Aircraft(Page 2)

News, explainers, and analysis about military aircraft.

Latest in Aircraft

Rangers Test Drones
Drones

Army Rangers are testing out drones as anti-tank weapons

By Jeff Schogol

Posted on Sep 8, 2025

An F-35A Lightning II performs a restricted climb over March Air Reserve Base during takeoff for a practice demonstration, April 11, 2025. The F-35A Demonstration Team showcases the power, precision, and lethality of the world’s most advanced multirole stealth fighter. (U.S. Air Force photo by Capt. Nathan Poblete)
Aircraft

US sending F-35s to Puerto Rico as military buildup in the Caribbean continues

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on Sep 5, 2025

A UH-1N Huey flies over Tokyo.
Helicopters

Hueys make their last flight at Yokota Air Base as the Air Force retires them

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on Aug 31, 2025

A soldier uses the KnightFigher drone jamming device during Project Flytrap, July 28, 2025.
Drones

Project Flytrap and the Army’s answer to drone warfare

By Kyle Gunn

Posted on Aug 29, 2025

A CH-53E helicopter with 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing burns on Aug. 22, 2025.
Helicopters

Marine Corps CH-53E helicopter catches fire at Twentynine Palms

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on Aug 25, 2025

1st Cavalry Division Trooper, Sgt. Nathaniel Martin, an Unmanned Aircraft System Operator, assigned to 8th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, launches a drone from his hand during Pegasus Forge, on Fort Hood, Texas, Aug. 6, 2025. Pegasus Forge allows the First Team to utilize new technology and gain experience in the field to support and progress in the Army's Transformation in Contact initiative. (U.S. Army Photo by Spc. David Dumas)
Drones

Army plays ‘catch up’ on drone warfare with new operator course

By Patty Nieberg

Posted on Aug 21, 2025

Air Force Thunderbirds
Fighter Aircraft

Air Force says jets did not exceed Mach 1 in low passes over Chicago

By Jeff Schogol

Posted on Aug 19, 2025

A Z-137 crop duster plane with two missiles under its wings flies over the skies of Ukraine.
Drones

A missile-armed crop duster is the latest anti-drone weapon in Ukraine

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on Aug 10, 2025

The Navy, in partnership with Skydweller Aero, recently achieved continuous solar-powered unmanned flight during a nonstop three-day test from Stennis, Mississippi. Led by the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD), the test of Skydweller UAS marks a significant advancement in both long-endurance solar-powered UAS technology and its potential to enhance maritime intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR).
Drones

The Navy flew a solar-powered drone for 73 hours straight

By Patty Nieberg

Posted on Aug 5, 2025

Drones
Drones

How far does the US military have to go to catch up on drones?

By Jeff Schogol

Posted on Aug 4, 2025

A flight of F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft sit for a weapons check prior to takeoff at Kunsan Air Base, Republic of Korea, July 28, 2025. As part of the Super Squadron Test Phase II, pilots and F-16s will be temporarily relocated to Osan Air Base aiming to consolidate air power and increase combat capability on the Korean Peninsula. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Landon Gunsauls)
Fighter Aircraft

Air Force creates a second ‘super squadron’ in South Korea

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on Aug 2, 2025

U.S. Army Sgt. Elena Killough and Sgt. Demond Blach, assigned to the Deathwatch Platoon, 10th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, conduct maintenance on an Unmanned Aircraft System during a first person view individual qualification on Grafenwöhr Training Area, July 21, 2025. The 1st ABCT, 3rd Infantry Division, tests purpose-built, retrievable FPV drones to highlight the ability against autonomous targets to improve battlefield readiness and integration with armored units. The 1st ABCT, 3rd Infantry Division, and V Corps are part of America’s Forward Deployed Corps in Europe which works alongside NATO Allies and regional security partners to provide combat-ready forces, execute joint and multinational training exercises, and retain command and assigned units in the European Theater. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Josefina Garcia)
Drones

No drone war for old men? How an Army exercise highlighted a generational divide

By Patty Nieberg

Posted on Jul 30, 2025

U.S. Army paratroopers operate and analyze a first-person view (FPV) drone in-flight April 27, 2025. Photo by Sgt. Mariah Y. Gonzalez
Drones

