October 19, 2010, is a day that will haunt the Royal Air Force for many years to come. The results of the UK government’s Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR), the first since 1998, were as savage as many had expected.
In delivering the results of the study, which the opposition Labour Party criticized as being [...]

The first Moroccan F-16C block 52 (serial 08-8001) was rolled out on September 21, 2010, at Fort Worth and is scheduled to fly shortly. Morocco, the 25th nation to operate the F-16, ordered twenty-four Block 52 aircraft in 2009. The two-tone light brown scheme looks amazing!!

Air Tractor has launched production of the AT-802U light strike and surveillance aircraft, having received an order from an undisclosed foreign customer. The converted crop-duster made its international debut in Paris last year and is optimized for counter-insurgency missions with a mix of precision and standard weapons. The AT-802U has nine hardpoints and is able [...]

Today marks the 70th anniversary of Winston Churchill’s memorable speech about the Battle of Britain. Paying tribute to the brave fighter pilots that defended England. The weather may have played havoc with the planned flypasts but let us all take a moment out to remember The Few.

A new US Government Accountability Office (GAO) report has revealed how the USAF is planning to cope with a fighter aircraft shortfall that could reach 200 aircraft by 2025. The report is the first official evidence of the situation facing the USAF and is likely to be taken very seriously by senior officials. The report [...]

Last week was a hectic dash around the US for briefings on Boeing defence projects. All the updates will appear in the net issue of Combat Aircraft (Sept). Farnborough show is just around the corner – we have some great exclusives coming up!

The US Navy is proceeding with a new multi-year Super Hornet procurement deal with Boeing. As expected, the deal will offer ‘substantial savings’ for 124 F/A-18E/F and EA-18G aircraft running from FY2010-13. The total program of record will now stand at 515 F/A-18E/F Super Hornets and 114 EA-18G Growlers, with the latest batch now offering [...]

So US defense secretary Robert Gates decided to withold a Lockheed Martin $614m performance-related pay check because F-35 testing is failing to meet targets. Gen Heinz, the military program head, has been booted out, and the whole project could be on the brink of triggering a Nunn-McCurdy review because of cost overruns. Wow! That is [...]

Wow! It’s always a memorable moment when we see a new fighter aircraft for the first time. PAK FA’s appearance to the world yesterday is clearly very significant.
OK, chances are that it might not achieve much more than the MiG 1.42, but if, just if, it gets backing from an international customer it could progress [...]

We are delighted to be running our world-exclusive new images of the USAF’s RQ-170 Sentinel stealthy UAV in our February issue. The shots came to us from one of our well-trusted sources and they are the best photos of this clandestine aircraft, dubbed ‘the best of Kandahar’ following its initial sightings at the Afghan operating [...]