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☆ China navy secretly built what could be world's first drone aircraft carrier: report
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-15 | by ( Thibault Spirlet | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

China has secretly built what could be the world's first drone carrier, an analyst said. Having a drone carrier would allow China to use different types of drones to attack, an analyst told BI. AdvertisementChina's navy has secretly built what could be the world's first dedicated drone carrier ship, according to Naval News, a squat ship that looks like a mini-aircraft carrier. "We are confident that this ship is the world's first dedicated fixed-wing drone carrier," it said. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers.

Persons: —, Michael Dahm Organizations: Service, Naval News, aircraft, Mitchell Institute, Business Locations: China

☆ F-16s headed to Ukraine this summer will face their most dangerous battlefield ever
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-27 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Ukraine is slated to receive its much-anticipated fleet of F-16 fighter jets this summer. AdvertisementThe long-awaited delivery of F-16s to Ukraine is on the horizon, and these advanced American-made fighter jets can't come soon enough for its forces. The fighter jets are expected to arrive at some point this summer, reportedly as early as June. Romanian air force F-16 fighter planes fly above the Baza 86 military air base, outside Fetesti, Romania, Monday, Nov. 13, 2023. US Air Force F-16's stand ready with bombs loaded to take off during the first daylight attack to liberate Kuwait in 1991.

Persons: —, Falcon, SAMs, Alexandru, Egypt —, John Baum, Russia —, Baum, KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV Russia's, Tannehill, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Mark Rutte, Peter Dejong Organizations: Service, Russia's, Rygge Air Force Base, OLE BERG, Getty, NATO, Kyiv, Israeli Air Force, AP, US Air Force, Operation, Allied Force, Yugoslavia, Air Force, Defense Technical Information, Reuters, Storm, Russia, Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, US Navy, SA, Russian, AIM, INA Locations: Ukraine, Balkans, Kyiv, Romania, Norway, AFP, — Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Europe, Lebanon's, Israel, Yom, Romanian, Fetesti, Storm, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Afghanistan, Islamic, Kuwait, Russian, Zhukovsky, Moscow, Bekaa, East, Syria, Russia, Ukrainian, Eindhoven, Rzeszow, Jasionka, Poland, Crimean

☆ China can't use civilian ships to invade Taiwan just yet, but it's getting there, says former US intelligence officer
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-14 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

AdvertisementChina's fleet of civilian ships earmarked for war is unlikely to successfully invade Taiwan until at least 2030. AdvertisementThese civilian ships are mostly used to ferry military assets, particularly for beach landings, in exercises focused along the Taiwan Strait, Dahm added. AdvertisementChina might also use open-deck civilian ships as sea-based landing pads for helicopters, he added. Alternatively, the civilian ships can be used to rapidly transport military resources along China's coast during war, he added. "The PLA is clearly developing required procedures and increasing proficiency using civilian ships for logistics and landing operations," he wrote.

Persons: Michael Dahm, They're, Dahm, —, William Lai Ching Organizations: Service, Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, US, China Maritime Studies Institute, PLA, Trade, People's Liberation Army Locations: Taiwan, Beijing, China, Taiwan Strait

☆ B-1B supersonic bombers sent a 'powerful' message to Iran's proxies all the way from Texas
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-09 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Read previewIt's a long way to go from Texas to the airspace above Iraq and back to base, but it's a mission the B-1B Lancer can handle. AdvertisementA B-1B Lancer from Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota, taxis down the runway before takeoff at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, Feb. 1, 2024. US Air Force photo by Senior Airman Leon RedfernThe bombers took off from Dyess and flew nonstop to the Middle East. B-1B Lancers from Dyess and Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota, sit on the flightline at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, Feb. 1, 2024. An Airman from the 7th Munitions Conventional Maintenance shop prepares Joint Direct Attack Munitions at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, Jan. 31, 2024.

Persons: —, 1Bs, I'm, Mark Gunzinger, Leon Redfern, Douglas Sims, There's, Gunzinger, it'll Organizations: Service, US Central Command, Business, Ellsworth Air Force Base, Dyess Air Force Base, US Air Force, Senior, Joint Staff, Pentagon, Armaments, Attack Munitions, Joint, Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, 7th Munitions, Munitions, Leon Redfern Targets, Texas Locations: Texas, Iraq, South Dakota, Dyess, Iran, Syria, Jordan, Gen, East, United States

☆ The US Air Force is training to take down Chinese warships, but China's military has built a 'wicked' problem for it to overcome
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( Christopher Woody | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

That's not a new task for the US Air Force, but it faces a 'wicked' threat from China's air defenses. AdvertisementAdvertisementThe US Air Force is working on improving its ability to sink well-defended warships, a reflection of the US military's concern about the growing size and increasing capability of China's navy. US Naval History and Heritage CommandUS pilots have trained to sink warships since the early 1920s, well before the Air Force's founding in 1947. US Air Force A-10s at Naval Air Station North Island in California for Green Flag-West in November 2022. Wilsbach said in September that training by Pacific Air Forces has emphasized "stacking effects" to bring more weapons to bear.