‘Brutality over precision’ — What the Army is learning from Russia in Ukraine

By Kyle Gunn

Posted on Jul 28, 2025

An M1 Abrams Main Battle Tank at Bergen-Hohne Training Area, Germany, equipped with Abrams Reactive Armor Tiles and the Trophy Active Protection System, July 10, 2020.
Drones

What the Army is doing to keep its tanks alive against drones

By Kyle Gunn

Posted on Jul 24, 2025

Two U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptors fly in formation with two Norwegian F-35A Lightning II fighters during an air refueling over Norway, Aug. 15, 2018.
Aircraft

Why NATO is betting big on the F-35

By Kyle Gunn

Posted on Jul 21, 2025

The Army is rapidly advancing capabilities in the Short-Range Reconnaissance (SRR) program by deploying cutting-edge Small Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (SUAS) to Trans-formation in Contact (TiC) Brigades. In April, the PEO Aviation, Project Office UAS, responded to an urgent request to deploy Tranche 2 SUAS to the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 101st Airborne Division (Fort Campbell, Kentucky) in support of their rotation at the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) at Fort Johnson, Louisiana. Both the Skydio X10D system and Teal Drones' Black Widow system will support Army TiC Brigades in developing and refining tactics, techniques, and procedures for employing networked reconnaissance and surveillance systems against emerging battlefield threats. (Photo Credit: Courtesy photo)
Drones

Expect to see more drones during training under new Pentagon rules

By Patty Nieberg

Posted on Jul 17, 2025

SMASH 2000L fire control system
Drones

Marines to field new smart scope to help shoot down small drones

By Jeff Schogol

Posted on Jul 16, 2025

An 8th Air Force B-17 bomber flies over a bombed target in 1943.
Bombers

The Army Air Forces tried to use remote-controlled bombers as attack drones in World War II

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on Jul 7, 2025

Pentagon sets up interservice counter-drone task force
Drones

Pentagon sets up interservice counter-drone task force

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on Jul 6, 2025

A T-6A Texan II taxis on the runway at Sheppard Air Force Base in 2019.
Aircraft

Tangled straps likely caused Air Force instructor pilot’s death, report finds

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on Jun 29, 2025

Five U.S. Air Force F-16C Fighting Falcons assigned to the 79th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron taxi within the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, May 29, 2025. U.S. and Coalition forces are postured to rapidly establish credible, combat-ready forces within the AOR to deter adversary threats of aggression and, if necessary, respond with effective and overwhelming force. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Kevin Dunkleberger)
Aircraft

2 aircraft carriers, 9 destroyers, and multiple fighter wings gather in the Middle East

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on Jun 20, 2025

A sailor hammers away at floor planks in a trench in Latvia.
Drones

Marines and sailors are building trenches for the drone age

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on Jun 17, 2025

US base defense in the era of large-scale drone attacks
Drones

US base defense in the era of large-scale drone attacks

By Kyle Gunn

Posted on Jun 14, 2025

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Dustin K. Wright stands in front of an American flag.
Helicopters

Army identifies 101st Airborne soldier killed in training accident

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on Jun 14, 2025

Concept art of two sleek, futuristic uncrewed Collaborative Combat Aircraft flying in the clouds.
Drones

Air Force sets up new Experimental Operations Unit for Collaborative Combat Aircraft

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on Jun 7, 2025

U.S. Army Soldiers, assigned to 10th Mountain Division, complete a training and validation exercise on the AN/TPQ-53 radar system in Sierra Vista, Ariz., March 12, 2025. The AN/TPQ-53 radar system is a unique military capability provided by Joint Task Force - Southern Border to augment U.S. Customs and Border Protection along the southern border. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Chase Murray)
Drones

Soldiers on US-Mexico border hunt drones with air defense radars typically used in combat

