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After years of rumors about Singapore’s F-16 being equipped with the Israel-made missile, a RSAF F-16D+ was seen for the first time armed with Rafael’s Python-5 AAMs. A F-16D+ attached to the RSAF’s (Republic of Singapore Air Force) 145 Squadron “Hornets” was seen flying with a pair of Python-5 AAM (Air to Air Missiles) for […]

The post RSAF F-16D+ Seen with Python-5 Missile for the First Time appeared first on The Aviationist.

Four Hornets touched down in Iceland on Jan. 24, 2025 for a three week detachment. It is the first time Finland has contributed to the Icelandic Air Policing mission since becoming a NATO member. Fighter Squadron 11 of the Lapland Air Wing, usually based at Rovaniemi Airport, is providing the aircraft and most of the […]

The post Finnish F/A-18 Hornets Arrive at Keflavik for First Icelandic Air Policing Deployment appeared first on The Aviationist.

They combined the cockpit from an F-35, which experienced an engine failure on the runway, with the aft fuselage from another F-35, which suffered a nose gear failure. On Jan. 24, 2025, our friend and contributor Victoria Fontana caught a pretty interesting F-35A taxing at NAS JRB Fort Worth: the so-called “Franken-Lightning”, a Lightning II […]

The post First Public Glimpse Of The ‘Franken-Lightning’ Built From Two Damaged F-35s appeared first on The Aviationist.

The 58th Special Operations Wing is now home to both the first and the final MC-130Js. On Jan. 14, 2025, the United States Air Force Special Operations Command’s 58th Special Operations Wing welcomed Lockheed Martin’s final production MC-130J Commando II into the fold. The aircraft, tail number 22-5994, is the last in a 14-year production […]

The post Final Production MC-130J Delivered to Kirtland AFB appeared first on The Aviationist.

The United States Navy Blue Angels Aerobatic Flight Demonstration Team has been thrilling audiences since 1946, pushing the fighter aircraft they fly to the limits of machine and man. In the Beginning On Apr. 24, 1946 Admiral Chester Nimitz ordered the formation of a United States Navy flight exhibition team. The idea was to interest […]

The post The Wings of Angels: A Brief History the Aircraft of the Blue Angels appeared first on The Aviationist.

After the acquisition of 50 AGM-158B JASSM-ER missiles last year, Japan has now been granted the approval for 16 additional AGM-158s, reinforcing the JASDF’s long-range stand-off strike capabilities of the F-15J, F-35 and possibly other assets. The United States’ DSCA (Defense Security Cooperation Agency)  announced on Jan. 15, 2025, the approval of a possible sale […]

The post U.S. Approves Japan’s Purchase of More AGM-158 JASSMs in $39 Million Deal appeared first on The Aviationist.

Denmark plans to replace the F-16MLUs with F-35s to meet its needs for national QRA and NATO’s Air Policing missions, but is also looking to support F-35 operations from Kangerlussuaq airport in Greenland. The Danish Defense Command announced that three more F-35As arrived in the country at Skrydstrup Air Force Station, in the Southern Jutland […]

The post Denmark Repatriates Three More F-35s as it Plans to Reinforce Greenland appeared first on The Aviationist.

The Shenyang J-16 Qianlong (Chinese for hidden dragon) is a Chinese all-weather 4+/4,5 generation supersonic twin-seat, twin-engine, multirole fighter based on the Russian Su-27 fighter and built by Shenyang Aircraft Corporation for the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). The Shenyang J-16 is a multirole combat airplane capable of supersonic flight and developed by the […]

The post Shenyang J-16 appeared first on The Aviationist.

The White House announced that the Navy chose to name the fifth and sixth Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers as USS William J. Clinton (CVN-82) and USS George W. Bush (CVN-83), after the two former presidents. The U.S. President Joe Biden announced the names chosen by the U.S. Navy for its next two aircraft carriers […]

The post U.S. Navy’s Names Next Two Aircraft Carriers After Bill Clinton and George W. Bush appeared first on The Aviationist.

An adjusted process for the U.S. Air Force’s acquisition of the Boeing T-7A Red Hawk trainer has been announced, with the decision on commencing production delayed by one year. A joint venture between U.S. aerospace giant Boeing and Swedish manufacturer Saab, the T-7 Red Hawk was selected as the U.S. Air Force’s future jet trainer […]

The post USAF T-7A Red Hawk Production Phase Pushed Back to 2026 appeared first on The Aviationist.