Persons: That's, —, Nancy Pelosi's, Pelosi, Gen, Kenneth Wilsbach, we've, Wilsbach, Sun, Brendan Mulvaney, Mulvaney, eng.chinamil.com.cn, Yang Yunxiang, that's, Mark Kelly, Kelly, hasn't, Lyle Goldstein, TENGKU BAHAR, Goldstein, they've, John Baum, Baum, Zachary Rufus, Col, Daniel Lehoski, William R, Lewis, Lockheed Martin, Lindsey Heflin Organizations: US Air Force, Service, US Pacific Air Forces, an Air and Space Forces Association, China News Service, Getty, China Aerospace Studies Institute, Department of, Air Force, United, and Space Forces Conference, Air Combat Command, Defense, Heritage Command US, Air, Navy, Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, Naval Air Station, Green Flag, West, US Army, Air Force Weapons, Weapons, Flag, Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada ., Pacific, US Navy, Squadron, Force, Missiles, Ship, Lockheed, Command, Lindsey Heflin Air Force, Pacific Air Forces, Army Locations: China, Taiwan, Pacific, United States, Ukraine, Asia, Hong Kong, Liaoning, Shandong, Fujian, Iraq, Afghanistan, California, Nevada

☆ Where's the Su-57? The war in Ukraine is what fifth-generation fighter jets were made for, but Russia's Felon has largely been missing in action
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-21 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Russian state media has touted the Su-57 fighter jet as a formidable, fifth-generation aircraft. Sukhoi Su-57 fighter jets perform at the MAKS 2019 air show in Zhukovsky, outside Moscow, Russia, August 27, 2019. Sukhoi Su-57 jet fighter performs during International military-technical forum "Army-2020" at Kubinka airbase in Moscow Region, Russia August 25, 2020. So why is it that the Su-57 isn't doing what a true fifth-generation stealth fighter should theoretically be able to do in Ukraine? AdvertisementAdvertisementSukhoi Su-57 fighter jets perform at the MAKS 2019 air show in Zhukovsky, outside Moscow, Russia, August 27, 2019.

Persons: it's, —, there's, Mike Dahm, Sukhoi Su, Aleksey Nikolskyi, haven't, They're, Assad, Sergei Shoigu, Maxim Shemetov There's, Su, Russia's, Justin Bronk, Bronk, Vladimir Putin, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Maxim Shemetov, Dahm, There's, that's Organizations: Aviation, intel, Service, NATO, US, Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, Sputnik, REUTERS, Russian, Ukraine, International, Army, Sukhoi, Royal United Services Institute, Aircraft Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Moscow, Zhukovsky, Kremlin, Syria, Kubinka, Moscow Region, Russian, Ukrainian, NATO

☆ New missiles could help Ukraine's future F-16 fighters to take on Russian jets, but the planes will likely be more useful for other missions
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-23 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

The Pentagon plans to send highly capable air-to-air missiles that the jets can carry. A US Air Force aircraft fuels craftsman marshals a US F-16 at Rovaniemi Air Base in Finland during Astral Knight 23 Part 6 on August 23, 2023. These capabilities, coupled with its physical design, make the F-16 a formidable opponent for Russian fighter jets like the MiG-31 and Su-35, experts and former pilots say. AdvertisementAdvertisementAn F-16C Fighting Falcon from the 85th Test Evaluation Squadron flies a test mission March 19, 2019 near Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. Snodgrass said these missiles are "fairly comparable" to Russian air-to-air missiles like the R-27 and R-77.

Persons: Albert Morel Additionally, John Baum, Baum, it's, Guy Snodgrass, Russia's Su, Joshua Hoskins, Snodgrass, Biden, ANDREY SMIRNOV, Doug Birkey, Evgeniy, we've, Tannehill, ABIS Kayla Hayes, Moscow's, Perry Aston Organizations: Pentagon, Aviation, Service, AIM, US Air Force, Rovaniemi Air Base, Astral, Russian, Squadron, Eglin Air Force Base, Air Missiles, Air & Space Forces Magazine, Washington, Air Missile, US Navy, Getty, Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, AP, Kyiv, Avionics, 3C Orion, Marine Corps Base, Australian Defense Force, NATO, Army Tactical Missile, Storm, Alabama National, 187th Fighter Wing, Joint Base, Sweden, Gripen Locations: Wall, Silicon, Ukraine, Russian, Finland, Fla, Kyiv, Moscow, Russia, Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Crimean, Md, Stockholm

☆ Webb telescope detects organic molecules in distant galaxy
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Astronomers have detected the most distant known organic molecules in the universe using the James Webb Space Telescope. It’s the first time Webb has detected complex molecules in the distant universe. The complex molecules were found in a galaxy known as SPT0418-47, located more than 12 billion light-years away. The galaxy observed by the Webb telescope shows an Einstein ring caused by a phenomenon known as gravitational lensing, which occurs when two galaxies are almost perfectly aligned from our perspective on Earth. Investigating the early universeAstronomers spotted the signature of the organic molecules during a careful analysis of Webb’s data.

