The Russian Air Force has for the first time employed Su-34 strike fighters to launch ballistic missiles, which was a previously unknown capability that could transform the way the aircraft are used. This development follows a reported surge in production of the missile in question, the Kh-47M2
The first Ukrainian tank crews have completed training to operate American M1 Abrams battle tanks, after approximately 200 Ukrainian personnel began training at U.S. Army facilities in Germany earlier in the year. The last stages of training at the Hohenfels Training Area, the home of the U.S.
The Iranian Air Force has received its first batch of Russian fighter aircraft since the 1990s, with the first batch of two Yak-130 fighter-trainers reportedly delivered on September 1. They were shown the following day taxing at the 8th Tactical Air Force Base outside Isfahan in central Iran. The
The Russian Armed Forces have placed the new RS-28 Sarmat intercontinental range ballistic missile system on combat alert, following an announcement by President Vladimir Putin in February that combat duties would begin later in the year. Head of the Russian state owned space corporation Roscosmos
A new brigade of Iskander-M tactical ballistic systems has been commissioned into the Belarusian Army, with this closely following the country’s entry into a nuclear weapons sharing agreement with Russian and confirmation that the Iskander would be a primary delivery vehicle for potential nuclear strikes. In parallel to
The U.S. Air Force is in the process of re-establishing its forward deployed nuclear forces in the United Kingdom, according to multiple reports from a range of Western sources. The service’s budget justification package for 2024 notes the planned construction of a “surety dormitory” at Royal Air
The Japanese Air Self Defence Force has made its first ever deployment of F-35 fighter jets abroad, with two of the aircraft and 55 personnel arriving in Tindal Air Base in Australia on August 27. The deployment comes as Japan and Western states have increasingly deployed their F-35s to one
The Ukrainian Air Force lost two Su-25 attack jets and an Mi-8 helicopter in intensified clashes with Russian forces, according to a report from the Russian Defence Ministry on August 27. The ministry reported: “Russian fighter jets shot down a Ukrainian Mi-8 helicopter near the settlement of
The Israeli Air Force from 1968 became a leading client for advanced American combat aircraft, acquiring its first F-4E Phantom heavyweight third generation fighters that year after its major victories over neighbouring Soviet-aligned Arab states led Washington to forge much closer defence ties.
On August 23 the Russian Air Force made a rare deployment of a MiG-29 fighter to intercept a Norwegian Air Force P-8 Poseidon surveillance aircraft near Russian airspace over the Barents Sea. The Russian National Defence Management Centre reported regarding the incident: “On August 23, 2023,
