The Aviationist Blog

Launched between 1971 and 1987 primarily to collect intelligence data on foreign weapon testing, the last satellites in the JUMPSEAT family were withdrawn from service in 2006.  A memorandum dated Dec. 4, 2025 from the office of Christopher J. Scolese, Director of the U.S. National Reconaissance Office (NRO), formally declassified the existence of and some […]

Recently emerged images show a Mi-28NE helicopter in a hangar geolocated in Iran, following reports of multiple Russian Il-76MD cargo aircraft flying into the country. Photos emerged on Jan. 28, 2026, show what has been described as a single Mi-28NE Havoc in an Iranian facility. Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) profiles later geo-located the pictures of the […]

The fifth of five Airbus A300-600ST ‘Beluga’ transports has flown into retirement at Airbus’ Broughton facility in North Wales, where it will be used to promote STEM to schools and community groups.   As the Airbus fleet of Beluga super transporter aircraft readies for withdrawal by 2027 in favour of the larger, more efficient A330-743L BelugaXL, […]