The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps on April 13 launched multiple waves of cruise missile, ballistic missile and drone attacks on military facilities in Israel and the Israeli-held Golan heights, with these intended to “hit and destroy” multiple “important military targets.” The strikes have exclusively targeted military sites, primarily those in the Golan Heights and an air base in the Negev Desert, with the desert facility having reportedly been used to launch an Israeli air strike on an Iranian diplomatic building in Syria on April 1. An Iranian response to the attack has been anticipated ..read more

The Lebanese militia group Hezbollah on April 6 shot down two Israeli surveillance drones, the Hermes 900 and Hermes 450, in one of the most significant demonstrations of its air defence capabilities in its history. It remains uncertain which kind of asset was responsible for the shootdowns, but the Iranian 358 loitering surface to air missile was widely credited with the kills by Western sources. The 3 meter infrared guided missile has a low speed and is optimised for shootdowns of drones and helicopters. The Hermes 900, with an estimated cost of $30 million, is among the most high value unma ..read more

On April 9 following years of speculation regarding the future of the Serbian fighter fleet the country’s president Aleksandar Vucic said that had “reached concrete agreements regarding the purchase of the Rafale fighter jets” during talks with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron. “The contract is expected to be signed in the next two months and in the presence of the president of France,” he stated. It remains uncertain whether these aircraft will replace or serve alongside the country’s current fleet of 14 MiG-29 fighters, the newest of which were donated in 2017 from Russian stocks and m ..read more

The Russian state run missile system specialist enterprise KB Mashinostroyeniya has continued to maintain production of the 9K720 short range tactical ballistic missile for the Iskander-M system at a much increased wartime rate, as the country continues to expand its arsenal and to use the assets in considerable quantities in the Ukrainian theatre. Chief Designer at the KB Mashinostroyeniya Design Bureau Valery Kashin stated regarding the expansion that “the missiles are being produced in much larger quantities than in previous years.” Deliveries in 2023 were made at several times the rat ..read more

New footage of from a Russian test range has shown personnel training to operate T-14 Armata main battle tanks during exercises, fuelling speculation that the class may be intended to belatedly enter service in the Army in the foreseeable future. The release of the footage was closely followed by a report from state media outlet TASS indicating that the tank was currently undergoing state and troop trials, and was set to join the Army’s active inventory before the end of the year. "The Armata [tank] is currently undergoing state and troop trials, and, if they are successfully completed, the ta ..read more

The Russian Air Force has received a new batch of Su-34 strike fighters, following reports in October that the Defence Ministry had given directives to expand production. Little is known about the size of the latest batch, although units delivered since July 2022 have been produced to the enhanced Su-34M standard, which according to Russian sources has double the combat capacity of the baseline Su-34. Notable new features include a dedicated interface for three different types of sensors, namely the UKR-RT pod carrying electronic search measures, the UKR-OE camera pod and the UKR-RL which inte ..read more

Footage released by the Russian Defence Ministry on April 5 showed Su-34 strike fighters employing ODAB-500 500 kilogram glide bombs with thermobaric warheads against fortified Ukrainian positions in the disputed Donetsk region. Such warheads are well optimised for neutralising well fortified enemy positions, and function by dispersing a gaseous chemical clouds into the air which are then detonated by a vacuum explosive to release a high pressure shock wave. The effect is that air is sucked out of confined areas with tremendous force, destroying buildings, caves, trenches and other fortif ..read more

The U.S. Air Force has redeployed F-22 Raptor fifth generation air superiority fighters under the 199th and 19th Fighter Squadrons to Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, as part of a broader effort to maintain a continuous fighter presence at the facility. The deployment coincides with earthquake warnings on Okinawa which have disabled Japanese F-15J fighters based it nearby Naha Air Base, forcing the approximately 40 aircraft to be temporarily redeployed to higher ground. The position of facilities on Okinawa are particularly sensitive due to ongoing tensions with neighbouring China in the Taiwan Strai ..read more

The United States has reportedly come close to approving the sale of up to 50 F-15 Eagle heavyweight twin engine fighters to Israel, under a contract estimated to be worth up to $18 billion. At $360 million per fighter, these will be some of the most costly fighters ever exported, with the F-15 having significantly higher production and operational costs than the only other fighter class currently being produced for the U.S. Air Force the F-35A. Although lacking the F-35’s stealth capabilities, the latest variant of the F-15 the F-15EX is prized as by far the longest ranged fighter class in se ..read more

The Taiwan-based Republic of China Air Force has seen eight of its F-16V fighters based at Hualien Air Base damaged during a major earthquake, putting the aircraft out of service at around 8:00 am local time. The 7.4 magnitude earthquake could reportedly be felt as far as Shanghai, and killed nine people, with earthquake resistant structures credited with having reduced casualties significantly. Buildings at Hualien Air Base were also damaged with bunkers, hangars and barracks facing cracks and in some cases wall collapses. Located on Taiwan’s east coast facing the Chinese mainland, the b ..read more