aviation

A civilian Antonov turned night-fighting gunship now prowls Ukraine’s skies, proving that ingenuity and a minigun can swat down swarms of cheap Russian drones far more efficiently than million-dollar missiles.

Ukraine confirms an F-16 gun kill as the air war evolves, while Sudan, Cuba, and Kyiv confront widening strains tied to protracted conflict.

The 1st CIG’s greatest expertise lies in precisely locating American hostages held by foreign terrorist groups and pinpointing high-value terrorist leaders, a capability they demonstrated when helping track down Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in December 2003, al-Qa’ida leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in May 2011, and ISIS terrorist leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in Syria in October 2019.

Flying at treetop height with cold-war iron and nerves of steel, Ukraine’s Mi-24 crews have turned an aging “Flying Tank” into a blunt instrument of precision and audacity, proving that in this war, skill and nerve still matter more than the calendar on the airframe.

Under an almost-moonless Crimean sky, SBU Alpha sent heavy-warhead drones into Belbek and punched holes through Russia’s layered defenses, torching a Foxhound and the radars and missile systems meant to keep the whole peninsula under lock and key.

From hypersonic ghosts scribbling donuts-on-a-rope across the Texas sky to F-16s without tail codes and dark Ghost Hawks prowling the Nevada desert, Groom Lake remains the twilight buffer between America’s most sensitive secrets and the rest of the world.

The arrival of the NH90 Caïman TTH TFRA Standard 2 — a semi-matte-black, Special-Forces-tailored evolution of the multinational NH90 family, fitted with EuroFLIR, TopOwl helmet displays, heavy .50-caliber mounts and extended-range tanks — marks a decisive step for France (and Europe) toward fielding a stealthier, more capable rotary-wing enabler for clandestine troop insertions beginning in June 2026.

When Anduril’s YFQ-44A cleared the runway it did more than prove a prototype; it announced an era in which affordable, software-first wingmen will rewrite the rules of air combat.

On October 13, 2025, Belgium’s first Block 4 F-35A Lightning IIs rolled into Florennes to stand up 1st Squadron Stingers, a clear pivot toward a 45 aircraft fifth generation fleet with APG-85 and TR-3 that adds fresh teeth to NATO’s growing wall of stealth over Europe.

Flying low and hard over the Somme on April 21, 1918, the Red Baron chased a green Camel into Australian guns until Sergeant Cedric Popkin’s cool 200 round burst sent a single .303 round through his heart and the legend hit the beet field eight seconds later.

Facing Kaliningrad, Belarus, and a live war next door, Poland is pushing its F-16s to the Viper standard with APG-83 radar, Viper Shield, and standoff punch to hold the line while F-35s spin up.

A Ukrainian Yak-52—once a humble trainer—now screams low over Kherson with a rear-seat gunner and a shotgun, turning the sky into a drone-killing skeet range.