India Leases Two More Sea Guardian Drones

India Leases Two More Sea Guardian Drones

Share this story On 17 August 2026, in a New Delhi government building most people have never heard of, India signed a contract to rent two robotic aircraft for the price of a small skyscraper. The deal, worth about Rs 1,943 crore (roughly US$200 million), leases two...
The Navy Buys the Runway-Free Fighter Drone

The Navy Buys the Runway-Free Fighter Drone

Share this story The U.S. Navy just handed Shield AI roughly $50 million to build a jet that doesn’t need a runway, and the U.S. Air Force declined to chip in a single dollar. One service sees the future. The other sees a very expensive question mark and a...
Peru Picks Viper Shield for Its F-16s

Peru Picks Viper Shield for Its F-16s

Share this story Peru has quietly filled in one of the most important blanks on its future fighter. On 19 August 2026, L3Harris confirmed it had been selected to supply the AN/ALQ-254(V)1 Viper Shield electronic-warfare suite for the F-16 Block 70s destined for the...
‘Hey, Buddy, I Just Crashed’

‘Hey, Buddy, I Just Crashed’

Share this story A Marine walks out of the woods with a bloodied face and a phone in his hand, 911 already dialled. A county deputy, not quite sure what he is looking at, asks the obvious question: what kind of jet is that? The pilot glances back toward the column of...
France Caught a Rare Russian Spy Jet

France Caught a Rare Russian Spy Jet

Share this story Somewhere over the Baltic this summer, a French Rafale slid into formation beside a Russian jet that almost never lets itself be seen. The aircraft was a Tupolev Tu-214PU — a rare, specially-equipped command aircraft that open-source analysts link to...
Switzerland’s First F-35 Takes Shape in Italy

Switzerland’s First F-35 Takes Shape in Italy

Share this story Switzerland’s first F-35A Lightning II is no longer a set of drawings and contracts. It is now metal. In a hall at Cameri, in the Italian region of Piedmont, the first fuselage section of a Swiss jet has been mated to its first wing — the...
Two Close Calls in Two Days at Munich

Two Close Calls in Two Days at Munich

Share this story Munich Airport has had a nervous week. On the evening of 17 August 2026, a Lufthansa Airbus A380 arriving from San Francisco touched down short of its runway and ploughed through the approach lighting at the threshold. All 351 people on board were...
1,000 More Horses for the Black Hawk

1,000 More Horses for the Black Hawk

Share this story It is not often that an aircraft gets fifty percent more power without getting any bigger. That is exactly what the U.S. Army is trying to bolt into thousands of its helicopters — and on 12 August 2026 the effort passed one of its hardest gates. GE...
Finland’s Hornets Begin Their Final Countdown

Finland’s Hornets Begin Their Final Countdown

Share this story For thirty years, the sound of Finland’s air defence has been the twin-engine howl of the F/A-18 Hornet. Now the clock on that sound has started ticking down. As Finland’s first F-35A Lightning II stealth fighters move through training in...
Germany’s First F-35 Enters the Paint Shop

Germany’s First F-35 Enters the Paint Shop

Share this story In a high-bay hall in Fort Worth, Texas, a matte-grey shape is about to disappear. Germany’s first F-35A Lightning II, the airframe stamped MG-01, has rolled out of final assembly and into the stage Lockheed Martin calls Aircraft Final Finishes:...