The DF-26 could be vulnerable to the latest American defenses.
Here s What You Need To Remember: China in recent years has occupied several disputed islands in the China Seas, dredged their endangered coral reefs and built atop them sprawling airfields and barracks and installations for cruise missiles and air-defense systems.
The Chinese military lobbed anti-ship ballistic missiles into the South China Sea in tests in early July 2019.
The missile trials underscored Beijing’s increasing militarization of resource-rich waters on which several countries have conflicting claims.
“The Chinese carried out the first test over the weekend, firing off at least one missile into the sea,” NBC News
The interceptors have come in close contact with some very mysterious aircraft.
Here s What You Need to Know: Rumors abound that the Air Force and CIA operate a stealthy new drone that has not been disclosed to the public.
Iran is the only other country besides the United States to operate arguably history’s most powerful interceptor aircraft, the F-14 Tomcat. And the Islamic republic has worked the twin-engine, swing-wing fighters
hard.
The F-14s played a major role in Iran’s war with Iraq from 1980 to 1988. Iranian Tomcat pilots were the only ones to successfully employ the F-14’s long-range, heavyweight AIM-54 Phoenix missile to shoot down enemy planes.
The American-made F-14 Tomcat dominated the sky during the Iran-Iraq war from 1980 to 1988.
Here s 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 radar intercept officer Capt. Parviz Moradi.
“Departing from 8th [Tactical Fighter Base] Isfahan as Dragon 5 flight piloted by then-major Amir Aslani to perform the day’s [combat air patrol] over oil facilities near Kharg Island, we were vectored by ground based radar controllers to sweep the skies in anticipation of enemy intruders,” Moradi told Ryan.
But the Chinese drones seem to be going out of style.
Here s What You Need to Remember: Everyone wants drones these days, but sometimes it is worth buying American. That s what some countries are finding out the hard way.
China’s CH-4 killer drone appears to be falling out of favor with some of its major operators.
This first appeared in August 2019 and is being reposted due to reader interest.
The Iraqi air force is down to just one operational CH-4 out of a fleet of around 10, according to an August 2019 report from the U.S. inspector-general.
Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve, the U.S.-led operation targeting Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, told the inspector-general that maintenance problems have grounded most of the Iraqi CH-4s.
Having formally cleared the Su-57 for export, Russia is poised to pitch their fifth-generation fighter to China.
Speaking at the LIMA-2019 Aerospace and Maritime exhibition, Rostec official
Viktor Kladov looked to the future of the Sino-Russian arms trade: China has recently taken delivery of 24 Su-35 aircraft, and in the next two years [China] will make a decision to either procure additional Su-35s, build the Su-35 within China, or to buy a fifth-generation fighter aircraft. This could be another opportunity for the Su-57E.
It is not yet clear how, or if, the “Su-57E” export variant differs from the base Su-57 design; those answers could be forthcoming at this year’s Dubai Airshow,