The Strike Eagles Came Home as Monsters

The Strike Eagles Came Home as Monsters

The first eight came in before sunset on 1 July, dropping onto RAF Lakenheath’s runway one after another. The last three arrived in the dark, their names unreadable. Eleven F-15E Strike Eagles of the 48th Fighter Wing, home from the Iran air war — and...
Poland Freezes Its MiGs for Ukraine

Poland Freezes Its MiGs for Ukraine

In the spring of 2023, Poland became the first NATO country to send fighter jets to Ukraine — fourteen MiG-29s, handed over while other capitals were still debating. Three years later, the last fourteen Fulcrums in Polish service were supposed to follow them...
Un águila y un fantasma vuelan juntos

Un águila y un fantasma vuelan juntos

One photo, two aircraft, and a very large hint about the future of air combat. On 1 July, Pacific Air Forces posted imagery of a US Air Force F-15EX Eagle II flying over the Philippine Sea in close formation with something no American fighter had been photographed...
Seahawk caído en el Mar Arábigo

Seahawk caído en el Mar Arábigo

At 3:30 in the morning Eastern time on 1 July, an MH-60S Sea Hawk from the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush went into the water of the Arabian Sea. Three of the four crew members were pulled out and are in stable condition aboard the carrier. As of publication,...
The Pentagon Gets a Drone Czar

The Pentagon Gets a Drone Czar

The Pentagon just did something it almost never does: it took power away from the Army, Navy and Air Force all at once. In a memo dated 29 June and made public this week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth created a single office with authority over virtually every drone...