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☆ Only 3 countries have managed to build 5th-generation fighters, but nearly a dozen are already working on 6th-gen jets
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Benjamin Brimelow | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

(The recently unveiled B-21 bomber is billed as the world's first sixth-gen aircraft, but little is known about its capabilities.) Lockheed Martin, Northrup Grumman, and Boeing are believed to be competing to build the jets, and all have released illustrations of sixth-gen aircraft. FCAS/SCAFA full-scale model of the Future Combat Air System at the Paris Air Show in June 2019. An illustration of Japan's next-generation fighter aircraft concept. While China is making heavy investment in military aviation, Russia's ability to develop next-generation jets may be shrinking.

☆ S.Korea's Yoon orders revamp of response to violations of country's air space
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SEOUL, Dec 29 (Reuters) - South Korea's President Yoon Suk-yeol ordered a revamp of the military's response to objects violating its airspace, his office said on Thursday, after an intrusion by North Korean drones exposed its difficulty in shooting down small aircraft. Five North Korean drones crossed into South Korea on Monday, prompting South Korea's military to scramble fighter jets and attack helicopters, though it failed to bring down the drones, which flew over South Korea for hours. "North Korean drones' intrusion of our airspace is an intolerable incident," Yoon said. The military apologised for its response, and said it could not shoot down the drones because they were too small. "Our military will conduct joint air defence drills ... simulating response to enemy's small-sized unmanned aircraft," a JCS spokesperson told a regular briefing.

LONDON, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Britain accused Russia of planning to give Iran advanced military components in exchange for hundreds of drones, British defence minister Ben Wallace said on Tuesday, calling on the West to do more to expose the trade. "In return for having supplied more than 300 kamikaze drones, Russia now intends to provide Iran with advanced military components, undermining both Middle East and international security — we must expose that deal. Wallace did not provide detail on the type of military components he said Russia wanted to give Iran. Iran has acknowledged sending drones to Russia but said they were sent before Moscow invaded Ukraine in February. Britain, the United States and the European Union have sanctioned Iranian military figures and defence manufacturers believed to be involved in the supply of Iranian drones to Russia.

To Russian security agencies operating in Ukraine, he said late on Monday in comments translated by Reuters: "Yes, it is difficult for you now. The situation in the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions is extremely difficult." Both Putin and Lukashenko were also at pains to dismiss the idea of Russia annexing or absorbing Belarus. Russian troops that moved to Belarus in October will conduct battalion tactical exercises, Russia's Interfax news agency reported, citing the defence ministry. It also said Ukrainian air and artillery forces carried out more than a dozen strikes on Russian troops and hardware, including ammunition dumps, and shot down two helicopters.

☆ Russia has stopped using its Iranian suicide drones because they don't work in the cold, Ukraine says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Russia has stopped using Iranian-made suicide drones due to cold weather, a Ukrainian official said. Russia started to use the Iranian drones in October, as part of a new playbook that targeted power distribution and other critical infrastructure from afar. A composite image showing an Iranian drone in the sky and the aftermath of a strike on Kyiv on October 17, 2022. And it reported that Iran and Russia had reached an agreement for Russia to start producing the drones itself. Multiple reports have also said that Iran has been training Russia on how to use the drones and other weapons.

Over recent years, NATO allies and Russia have scaled up military exercises in the region; Chinese and Russian warships conducted a joint exercise in the Bering Sea in September. Four Arctic experts say it would take the West at least 10 years to catch up with Russia's military in the region, if it chose to do so. "NATO is increasing its presence in the Arctic with more modern capabilities," NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg told Reuters. Now NATO and Arctic allies are changing their stance. Sweden and Finland have begun investing in surveillance and deterrence capabilities and military hardware including jets so their air forces can fight alongside Arctic NATO allies.

☆ After 40 years of safe skies, US special operators have to worry about threats from above, SOCOM commander says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Stavros Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

AP Photo/Efrem LukatskyUkraine's military claims to have shot down over 1,000 Russian drones, but unmanned aerial systems continue to proliferate. Ukraine is also using its fair share of unmanned aerial systems. Special operators vs. dronesA member of the Iraqi federal police with a destroyed drone used by ISIS in Mosul in March 2017. "But now with everything from quad-copters that very small up to very large unmanned aerial vehicles, we won't always have that luxury." DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty ImagesGenerally, US special operators can take out unmanned aerial systems in two ways.

☆ Iran's plans for its drones may be much different than how Russia is using them in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-30 | by ( Shahryar Pasandideh | World Politics Review | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Russia's use of Iranian drones in Ukraine has been framed as Iran trying to test out its hardware. But Russia has so far been using those drones in a manner different than Iran would likely use them. For all the attention given to Iran's ballistic missiles, the country has spent more than a decade diversifying its strike capabilities. Iranian drones were notably employed alongside cruise missiles in the attacks on Saudi oil facilities in September 2019. Second, the propeller-driven Iranian drones that Russia is now using are slow and, if detected while in transit, provide ample warning for defenders to activate defenses.

