Page 7 - Defense Editor News Today

The American-made F-14 Tomcat dominated the sky during the Iran-Iraq war from 1980 to 1988. Heres What You Need to Know: The F-14 was not to be trifled with. Iran’s force of American-made F-14 Tomcat interceptors dominated the sky during the Iran-Iraq war from 1980 to 1988. F-14s reportedly downed more than 160 Iraqi planes. Journalist Kash Ryan in his book  Air Combat Memoirs of the Iranian Air Force Pilots compiled first-hand accounts of some of these aerial battles, including one by F-14...

After Stealing an Air Force, ISIS Found Itself Quickly Grounded Between 2013 and 2017 a small number of L-39 light attack jets at a Syrian air force base east of Aleppo changed hands several times. Heres What You Need To Remember: In 2017 forces loyal to the Syrian regime recaptured Ksheesh air base from ISIS. It’s possible some L-39s were still at the base at the time. Between 2013 and 2017 a small number of L-39 light attack jets at a Syrian air force base east of Aleppo changed hands seve...

The new missile is years away from front-line service, but already is causing controversy.

An adversary could mistake them for a nuclear-armed missile. Heres What You Need to Remember: An adversary observing a missile launch from an American SSGN might mistake it for a nuclear first strike. “These missiles shouldn’t be launched from anything resembling an SSBN,” Robert Farley, a University of Kentucky political scientist, noted on his blog. Virginia-class attack submarines will be the first vessels in the fleet to carry a new hypersonic missile the service is developing. Arming...

The money crunch is here.

The Sejjil is a purely Iranian design.

The Su-57 program remains under-funded and under-developed. Heres What You Need to Remember: In light of the difficulties the Su-57 program faces, the purported second Syria deployment likely achieved as much as the 2018 deployment did. Nothing much. The Russian air force deployed Su-57 stealth fighters to Syria a second time since first deploying them to the war-torn country in February 2018. But that doesn’t mean the twin-engine Su-57 is any closer to being ready for mass production, to sa...

The Marines call it their “Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations” concept. Heres What You Need to Remember: Observers long have expected the Marines to cut back on heavy combat forces in order to free up money and manpower for new anti-ship units. Sure enough, the 2021 budget proposal also asks to reduce the services ranks from 186,200 active-duty personnel to 184,100. The U.S. Marine Corps a few years ago started saying it needed to get serious about sinking enemy warships. Now the amphi...

Long-Range Russian Aircraft are Traveling the World Tracking NATO Submarines The Russian patrol surge isn’t limited to Europe. Heres What You Need to Remember: The Russian exercise seemed to highlight Moscow’s new approach to undersea warfare. While the war game reportedly was defensive in nature, the same submarines with their long-range cruise missiles could conduct offensive operations from the same waters. A pair of Russian navy Tu-142 patrol planes flew one of the longest-ever flights...

A new landing helicopter dock has been designed. Heres What You Need to Remember: The Japanese navy does not have a formal requirement for an LHD, but there’s an obvious gap in the fleet’s structure that an assault ship could fill. Tokyo is building up a force of 17 MV-22 tiltrotors, 52 AAV7s and six LCACs to carry marines into combat. But the landing craft, vehicles and rotorcraft require ships to transport them close to shore. A Japanese shipbuilder is pitching a new amphibious assault s...