The MiG-29 Fulcrum and Su-27 Flanker entered service in the Soviet Air Force in 1982 and 1985 respectively as two of the country’s four fourth generation combat aircraft, and were developed in parallel with the specific goal of providing superiority over the latest generation of American fighters. The MiG-29, as […]
The F-14 Tomcat has for over 50 years held the title of the world’s heaviest fighter jet, and during the Cold War was widely considered the foremost aircraft for air to air combat fielded by any country. Deployed by the U.S. Navy from 1974, and acquired by the Iranian Air […]
Following its first flight in December 2019 the JF-17 Block 3 fighter program has shown signs of considerable progress. The fighter is widely expected to enter service before 2023, with the first images of serial production airframes in Pakistan having emerged in late 2021. The aircraft is set to revolutionise […]
The Turkish Air Force has long fielded one of the largest fighter fleets in NATO, with a strength comprised entirely of U.S.-made aircraft including ten squadrons of F-16C/D Fighting Falcons. An estimated 250 F-16s are in service, the large majority of them license built in the country itself, supplemented by […]
The Ethiopian Air Force is reportedly set to become the second export client for China’s L-15 lightweight fighter jet, after the Defence Ministry reportedly placed an order for the aircraft in 2021. The aircraft are expected to replace the country’s ageing fleet of MiG-23 variable swept wing third generation fighters, […]
The Israeli Air Force conducted a major simulation of a military strike on the Islamic Republic of Iran in mid-January, a number of local media outlets revealed, with several dozen aircraft involved in practicing a “massive” strike on the country’s nuclear facilities. Exercises involved aerial refuelling, standoff attacks, and thwarting […]
In very first operational deployment overseas, the U.S. Navy’s new F-35C fifth generation fighters embarked on the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson for operations in the Western Pacific region have shown signs of significant corrosion and rust. Coming at a very early stage in the service lives of the new airframes, and as the Navy’s […]
From the early 1950s until the mid 1970s Egypt was a priority client for some of the latest Soviet arms available, with prominent acquisitions ranging from Scud B ballistic missiles to MiG-23 fighters both newly made available for export. This changed in the after 1975 when the Anwar Sadat administration […]
On January 30 North Korea conducted its first test launch of the Hwasong-12 intermediate range ballistic missile since 2017, which marked the missile’s fourth successful test as well as the country’s seventh missile test launch of 2022. The missile has an estimated 4,500km range, and has been dubbed ‘Guam Killer’ […]
Since the retirement of its MiG-29 and F-5E fighter jets from frontline roles in the late 2010s, the Royal Malaysian Air Force has been operating under its full strength of combat aircraft with just 18 Su-30MKM and 8 F-18D Hornet fighters between them forming two squadrons. The service has since […]