A first Italian Air Force G550 CAEW (Conformal Airborne Early Warning) aircraft has been taken on by 71° Gruppo of 14° Stormo based at Pratica di Mare, near Rome. The aircraft has received the military serial MM62293 and the unit…

AFM’s World Air Forces Correspondent Alan Warnes reports that the Pakistan Air Force’s 130th Air Engineering Depot (AED) recently completed the overhaul of its 50th Hercules, C-130B 3536 built in 1958.  On March 15, the unit hosted a ceremony at…

MBDA has reported the first live firing of an Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missile (ASRAAM) from an F-35B Lightning II. MBDA is currently under contract, awarded in 2016, to integrate the air-to-air missile for the UKs F-35B fleet. The trials…

The US Department of Defense has announced a delay in stationing a US Air Force special operations squadron of CV-22 Osprey tiltotor aircraft in Japan. The first three CV-22s had been expected to arrive at Yokota Air Base in the…

While red air is now a familiar feature of US Department of Defense training, the US Air Force has announced it is in the market for almost 40,000 hours of additional adversary air and support. The USAF has unveiled plans…

Germany is to buy the MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft system (UAS) from Northrop Grumman to succeed the abortive EuroHawk drone programme. The RQ-4E EuroHawk UAS – like the Triton a derivative of the US Air Force’s Global Hawk – was…

According to a French journalist, Israel’s newly received F-35A Adir stealth fighters have already seen combat. Reportedly, a first air strike was flown against targets in Syria in January – less than a month after the jets first touched down…

The final three US Navy Patrol Squadron (VP) 9 P-3Cs have departed Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii to complete the unit’s move to Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Washington. The ‘Golden Eagles’ are the last of three patrol squadrons – VP-9, VP-4…

Romania’s newly acquired F-16 fighters have undertaken their first aerial refuelling sorties. On February 28 the first air-to-air refuelling training took place within Romanian airspace with the MLU-upgraded F-16A/B jets of Escadrila 53 Vanatoare (53rd Fighter Squadron) ‘Warhawks’ operating from Baza…

QinetiQ is to buy four Airbus H125 helicopters to continue the re-equipment of the Empire Test Pilots’ School (ETPS), which it manages alongside the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MOD). The ETPS will use the H125s to train civil and military…