Nuclear Close Calls: Korea, Berlin, Cuba and Able Archer 83
Share this story The Cold War never became a war. That is the headline fact, and it is easy to mistake it for evidence that the danger was overstated. It was not. On at least four occasions between 1945 and 1989, the machinery that was supposed to prevent a third...
Brocklesby Mid-Air Collision: The Pilot Who Landed Two Planes at Once
Share this story Leading Aircraftman Leonard Fuller was 22 years old, three months into flight training, and had just been landed on by another aeroplane. Not hit. Landed on. The Avro Anson underneath him had driven its gun turret into his port wing root and stuck...
India Moves to Join FCAS: Sixth-Generation Fighter Bid Confirmed
Share this story When we wrote about India circling France’s orphaned fighter programme two weeks ago, the talks were informal and deniable. They are not deniable any more. India’s Defence Ministry has told parliament it has, in its own words,...
Cobra 600 First Flight: Germany’s IRIS-T Missile Drone Takes Off
Share this story A ground-based IRIS-T battery can reach about eight miles in its short-range form, or roughly 25 miles in the medium-range version. Useful numbers, until the thing you need to shoot down is 200 miles away and heading for a city. So Diehl Defence and a...
Argentina Retires Super Etendards Grounded by UK Ejection Seat Ban
Share this story Argentina bought five fighter jets from France, paid for them, and took delivery in May 2019. Seven years later, not one of them has flown a single operational sortie. On 20 August the Argentine Navy stopped pretending they ever would. The aircraft...
Hungarian Gripen Crash at Szolnok: Pilot Steered Clear, Then Ejected
Share this story The jet was already lost. The 51-year-old major flying it had seconds to decide where it would come down, and below him lay the outskirts of Szolnok, a Hungarian city of roughly 70,000 people. He did not pull the handle. Instead he stayed with the...
Italy Buys 5,031 APKWS II Rockets as Counter-Drone Weapons
Share this story In June 2025, an Italian Air Force spokesperson told Janes that Italy was not looking at acquiring any mission-specific systems to counter drones. On 21 August 2026, the US State Department approved the sale to Italy of 5,031 laser guidance kits...
Turkey’s Anka III Drone Will Carry Super Simsek Strike Drones
Share this story In February we covered Turkey pairing its KAAN fighter with two ANKA III stealth drones, in Turkey Pairs the KAAN With Two Robot Wingmen. A crewed fighter commanding uncrewed ones is now a familiar idea. On 14 August, Turkish Aerospace posted flight...
Ukraine Strikes Taneco Refinery Again, Ten Days After First Hit
Share this story On 10 August, Ukrainian drones hit the Taneco refinery at Nizhnekamsk in Tatarstan, 1,200 kilometres from Ukraine. We covered it in Ukraine Hits Russia’s Deepest Refinery Yet. Ten days later they went back and hit it again. That is the part...
F/A-XX Decision Slips: The Navy’s August Deadline Comes and Goes
Share this story In April, the Chief of Naval Operations said the Navy would name the winner of the F/A-XX competition in August. The Defense Secretary said August. The Acting Navy Secretary said August. There is now one week of August left, and no announcement. We...
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