The UK’s House of Commons committee’s GCAP report admits that 2035 is an ambitious target date and, even if progress has been positive, the program needs to avoid mistakes and break the mold set by previous programs. The UK’s Parliament released on Jan. 14, 2025, the House of Commons committee report on the Global Combat […]

The post Delivering GCAP by 2035 Is Not Easy as it Needs to Break the Mold and Avoid Mistakes, Says UK Report appeared first on The Aviationist.

Six A-10C jets of the U.S. Air National Guard have been stuck in Italy since November 2024, waiting for spare parts before the transoceanic flight that will take them back home. Six A-10C Thunderbolt II attack jets of the U.S. Air National Guard have been stuck at Naval Air Station Sigonella, Italy, for two months, […]

The post ANG A-10s Stuck for Two Months at NAS Sigonella Waiting for Repairs appeared first on The Aviationist.

Canada acquired 11 MQ-9Bs and six ground control stations, with the first deliveries expected by 2028. While the aircraft will be based at 14 Wing Greenwood and 19 Wing Comox, the operations will be based in Ottawa. Canada’s Department of National Defense (DND) has released images of the first two of its MQ-9B SkyGuardian RPAS […]

The post First Two Canadian MQ-9B SkyGuardian RPAS are in Production appeared first on The Aviationist.

An expansion of unmanned operations is underway at the Royal Navy airfield, which could soon be used by General Atomics MQ-9 and Leonardo AW09 (Proteus) type aircraft. Located in the far south-west of the United Kingdom, and only around three miles from mainland Britain’s most southerly point, Predannack Airfield has operated since 1958 as a […]

The post New UK National Drone Hub Facility to be Constructed at Predannack Airfield appeared first on The Aviationist.

The internal launch, the first ever by a Turkish aircraft, demonstrated the ANKA III’s ‘ability to perform stealth strikes by maintaining a low Radar Cross Section (RCS) until the strike moment.’ Turkey’s ANKA III UCAV (Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle) released a TOLUN guided bomb from its internal weapons bays in a first-of-its-kind test, announced the […]

The post Turkey’s ANKA III UCAV Drops TOLUN Guided Bomb from Internal Bays for the First Time appeared first on The Aviationist.

The goal of the experimentation with FPV drones is to ‘accelerate cooperation between nano drones and Army Light Aviation aircraft,’ developing the employment doctrine for the Air-Launched Devices concept. The French Army (Armée de Terre) is moving towards integrating its armed helicopters with attack drones, aiming for “dronization” by 2040. Opex360, quoting French military publications, […]

The post French Army Tests FPV Drone Controlled from Gazelle Light Attack Helicopter appeared first on The Aviationist.

The Finnish Air Force will secure NATO skies by deploying four F/A-18 Hornets to Keflavik Air Base for the next rotation of the Icelandic Air Policing mission in February 2025. The Finnish Air Force is preparing to safeguard the NATO skies for the first time as a NATO member by deploying four F/A-18 Hornets to […]

The post Finnish Air Force to Participate in Icelandic Air Policing for the First Time appeared first on The Aviationist.

The planned delivery of the first six F-35B Lightning II fighters for Japan in FY2024 has now been pushed back to sometime during FY2025, Japan’s Defense Minister announced. The delivery of the first six F-35Bs to the JASDF (Japan Air Self Defense Force), which was planned to happen sometime during FY (Fiscal Year) 2024 (which […]

The post Delivery of the First F-35Bs to Japan Delayed appeared first on The Aviationist.

By 2027, in areas west of the international dateline where U.S. assets are deployed, China will outnumber U.S. forces about 12 to 1 in modern fighter jets (including 5 to 3 in fifth-generation aircraft) and 3 to 1 in maritime patrol planes. Speaking from the base theater to both an in-person and virtual audience, Brig. […]

The post ‘The Chinese Military is the Largest and Most Modern It’s Ever Been,’ Edwards AFB Commander Warns appeared first on The Aviationist.

Footage from inside an Israeli Air Force KC-707 Re’em tanker aircraft was recently published on the official IDF Instagram page, providing a rare tour of the aircraft. The IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) uploaded a short Instagram reel on their official @idfonline page on Jan. 6, 2025, offering previously unseen footage inside one of the IAF’s […]

The post A Rare Look Inside Israel’s Secretive KC-707 Re’em Tanker appeared first on The Aviationist.