China’s Z-20T attack helicopter, believed to be an answer to the US UH-60 Black Hawk, was seen in Tianjin for the 7th China Helicopter Exposition that is set to kick off on October 16. Multiple types of Chinese PLA Army helicopters arrived in China’s Tianjin Municipality on October 12 to participate in the 7th China Helicopter Exposition. These include the Z-10 attack helicopter, the Z-20 utility helicopter, and the Z-20T assault helicopter, which is making its debut at...

As drones change the nature of aerial warfare, older fighter jets are getting a new role as drone hunters. In the Ukraine War, the F-16 Fighting Falcon primarily performs an air defense role, intercepting incoming missiles and drones. Similarly, the French Mirage 2000 D and the U.S.-made A-10 Warthog, two fighter aircraft known for their exceptional ground-attack capabilities and now nearing the end of their life cycles, are being explored as drone hunters. Upgrading these fighter...

On September 28, 2025, U.S. Special Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg said in a Fox News interview that the Trump administration was “looking at” providing Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine in response to a request from President Volodymyr Zelensky, though no final decision had been made at that time. The announced possibility of a transfer appears intended to pressure Russia toward peace talks, but no definitive policy was announced. The Tomahawk is a subsonic, long-range...

Without a coherent modernization program, the Venezuelan air force is likely to continue to decline—or, in the event of conflict with the United States, quickly fall apart.  The Trump administration’s repeated strikes against Venezuelan boats—claimed to be drug smugglers—has raised questions about a future military confrontation with the troubled South American state. The Venezuelan military is no longer amongst the more impressive in Latin America, a...

The AK-12 is a modernized version of the AK-74, itself an upgrade of the AK-47 of Cold War notoriety.  The refit of Russia’s warships dragged on for years, and even decades in some cases. The production of its military aircraft and tanks has also languished, consistently missing scheduled deadlines. However, one area where Russia’s military-industrial complex has not seen significant delays is in the manufacture of small arms, where Russia remains one of the...

Fiber optic drones are more accurate, more deadly, and harder to intercept than any previous drone model—with major potential consequences for soldiers’ morale. Fiber optic-controlled battlefield drones are proliferating as a means to defeat active jamming measures in the ongoing Ukraine conflict. Russia introduced the technology first, but Ukraine soon caught up, and both sides are now manufacturing thousands of the drones per month. Fiber optic drones carry their thin control...

After Prime Minister Mark Carney declined to explicitly oppose buying the F-35s, the Department of National Defence has cautiously moved forward with the purchase. Canada isn’t likely to become the “51st state” anytime soon, but despite the suddenly frosty relations between the United States and its northern neighbor, Canada’s military still appears on track to adopt the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II. CBC reported this week that the Canadian Armed Forces is...

In principle, I am all for fitting out a modern-day descendant of Iowa-class dreadnoughts. Whether doing so is practical is another question. Halloween decorations are going up, so maybe it’s fitting that weird and eerie things may lie in store for the US Navy surface fleet. That device—the weird and the eerie—comes from Mark Fisher’s book by the same title. It’s a treatise on “weird fiction” ranging from HP Lovecraft—a...

Turkey is also interested in purchasing new Typhoons from the United Kingdom—but those must be built first, whereas the used Qatari ones could be put into service almost immediately. NATO member Turkey has sought to significantly bolster its air force by acquiring the American-made F-35 Lightning II or F-16 Fighting Falcon. Last year, Ankara also looked to close a deal to buy upwards of 40 Eurofighter Typhoons, but Germany had objected to the latter deal over concerns that the...

The Ukrainian UAV sector’s baptism by fire will make it a strategic asset for NATO defense in the years to come. Although the Russia-Ukraine war is the most drone-intensive conflict of the twenty-first century, the implications of this reality have only recently spilled beyond its borders. In August, Polish officials confirmed that Russian drones had crossed into their airspace before being shot down near the frontier. Around the same time, Danish and Norwegian...

Ukrainian operations have revealed the ubiquitous nature of cheap drones and their effectiveness in modern warfare. United States military representatives recently welcomed a delegation from the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense and the National Security and Defense Council to discuss a long-term deal for procuring Ukrainian battlefield drone systems. Specifically, the Ukrainian delegation presented system capabilities, procurement possibilities, and integration into American structures and...

The MQ-4C is emblematic of a broader military shift in which endurance and routine monitoring missions are being outsourced to machines.  The emergence of the Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton represents a pivot in US and allied maritime operations from crewed patrol aircraft toward perpetual unmanned surveillance supported by artificial intelligence. Developed for the US Navy, the MQ-4C is a version of the RQ-4 Global Hawk adapted for the maritime environment. With...