The cost of buying America’s stealth fighter fleet has risen about 10% since late 2023 — roughly $51 billion — driven by engines, spares, readiness and the long-delayed Block 4 software.
Chinese Fighter Exports: The Car Industry Parallel, Tested
China exports cars to absorb overcapacity. It exports fighters for entirely different reasons. Testing the comparison against SIPRI data, production figures and every Chinese fighter export order on the books.
160th SOAR Black Hawk Down in Colorado, All Four Crew Safe
An MH-60 Black Hawk of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment came down during routine training west of Denver on 25 August. All four crew were uninjured.
B-52 Radar Modernization: $766 Million and Still Testing
Raytheon and Boeing have picked up contracts worth up to a combined $766 million tied to the B-52 Radar Modernization Program, as the delayed AN/APQ-188 finally reaches flight test at Edwards.
Storm Shadow: Britain Clears Missile Assembly in Ukraine
Britain has cleared MBDA to release classified data on UK components in the Storm Shadow, letting France and Ukraine advance local SCALP assembly. In return, the UK gets first access to Ukraine’s Avengers AI battlefield dataset.
Bangladesh J-10CE Deal: 20 Chinese Fighters for $2.3 Billion
Dhaka has finished drafting an agreement to buy 20 Chengdu J-10CE fighters from China for $2.302 billion, which would make Bangladesh the second confirmed export customer after Pakistan.
Poland and the F-15EX: Warsaw Denies a $131 Billion Hint
Poland appears among the Foreign Military Sales customers in Boeing’s $131.23 billion F-15 Eagle Crest contract. Warsaw denies any F-15EX plan, but the 2017 Apache precedent says watch this space.
J-20 Mystery Shapes Solved: China’s Fire-Training Mock-Ups
Fighter-like shapes spotted at Chinese airbases since 2022 have finally been explained: new ground-level photos show a J-20-shaped mock-up used for airfield firefighting training.
Blackbeard on the Super Hornet: Hypersonic Testing Begins
A photo shown at Tailhook confirms Castelion Blackbeard test rounds have been loaded onto a US Navy F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, with early operational capability targeted for 2028.
MH370: What Is Actually Known, Twelve Years On
The satellite arc, the debris, the simulator file — and a search that quietly restarted in 2025 and has now swept half the priority zone without finding anything.
Bell 47: The First Helicopter Anyone Could Legally Buy
Designed by a philosopher who spent twelve years building models on a farm, the Bell 47 became the world’s first certified civil helicopter — and the Angel of Mercy over Korea.
Helios 522: The Ghost Flight and the Horn That Meant Two Things
A switch left in MANUAL, and a warning horn identical to one the crew heard every day on the ground. 121 people died, and the $4,438 fix took six more years to mandate.
The Nimitz Tic Tac: What the Navy Aircrew Actually Reported
Stripped of embellishment: what is in the sworn testimony, what the Pentagon released, and why the most deflationary quote in the whole case comes from the pilot who shot the video.
JAL 123: Thirty-Two Minutes With No Flight Controls
A faulty repair in 1978 blew the tail off a 747 seven years later. The crew flew for 32 minutes on engine thrust alone. 520 died — and some of them survived the impact.
Aeroflot 593: The Autopilot That Gave No Warning
A captain let his children hold the controls. The A310 silently declutched its aileron channel — no light, no sound — and 75 people died. The crew came within seconds of saving it.
Boeing’s Overwing Strut: Making Room for the Open Fan
An open fan is twice the diameter of a turbofan and will not fit under a 737-sized wing. Boeing has patented a strut that wraps over the wing and takes either engine.
Cross-Decking F-35Bs: When a British Carrier Armed an American Jet
In August 2021 a Marine F-35B launched from HMS Queen Elizabeth, rearmed aboard USS America and flew on to strike again. Five years on, it looks less like a stunt and more like doctrine.