The three faces of Russian Spetsnaz in Syria

As the Russian drawdown from Syria continues, more information continues to emerge about the forces Moscow had committed to shoring up the Assad regime. One telling aspect is how involved Russia’s Spetsnaz special forces were in the deployment. They were involved in two of their three core missions — reconnaissance and special security missions — but […]

FlyDubai Airliner Crashes In Russia; All 62 Aboard Killed

FighterSweep Fans, we have breaking news out of Russia. According to initial reports by the country’s Southern Regional Emergency Center, a Boeing 737-800 passenger jet owned and operated by FlyDubai airlines crashed as it was landing at the Rostov-on-Don airport in southern Russia. News agencies are reporting everyone aboard was killed in the crash, citing […]

USAF Concerned About Near-Peer Engagements

Editor’s Note: Another entry for our ever-growing, color-us-shocked file. While the U.S. has repeatedly shown its ability to dominate the battlespace in the current COIN (COunter INsurgency) fight with the likes of Daesh, al Qaeda, et al, Air Force senior leadership is deeply concerned about our readiness to face a near-peer-level fight in an Anti-Access/Area-Denial […]

Signs of hope five years after start of Syria’s war

 The United Nations mediator, Staffan de Mistura, was satisfied enough with the results to convene a new round of indirect peace talks starting Monday, which opposition groups have agreed to attend. That is the day before the fifth anniversary of the beginning of the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, which morphed into civil war and then […]

Flying Bazooka Drones Are Real?!

Editor’s Note: We’ve touched on some of the amazing aircraft designs which have revolutionized aviation since the Wright Brothers took to the sky on 17 December 1903. We’ve heard of technology similar to what you’ll see here, but to actually watch it in action is pretty cool. A drone carrying a Bazooka to deal with […]

AFRL: Hypersonic Missiles To Be Reality In 2020s

Editor’s Note: The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has been developing new tech for the United States Air Force. Since the X-15 program concluded, not much has been (publicly) done with the lessons learned. The most recent examples would be the four test flights of the X-51 Waverider, only two of which have been successful […]

U.S. Army must re-focus to stay ahead of Russian threat

Even as the Army’s senior leaders, active and retired, are agonizing yet again over the question of what kind of Army the American people want, the nation is beginning to get the Army it needs. What the United States needs is an Army of sufficient capacity and capability that can deter a resurgent Russian military, […]

Air Force willing to pay big money to move away from Russian made engines

For the last decade, Russian-made engines have been propelling US national security satellites into space. While this has proven to be a good approach in the past, the time has come for a new breed of rocket engine that’s American-made. On Feb. 29, the US Air Force — who runs the national security launch missions […]

Russia Unveils Its First Privately-Designed Trainer

Editor’s Note: For the first time in the history of Russian aviation, a privately-designed and produced aircraft capable of outperforming its state-designed counterparts has been unveiled. The SR-10 light trainer plane is expected to go into production in 2017 and was designed to compete with the Yak-130. Interestingly enough, being developed at the same time […]

Canada: 4 CF-188 Hornets and 100 Personnel To Deploy

Editor’s Note: Canada’s Defense Ministry announced that Canada will send about 100 Royal Canadian Air Force personnel and four CF-188 Hornet fighter jets to train with the Romanian military. As we all know, NATO has been stepping up its presence in eastern Europe, as a response the Russia’s resurgence and activities in Ukraine.  Canada will send […]