By Patty Nieberg

Posted on Jun 4, 2025

U.S. Army paratroopers assigned to the 173rd Airborne Brigade, alongside multinational medical teams, integrated drones-based blood resupply during the multinational Hospital Exercise (HOSPEX) as part of Swift Response 2025, at camp Adrian Rohn, Pabrade, Lithuania, May 15, 2025. The exercise marked a first for the brigade, using the TRV-150 drone and the Flying Basket drone to deliver simulated blood to field care locations. The goal: enhance survivability and speed in austere, contested environments where traditional medical resupply is high-risk. Demonstrating global deterrence and the U.S. Army’s ability to rapidly deploy U.S.-based combat power in Europe alongside Allies and partners, DEFENDER 25 brings U.S. troops together with forces from 29 Allied and partner nations to build readiness through large-scale combat training from May 11-June 24, 2025. The 173rd Airborne Brigade is the U.S. Army's Contingency Response Force in Europe, providing rapidly deployable forces to the United States European, African, and Central Command areas of responsibility. Forward deployed across Italy and Germany, the brigade routinely trains alongside NATO allies and partners to build partnerships and strengthen the alliance. (U.S. Army photos by Elena Baladelli)
Drones

Army medics were moving blood to the frontlines with drones in a major recent exercise

By Patty Nieberg

Posted on Jun 2, 2025

U.S. Army Spc. Anton Lane, a combat medic with specialized drone training, assigned to 5-7 Cavalry, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division inspects a Skydio X10E4TT drone prior to flight during exercise Combined Resolve 25-2 at Hohenfels, Germany on May 17, 2025. TiC is grounded in one principle: increasing the lethality of our formations by creating more agile and mobile units capable of responding to complex combat scenarios (US Army photo by U.S. Army Sgt. Fist Class Richard Hoppe, Released).
Drones

The Army wants more drones, electronic warfare tech. This unit is the guinea pig.

By Patty Nieberg

Posted on May 21, 2025

A tiltrotor aircraft flies across the plains.
Helicopters

101st Airborne tapped as first unit to get new Black Hawk replacement

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on May 17, 2025

An F-35A Lightning II performs a restricted climb over March Air Reserve Base during takeoff for a practice demonstration, April 11, 2025. The F-35A Demonstration Team showcases the power, precision, and lethality of the world’s most advanced multirole stealth fighter. (U.S. Air Force photo by Capt. Nathan Poblete)
Aircraft

F-35’s close call over Yemen raises questions about how it’s used

By Jeff Schogol

Posted on May 13, 2025

A soldier wearing goggles inspects a drone at a work station.
Drones

173rd Airborne builds its own FPV drone lab to get around procurement wait

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on May 12, 2025

Marine drones
Drones

Marine Corps stands up ‘attack drone team’ to take lessons from Ukraine and teach them to grunts

By Jeff Schogol

Posted on Apr 4, 2025

An A-10 Thunderbolt II sits on a runway, mountains in the background.
Aircraft

More A-10 Warthogs deploy to the Middle East

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on Mar 30, 2025

Teams with a wagon in a black and white photo try to inflate a hot air balloon.
Aircraft

How the Union took to the skies in the Civil War

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on Mar 24, 2025

Capt. Jesse Guerin and Sgt. 1st Class Aaron Angulo were named the Army’s best medics of 2025 after winning a competition at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas.
Drones

These are the Army’s best medics of 2025

By Patty Nieberg

Posted on Feb 27, 2025

An X-37B onboard camera, used to ensure the health and safety of the vehicle, captures an image of Earth while conducting experiments in a highly elliptical orbit in 2024. As part of the X-37B's seventh mission, the vehicle executed a series of first-of-its-kind maneuvers, called aerobraking, to safely change its orbit using minimal fuel. (U.S. Space Force Courtesy Photo)
Aircraft

US military releases first photo from orbit from its mysterious space plane

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on Feb 21, 2025

Local Marines fold flags for Lance Cpl. Joe Jackson’s family during his funeral May 4 at Tahoma Cemetery. Jackson was killed April 24 by an improvised explosive device blast in Afghanistan.
Aircraft

