Iron Dome Just Got a Laser Sidekick
For fifteen years, Iron Dome has answered incoming rockets with a $50,000 interceptor. Now it has a second option on the trigger: light. Israel’s Ministry of Defense announced on 30 June that a comprehensive Iron Dome test series has, for the first time, folded...
The B-2 Just Became a Ship-Killer
Somewhere over the Philippine Sea on 27 June, a B-2 Spirit opened its weapons bay and released something the world had never officially seen it carry: an AGM-158C LRASM, the US military’s stealthiest anti-ship missile. The target, more than 200 nautical miles...
The Il-2 Sturmovik: The Most-Produced Military Aircraft in History
With 36,183 examples built, the Ilyushin Il-2 Sturmovik is the most-produced military aircraft in history — and arguably the most important ground-attack platform of the Second World War. Soviet infantry called it “the flying tank.” German soldiers called...
The Convair B-58 Hustler: First Supersonic Bomber
The Convair B-58 Hustler was the world’s first operational supersonic bomber — a Mach 2 delta-wing marvel that could outrun every interceptor of its era. It was also one of the most dangerous aircraft in the United States Air Force inventory, killing more than...
What Pilots See Through a Head-Up Display
A fighter pilot pulling 7G in a turning engagement has roughly three seconds to acquire a target, compute a firing solution, and press the trigger. Looking down at cockpit instruments during those three seconds means looking away from the threat — and in air combat,...
Sea Baby Drone Boats Now Launch FPV Swarms at Sea
A naval drone that costs roughly $200,000 can now launch its own swarm of first-person-view attack drones while underway at sea. The Sea Baby unmanned surface vessel — a remotely piloted maritime platform with a 1,500-kilometre range — has evolved from a...
When a Fishing Boat Met a Fighter Jet — and Changed Supersonic Flight Forever
NASA’s X-59 QueSST aircraft, the direct descendant of the SSBD programme, broke the sound barrier for the first time in June 2026 — designed to produce a gentle thump instead of a thunderclap. (NASA) If you have ever seen a photo of the Shaped Sonic Boom...
How the Next-Gen Airlifter Will Land on Dirt Roads
A C-130J Super Hercules at a forward operating location. The Hercules has served as the backbone of tactical airlift for seven decades, but the Air Force is now planning its eventual replacement. (U.S. Air Force / Wikimedia Commons) Somewhere in the western Pacific,...
China’s PL-16: The Stealth Missile That Could Outshoot America Over the Pacific
Somewhere in China’s vast defence-industrial complex, a missile is being built that could fundamentally change the arithmetic of air combat over the Pacific. The PL-16 — Beijing’s next-generation beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile — has never been...
The F-104 Starfighter: How Germany Turned a Masterpiece Into the Widowmaker
Kelly Johnson built the F-104 Starfighter to do one thing: climb fast, fly high, and kill Soviet bombers before they reached American cities. The Lockheed engineer surveyed Korean War fighter pilots in 1951 and concluded that what they wanted was not another heavy,...
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