The two most widely produced fighter aircraft in the Western world the fifth generation American F-35 Lighting II fighter and the fourth generation French Rafale are both struggling with wide ranging supply chain issues preventing them from quickly meeting either domestic or foreign demand.
On August 7 the chief executive officer of Russia’s Rostec state owned defence conglomerate Sergey Chemezov reported that production of military helicopters under the State Defence Order had more than doubled, with 296 having been produced in 2022 alone compared to just 134, or 55 percent less, in 2021.
The economic fallout from the outbreak of full scale war between Russia and Ukraine in February 2022 has had wide ranging effects on countries across the world, from the United States and South Korea which have benefitted from a surge in demand for high end weapons in Europe, to Central Asian and
The Italian Air Force has made first ever deployment of F-35 fifth generation fighters to Japan, as part of growing efforts by multiple European states to increase their military presences in East Asia for confrontation with China. Arriving on August 4at the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force’s
The F-35 is today in production on a scale surpassing all other Western fighter aircraft combined, and as the world’s only NATO-compatible post-fourth generation combat jet currently being manufactured it is expected to continue to play a central role in the modernisation of Western Bloc and allied
Entering service in 2014, the Su-35 air superiority fighter has been relied on increasingly heavily by the Russian Air Force to provide a high end air superiority capability, and has played significant roles in Russian war efforts in both Syria and Ukraine. Although entering service several years
The Republic of China Air Force, the official name of the air arm of Taiwan’s armed forces, is investing $4.7 million in a structural safety extension assessment for its Mirage 2000 fighters based in Hsinchu. The assessment will affect only the nine twin seat aircraft in service, although the Air
A U.S. Air Force F-35A fifth generation fighter which was destroyed in an accident at Hill Air Force Base in Utah on October 19, 2022 has been revealed by an Air Force investigation to have crashed due to a software issue. The aircraft from the 421st Fighter Squadron had been approaching the base
Although only a fraction of its size in the Soviet era, where it was by far the world’s largest, the Russian fleet of tactical combat jets today is still the world’s third largest by numbers with 803 airframes in service and one of the most diverse range of aircraft in service in the world. The
The Ukrainian Military and supporting paramilitaries have escalated offensives against Russian positions in Eastern Ukraine, according to reports from both Russian and Western sources on July 28. The Washington-based Institute of Study of War reported two days prior the beginning of “a significant