Persons: James Webb, Webb, it’s, Doyle, J, Einstein, ”, Joaquin Vieira, Albert Einstein’s, Justin Spilker, Spilker, George P, Cynthia Woods Mitchell, ” Spilker, Kedar Phadke, we’ve Organizations: CNN —, James Webb Space Telescope, National Science, Hubble, University of Illinois, M University, Texas, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics Locations: Chile, University of Illinois Urbana, Champaign, Texas

☆ Flying the F-16 in Ukraine is 'high risk,' and Kyiv's air forces can't just fly the fighter jet headlong into Russia's defenses
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-27 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

If Kyiv's air forces get the jet as expected, they won't be able to fly them directly at Russian defenses. "And nobody's advocating for that," an air power expert told Insider. Regardless of which jet Ukraine gets, putting fourth-generation air power like the F-16 into a high-intensity conflict is "high risk," Birkey said. A pair of US Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons US Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. In a recent opinion article for Air and Space Forces Magazine, Larry Stutzriem, a retired Air Force major general and former F-16 pilot, pointed to an Israeli Air Force operation against well-defended Syrian targets in Lebanon in 1982.

☆ Ukraine wants F-16s to shoot down Russian strike fighters dropping bombs it can't beat. Airpower experts say give them the jets.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Its defenses struggle to counter the bombs, so Ukraine wants tools to take out the Russian strike fighters. "Guided bombs are tricky for air defense because they have short flight times and usually very little infrared signature," he said. "The air defense system with the longest distance available to us is the S-300, but it's Soviet-era weapons." That is absolutely unrealistic," he said, challenging the arguments against sending fighter aircraft. There are significant training, supply chain, and operational hurdles to overcome, making essential ground-based air defense a priority in the meantime.

☆ The US Air Force has big plans for the next-generation drones that will fight alongside its fighters and bombers
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Benjamin Brimelow | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

It's now developing collaborative combat aircraft, which can fight alongside piloted jets or on their own. A need for 'affordable mass'MQ-9s on a runway at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico in April. Worse, the Air Force faces a pilot shortage and its overall number of flight hours has been decreasing. The Air Force also continues to develop top-tier assets like the F-35, the B-21 stealth bomber, and the Next Generation Air Dominance program, or NGAD. "Without it, it's very difficult to envision how we could keep the Air Force at the size it currently is."

☆ Ukraine's fighter jet fleet is slowly growing, but its weapons to bring down Russian jets are dwindling, leaked US document shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( Christopher Woody | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The jets will bolster Ukraine's fighter fleet, which is still under fire from Russia's larger air force. But air-defense ammunition is a more urgent need, one underscored in recently leaked US documents. Berlin approved Warsaw's request to send jets to Ukraine on Thursday, the same day it was received. Both air forces have shifted tactics and now operate farther from the front line, playing to the advantage of the Russian aircraft, which have an edge at longer ranges. Without the threat posed by those interceptor missiles, Russian aircraft would have greater freedom to attack Ukrainian aircraft and bomb Ukrainian targets, including in support of Russian front-line troops, the leaked document says.

☆ Even with F-16s, Ukraine's pilots still wouldn't be 'out of the woods' against Russia's air force, US officials say
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Christopher Woody | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Polish and Slovakian MiG-29s would add to Ukraine's fleet and be familiar to Ukrainian pilots but won't bring much more capability than Ukraine's current MiG-29s. 'The hard work'A pilot exits a Polish Air Force F-16 at an airbase in Poznan in November 2006. If the US or another NATO country elected to supply Ukraine with F-16s, Kelly said his first question would be "what sustainment depot are they going to use? "Again, that's just for the short-term of being able to launch or recover aircraft," Baum said. Ukraine's new jets would also be flying against Russian air-defense weapons that have claimed dozens of Ukrainian aircraft and continue to contest the airspace around the front lines.

☆ China is getting rid of its 'grandpa' fighter jets, but they may make a comeback for a one-way mission against Taiwan
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

China's last J-7 fighter jets may leave active service this year, according to Chinese state media. China's air force may convert some J-7s into drones, which could be used in an attack on Taiwan. (Between its air force and navy, China now has the world's third-largest aviation force, according to the Pentagon.) A J-7 fighter at the People's Liberation Army Aviation Museum in Beijing in December 2013. UCAVs make it possible for China's air force "to use relatively cheap, capable, low-risk airframes as a first-in asset to either strike or soften Taiwan's air defense systems," Rice added.

☆ After years of arguing, Congress is finally letting the US Air Force send some A-10 Warthogs to the boneyard
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Thomas Novelly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The defense policy bill for 2023 will allow the US Air Force to retire 21 A-10 Warthogs. The Air Force has wanted to get rid A-10s for years, but Congress has blocked it from doing so. The Air Force has another 260 A-10s in service, but lawmakers may be more open to scrapping them. That Air National Guard wing previously flew earlier models of the F-16 until they were replaced — to much fanfare — with the Warthog back in 2010. Airmen reconfigure weapons on an A-10 during an exercise at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida in November 2019.

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