US Marine, 3 Pentagon contractors die in Philippines plane crash

By Patty Nieberg

Posted on Feb 6, 2025

Capt. Jordan Wiggins, 23d Fighter Group pilot, speaks into his HGU-55/P helmet prior to departure July 2, 2020, at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia. Wiggins is flying one of the two A-10s assigned to the 23d Fighter Group that are scheduled to conduct a flyover as a part of the 2020 Salute to America in Washington, D.C., celebrating the United States of America’s 244th birthday. The flyover provides the men and women of the 23d Fighter Group the opportunity to demonstrate capabilities and join in national celebration, while obtaining necessary training hours. (U.S. Air Force photo by 2nd Lt. Kaylin P. Hankerson)
Aircraft

Cancer rates in military pilots and other aviators could get a closer look

By Patty Nieberg

Posted on Jan 23, 2025

A F/A-18F moves down the runway of an aircraft carrier.
Aircraft

Navy shoots down its own F/A-18 in Red Sea fight

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on Dec 22, 2024

An F/A-18F Super Hornet takes off at night, with a bright exhaust.
Aircraft

Carrier Air Wing 9 flew hundreds of combat sorties while fighting Houthis

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on Dec 16, 2024

Seven C-130 aircraft are lined up along a runway.
Aircraft

C-130s from around the world gather for an ‘elephant walk’

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on Dec 15, 2024

Archaeologists use measuring tapes and underwater cameras to record and document a WWII aircraft site in Papua New Guinea. Photo: Project Recover — Project Recover is a collaborative effort to enlist 21st-century science and technology in a quest to find and repatriate World War II MIAs to bring recognition to the service member, closure for their families, and to help a grateful Nation keep its sacred promise to bring our MIAs home. As a result of Project Recover’s missions, there are 84 MIAs awaiting recovery at this time (January 2020). Since 1993, Project Recover (formerly The BentProp Project) has located 30+ downed World War II US aircraft associated with scores of MIA service members.
Aircraft

Meet the team helping recover missing U.S. troops from deep underwater

By Patty Nieberg

Posted on Nov 20, 2024

A man in uniform stands behind a four-legged robot.
Drones

That’s CHAPPIE: Why the Space Force has a nuclear material sniffing robot

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on Nov 12, 2024

A U.S. Air Force B-52H Stratofortress, flies alongside a KC-10 Extender after receiving fuel on Jan. 6, 2021.
Bombers

US sending destroyers, B-52 bombers to the Middle East

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on Nov 2, 2024

A F-16D Fighting Falcon assigned to Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., sits on an alert mission during EXERCISE BAMBOO EAGLE 24-1 Feb. 1, 2024, at March Air Reserve Base, California. Bamboo Eagle is an exercise designed to provide an expeditionary air base environment where allied forces focused on Agile Combat Employment command and control, Air Superiority, and Joint War at Sea. (U.S. Air Force photo by Kekoa Santiago)
Fighter Aircraft

How a parked F-16 suffered $30 million in damage

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on Oct 21, 2024

190401-N-HC646-0062 OAK HARBOR, Wash. (April 1, 2019) An EA-18G Growler assigned to the "Cougars" of Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 139 takes off during a Field Carrier Landing Practice (FCLP) at an outlying landing field attached to Naval Air Station Whidbey Island. FCLP is a required flight training exercise that simulates conditions encountered during carrier landing operations while on deployment. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Marc Cuenca/Released)
Aircraft

Growler crew dead at crash site, Navy says

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on Oct 20, 2024

Army Basic Training
Drones

Army revamps basic training to simulate battlefield stalked by drone swarms

By Jeff Schogol

Posted on Oct 17, 2024

A US. Air Force B-2 Spirt assigned to the 509th Bomb Wing, Whiteman Air Force Base receives fuel from a U.S. Air Force KC-135 assigned to the 185th Air Refueling Wing, Iowa Air National Guard in the sky over northwest Missouri on August 29, 2018. U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Master Sgt. Vincent De Groot
Bombers

B-2 bombers strike Iran-backed Houthi targets in Yemen

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on Oct 17, 2024

lakota crew
Helicopters

New York Guard helicopter crashed in Texas after ‘unanticipated’ spin, review board finds

