Air19:27 UTC
US Air Force speeds Reaper successor timeline after Iran losses
The Air Force is accelerating its timeline for a cheaper, more expendable successor to the MQ-9A Reaper after combat losses.
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Showing 151–180 of 357 stories
Earlier30
- Air19:01 UTC
Air Force Speeding Up New Low-Cost Drone Program after Heavy MQ-9 Losses Against Iran
The Air Force is accelerating its plans to field an MQ-9A replacement in the wake of heavy Reaper losses in operations against Iran, top officials said Sept. 3, and they’re targeting a price point of just $10 million per aircraft.
- Air19:01 UTC
Fresh US Fighter Jets Rotate into Middle East as Trump Tries to Up Pressure on Iran
The U.S. is rotating fresh fighter squadrons to the Middle East to support the Trump administration’s open-ended campaign of economic and military pressure against Iran.
- Air18:58 UTC
Trump to travel aboard Qatari-donated Air Force One to Ireland
U.S. President Donald Trump will use the Qatari-donated jet to travel to Ireland next week, the plane's first international trip since the swap in Turkey.
- Air17:32 UTC
F-35 costs jump in latest production lots
Compared to recent contracts, the average flyaway cost of an F-35A and F-35B rose by over 11 percent, while the price of an F-35C climbed over 8 percent, according to figures supplied by the F-35 Joint Program Office.
- Air16:54 UTC
Guard F-16s Kept Pace on Kadena Deployment, but Edge Wears Thin
An F-16 Air National Guard unit’s six-month deployment to Kadena Air Base, Japan, this year illustrated the capabilities the Guard’s oldest fighter units can still offer—but also the challenges they face, officials told reporters this week.
- Air15:04 UTC
USAF Tests C2 Capabilities Across Thousands of Miles in High-Stress Virtual Exercise
The Air Force recently conducted a virtual stress test of its command-and-control capabilities, linking Air Operations Centers in New Mexico and the United Kingdom and forcing commanders to run personnel recovery and strikes under simulated fire.
- Air14:59 UTC
Air Force moves to accelerate effort to replace MQ-9 Reaper after combat losses in Iran war
“We want to bring this thing forward because of the fact that, although we have plenty of MQ-9As today, we are going through them at a rate that is concerning to us,” Lt. Gen. Christopher Niemi said.
- Air10:00 UTC
Back to life: How Shield AI’s future unmanned fighter made decades-old tech new again
The original GE Aerospace engine nozzle, designed for the F-16, is key to building a vertical takeoff robotic jet prototype.
- Air01:06 UTC
Last EC-130H Makes Its Final Flight Ahead of Retirement
The last EC-130H Compass Call in the Air Force’s active inventory made its final flight Sept. 2, as the service prepares to retire the venerable electronic warfare aircraft and pivot to the new EA-37B.
- Air22:54 UTC
After ‘concerning’ losses, Air Force pushes to replace Reaper faster
“There’s no doubt if we try and pursue the exact same approach that we had with things like the MQ-9, we’re going to get something that costs about the same as an MQ-9,” said Air Force Lt. Gen. Christopher Niemi.
- Air21:26 UTC
Lawmakers with ‘deep concerns’ press Army leadership about decision to terminate unit’s Ukraine-informed drone mission
Following an exercise in Germany set to end this month, the battalion will stop its specialized drone mission and return to its core task as an airborne infantry unit.
- Air20:17 UTC
Air Force Releases Results from Inspections of M18 Pistols
The Air Force has ruled the M18 service pistol is “safe and reliable” after inspecting more than 100,000 of the service’s 9mm pistols, according to a Sept. 2 announcement. Leaders ordered a force-wide inspection after a July 20, 2025, discharge of an M18 killed an on-duty security forces Airman at F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyo.
- Air19:17 UTC
B-52s Deploy for Bomber Task Force to Australia’s New BUFF Base
Air Force B-52 Stratofortress bombers landed at a northern Australian air base this week, a major display of the U.S. military’s ability to project force in the Pacific.
- Air18:31 UTC
Ukrainian Sea Drones Strike Russian Black Sea Resort Town Of Sochi For The First Time
Ukraine Situation Report: The strike on Sochi's port highlights the increasing reach of Kyiv's drone boat attack campaign.
- Air18:03 UTC
Three exercises that pushed counter–UAS from prototype to proven
[Sponsored] Architecture that linked sensors, C2, RF effects, and lasers into a distributed c-UAS kill chain.
- Air18:00 UTC
First USAF F-15EX To Be Based In Japan Departs Boeing’s St. Louis Plant
The first F-15EX bound for the Japanese base comes as the program grapples with future sustainment concerns.
- Air17:46 UTC
How Drone Detection Is Evolving To Counter Smaller, Faster, And Swarm Threats
Branded Content: Leonardo DRS explains how tactical radars form a central element of a layered counter-UAS threat detection system.
- Air17:38 UTC
To counter China, America’s next CCA needs a different mission
The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments’ Greg Malandrino argues in this op-ed that a fight with China will require CCAs for defense as well as offense.
- Air16:32 UTC
UK Government Commits To Boom Refueling For RAF Tankers
The next-generation Tempest fighter is driving the Royal Air Force to add a capability it currently lacks.
- Air16:29 UTC
The Army shut down a specialized drone unit. Legislators want to know why.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers asked the Army to explain why it is shuttering a specialized drone battalion less than a year after establishing it.
- Air16:24 UTC
What Each F-35 Variant Really Costs Right Now
The base cost of an F-35A, the Air Force variant of the Joint Strike Fighter, is going up 11.5 percent from $82.5 million to $92 million for the latest lots of the fifth-generation aircraft, Air & Space Forces Magazine has confirmed.
- Air14:29 UTC
Ukraine’s new long-range 12m autonomous vessel can deploy other drones
Ukraine’s UForce unveiled the MV11 uncrewed surface vessel, designed to launch and support other naval drones at sea, fuelling debate over the future of autonomous maritime task groups.
- Air13:00 UTC
Hermeus picks Anduril autonomy for Quarterhorse drone
In an exclusive interview with Breaking Defense, executives from both firms described a mutually beneficial arrangement.
- Air11:50 UTC
XPONENTIAL Europe: Drone-Protection Following Leipzig
Perimeter protection was long considered a comparatively unspectacular discipline of airport security: fences, cameras, motion detectors and patrols along the … mehr...
- Air10:12 UTC
German Navy’s Israeli missile test points to deepening defence-industrial ties
The test-firing of an Israel Aerospace Industries LORA ballistic missile from a German vessel highlights the Bundeswehr’s focus on speed to capability as it trials Israel’s operationally proven technology.
- Air09:12 UTC
US military tests AI-powered CUAS turret against drone swarms
As the US continues to invest heavily in counter-drone systems, demand for low-cost, mobile and autonomous technologies is on the rise, with Edda designed to align with these emerging requirements.
- Air08:24 UTC
- Air01:36 UTC
AFRL Seeks Payload-Agnostic, Affordable Hypersonic Cruise Missile
The Air Force Research Laboratory has signaled to industry it wants to develop a low-cost hypersonic cruise missile to deliver a wide range of payloads at a range up to 500 nautical miles.
- Air22:26 UTC
Missile Shortage Has Now Hit Ukrainian F-16 Force
The shortage is so acute that the air force frantically tracks incoming missile shipments and waits to see whether they arrive before Russia’s next aerial barrage.