic deployments of the long-range fires capabilities of its MDTF in Germany. By 2026, the U.S. Army will deploy its new, long-range surface-to-surface missiles to Germany as per a [...]

The post U.S. To Deploy Precision Strike, Hypersonic Missiles, SM-6 And Tomahawks In Germany By 2026 appeared first on The Aviationist.

After reforming in December 2023, 809 Naval Air Squadron has now flown its first ever independent sortie as the UK’s newest F-35B unit. Joining 617 Squadron of the Royal Air Force, 809 Naval Air Squadron [...]

The post Royal Navy’s 809 Naval Air Squadron Completes First F-35 Flight appeared first on The Aviationist.

The need for the Extended Range Attack Munitions (ERAMs) arises from the advantages Western standoff weapons have provided to Ukraine. However, these benefits could not be fully realized due to the limited availability of such [...]

The post US Developing Cheap, Mass-Producible ERAMs for Ukraine: Here’s Why appeared first on The Aviationist.

The event was among the largest demonstrations using a mass sUAS attack scenario. Taking a cue from the war in Ukraine and Chinese drone development capability, and the proliferation of commercial sUAS (Small Unmanned Aerial [...]

The post U.S. Army Tests Counter UAS Systems To Tackle Drone Swarm Threats appeared first on The Aviationist.

After nine eventful months which saw extensive operations in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and Mediterranean Sea, the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) finally arrived back in the United States [...]

The post USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Returns to the United States After Momentous Nine Month Deployment appeared first on The Aviationist.

Launched from high-altitudes by the H-6K, the missile would have a significantly improved range, with powerful kinematic performance in its terminal phase. Nearly two and a half months after a PLAAF (People’s Liberation Army Air [...]

The post China’s H-6K Bomber Spotted Carrying Four Carrier-Killer Ballistic Missiles For The First Time appeared first on The Aviationist.

French Air Force sells its last KC-135s to Metrea, which becomes the largest commercial air refueling company. On July 11, 2024, it was announced that the French Air Force had sold the last of their [...]

The post France Sells Last KC-135s to U.S. Commercial Refueling Company Metrea appeared first on The Aviationist.

The milestone comes with the delivery of the first two operational aircraft to the Oregon Air National Guard. The new F-15EX Eagle II has finally reached the Initial Operational Capability (IOC) with the U.S. Air [...]

The post F-15EX Eagle II Reaches Initial Operational Capability appeared first on The Aviationist.