By Patty Nieberg

Posted on Oct 11, 2024

U.S. Air Force Capt. Elizabeth "Sully" Brakefield, 344th Air Refueling Squadron pilot, smiles for a photo in the cockpit of a KC-46A Pegasus May 28, 2024, over the midwestern United States. Capt. Brakefield experienced a reunion at 25,000 feet when she refueled her brother's U.S. Navy EA-18 Growler during an aerial refueling mission. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Gavin Hameed)
Aircraft

Brother and sister meet in the sky during refueling mission

By Patty Nieberg

Posted on Oct 4, 2024

Members of the Texas A&M Task Force 1 Search and Rescue Team work alongside Soldiers from the HHC 1-111th AVN GSAV (General Support Aviation) to conduct search and rescue operations after Hurricane Helene, Sept. 27, 2024. The Florida Army National Guard works closely with our civilian partner agencies and actively monitors all potential areas of impact. (U.S. Army photo by Capt. Valeria M. Pete, 107th MPAD, FLARNG)
Helicopters

In wake of Helene, National Guard soldiers who lost their homes still reporting for duty

By Patty Nieberg

Posted on Oct 3, 2024

A black and white photo of two U.S. Navy F-11 Tigers flying together.
Fighter Aircraft

That time a Navy fighter jet shot itself down

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on Sep 22, 2024

The 354th Fighter Generation Squadron poses for a group photo for the final time at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., June 24, 2024. The 354th FGS maintained A-10C aircraft to conduct close air support, forward air control, airborne, and combat search and rescue for theater commanders worldwide. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class William Finn V)
Fighter Aircraft

The A-10 era is over for this legendary Air Force attack squadron

By Matt White

Posted on Sep 11, 2024

Air Force Zion National Park Rescue
Helicopters

Airmen rescue pregnant woman from flash flood during backcountry hike

By Jeff Schogol

Updated on Aug 27, 2024

An Army CH-47 Chinook chose an in-flight call sign of "FUKIRAN" for their flight.
Helicopters

Army Chinook takes flight with ‘FUKIRAN’ call sign

By Joshua Skovlund

Posted on Aug 26, 2024

mv-22 marine died reaching pilots
Aircraft

Marine Osprey crewman died trying to reach pilots on doomed plane

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on Aug 10, 2024

A helicopter knocked on its side after storms hit Fort Carson.
Helicopters

Storms damage multiple helicopters at Fort Carson

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on Aug 4, 2024

An aircraft maintainer, assigned to 34th Aircraft Maintenance Unit, prepares to marshal a U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer, assigned to 34th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron, to takeoff from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, to support a Bomber Task Force mission, June 29. Bomber Task Force missions provide opportunities to train alongside our allies and partners to build interoperability and bolster our collective ability to support a free and open Indo-Pacific. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Nicholas Priest)
Aircraft

B-1B crash result of pilot error and ‘culture of noncompliance’

By Patty Nieberg

Posted on Jul 26, 2024

osprey grounded
Aircraft

V-22 Osprey flights to stay limited until mid-2025

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on Jun 16, 2024

F-15E pilot, in a jet called ‘Mullet,’ packs Zyn and kills drones
Fighter Aircraft

F-15E pilot, in a jet called ‘Mullet,’ packs Zyn and kills drones

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on May 12, 2024

This video flies through the Army’s first small drone obstacle course
Drones

This video flies through the Army’s first small drone obstacle course

By Patty Nieberg

Posted on May 6, 2024

Air Force team designs, 3D prints, launches new drone in under 24 hours
Drones

Air Force team designs, 3D prints, launches new drone in under 24 hours

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on May 4, 2024

Civilian killed in 2023 US strike on Al Qaeda leader in Syria, investigation found
Drones

Civilian killed in 2023 US strike on Al Qaeda leader in Syria, investigation found

By Patty Nieberg

Posted on May 2, 2024

Update the safety brief: the flame-throwing robot dog is here
Drones

Update the safety brief: the flame-throwing robot dog is here

By Patty Nieberg

Posted on Apr 26, 2024