Europe Rolls Out Its Robot Wingmen

Europe Rolls Out Its Robot Wingmen

For years, the race to build “robot wingmen” — uncrewed jets that fight alongside human pilots — looked like an American and Australian story. In a single week in June, Europe planted its flag.At the ILA air show in Berlin, two very different European players pulled...
The First F-35 in Wild Weasel War Paint

The First F-35 in Wild Weasel War Paint

On 16 June a brand-new F-35A lifted off from Fort Worth, flew for about an hour, and came home behind a chase jet. Routine — except for two black letters painted on its tail: WW.Those letters make aircraft 24-5970 the first F-35 ever to wear the Wild Weasel tail code....
Marines Land F-35Bs on a Finnish Highway

Marines Land F-35Bs on a Finnish Highway

It costs north of a hundred million dollars, it is the most sophisticated fighter the United States builds, and on the morning of 9 June it was sitting on a two-lane road in the Finnish woods, taking on fuel with pine trees a wingspan away.Two U.S. Marine Corps F-35B...