☆ As Russia Pummels Ukraine, U.S. Counterdrone System Months Away From Delivery
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Brett Forrest | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The Pentagon has yet to approve a contract to deliver a counterdrone system it promised over the summer to Kyiv, despite Russia’s surge of recent attacks on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure using Iranian-made unmanned aircraft. In late August, the Pentagon said the U.S. had included a weapons system known as the Vampire in a nearly $3 billion military aid package for Ukraine. The portable, laser-guided missile system is designed to be quickly installed in the bed of a civilian truck and has the ability to destroy drones and other targets beyond the range of standard weapons.

☆ NATO navies are teaming up for the first time to practice using drones to hunt submarines and other undersea threats
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Constantine Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The exercise, Dynamic Messenger 22, was held in the waters off of Portugal's Troia Peninsula from September 23 to September 30. NATO Maritime CommandDynamic Messenger 22 involved 1,500 personnel from 16 NATO member-states operating more than 18 ships and 48 unmanned vehicles. NATO Maritime CommandMany NATO members see unmanned maritime assets as valuable additions to their fleets, and the role of those assets in alliance naval exercises has increased in recent years. A concerted effortA drone helicopter in use during NATO exercise Dynamic Messenger. NATO Maritime CommandREPMUS — short for "Robotic Experimentation and Prototyping using Maritime Uncrewed Systems" — supports NATO's Maritime Unmanned Systems Initiative, which was launched in October 2018 to promote the use of unmanned systems in the alliance's naval operations.

U.S. and European officials are primed to impose fresh sanctions against Iran in the hopes of stanching the flow of military drones to Russia that have been pummeling Kyiv and other civilian population centers and infrastructure. The sanctions would be intended to complement air defense systems the U.S. and its allies are planning to provide to Ukraine to fend off attacks from unmanned aircraft and missiles.

☆ 80 years after launching the first drone from an aircraft carrier, the US Navy is planning to fill its flattops with them
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Benjamin Brimelow | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Navy officials now say that they hope to have drone aircraft compose 60% of their carrier air wings. That distinction belongs to Naval Aircraft Factory's TDN-1, which on August 10, 1943 became the first US Navy drone to take off from an aircraft carrier. The first carrier droneA TDN-1 drone on its first piloted flight over Traverse City in Michigan on May 19, 1943. A TDN-1 drone aboard US Navy training carrier USS Sable off of Traverse City on August 10, 1943. On August 10, three TDN-1s made history when they took off from the training aircraft carrier USS Sable in Lake Michigan.

☆ Congress tells Pentagon to speed review of large drones for Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Mike Stone | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterU.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin speaks after a meeting at the American military's Ramstein Air Base near Ramstein-Miesenbach, Germany, September 8, 2022. REUTERS/Thilo Schmuelgen/File PhotoWASHINGTON, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Seventeen members of Congress told U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to speed up a Pentagon security review of a Ukrainian request for large armable drones, according to a letter dated Wednesday and seen by Reuters. The Biden administration's plan to sell four large, armable drones to Ukraine hit a snag in June because of a fear the unmanned aerial system's sophisticated surveillance equipment might fall into enemy hands, sources had previously told Reuters. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterPreviously the plan to sell the MQ-1C Gray Eagle drones, which has been circulating since March, had been approved by U.S. officials, three people had said. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Mike Stone in Washington; Editing by Howard GollerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ How the Turkish-made TB2 drone gave Ukraine an edge against Russia
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-18 | by ( Maya Carlin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The TB2 drone has gotten worldwide attention for its role in the Nagorno-Karabakh war and now in Ukraine. Without the TB2, the Ukraine might lose the defensive edge it holds over Russia. What makes the TB2 drone special? Bayraktar TB2 UAVs is seen during the test flight at the military base located in Hmelnitski, Ukraine on March 20, 2019. A Bayraktar TB2 drone.

☆ Russia gets its first drones from Iran as the two countries strengthen ties
▼ + stars: | 2022-08-30 | by ( Dan De Luce | Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Josh-Lederman-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +10 min

Facing a protracted war in Ukraine and a wall of Western sanctions, Russia is turning to Iran to bolster its military and keep its economy afloat, as both countries’ interests converge. The delivery is part of Russia's plans to import “hundreds” of drones from Iran, they said. Despite Moscow’s alignment with Iran, Russia so far has maintained friendly relations with Tehran’s adversaries in the Middle East, including Israel, which has enjoyed a pragmatic relationship with Russia. Russia’s increasing cooperation with Iran could also complicate diplomacy outside the Ukraine conflict, including efforts to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. “Iran can try to help Russia evade sanctions without the JCPOA or with the JCPOA.

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