DefenceTalkUS F-16 warplanes intercepted two Russian bombers in international airspace near the state of Alaska, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said Tuesday. The Tu-95 bombers were intercepted the previous day after “entering and operating within the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone,” NORAD said in a statement. The Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) is […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-fighter-jets-intercept-russian-bombers-near-alaska-79530/

DefenceTalkNorth Korea fired two ballistic missiles Thursday and flew warplanes, while claiming its recent blitz of sanctions-busting tests were necessary countermeasures against joint military drills by the United States and South Korea. As the United Nations Security Council met to discuss Pyongyang’s Tuesday launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile over Japan, North Korea blamed Washington […]https://www.defencetalk.com/north-korea-fires-missiles-flies-warplanes-as-it-blames-us-for-escalation-79480/

DefenceTalkFighter jet engines whined this week on a stretch of highway in central Finland, where the military trained on stretches of road that double as spare landing strips. As one of Finland’s dozens of reserve runways, the empty highway near the town of Joutsa, hosted an annual air force exercise with F/A-18 Hornets taking off […]https://www.defencetalk.com/finnish-air-force-turns-highways-into-landing-strips-79448/

DefenceTalkSwiss lawmakers voted Thursday to proceed with the controversial purchase of F-35 fighter jets without holding a referendum sought by opponents of the deal. The lower house National Council gave the government the go-ahead to buy the 36 aircraft from US manufacturer Lockheed Martin by a large majority. The upper house, the Council of States […]https://www.defencetalk.com/path-clear-for-swiss-purchase-of-us-f-35-fighter-jets-79419/

DefenceTalkMESA, AZ: Top Aces Corp. (Top Aces), the world’s only commercial owner/operator of F-16 fighter aircraft, today announced that it was selected under the US Air Force (USAF) Combat Air Force Contracted Air Support program to provide advanced adversary air training to pilots at Eglin Air Force Base (AFB) in Florida and Luke AFB in […]https://www.defencetalk.com/top-aces-to-train-usaf-with-f-16-advanced-aggressor-fighter-fleet-79401/

DefenceTalkPresident Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday that Turkey may turn to countries such as Russia if the US fails to follow through a pledge to deliver F-16 fighter jets. Turkey was kicked out of a program to replace a wide range of fighter, strike and ground attack aircraft for NATO allies after it acquired an […]https://www.defencetalk.com/turkey-may-turn-to-russia-if-us-blocks-f-16-sales-erdogan-79366/

DefenceTalkIsraeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid warned arch-foe Iran not to test his country’s “long arm” in a video on Tuesday as he stood next to an F-35 stealth bomber. Iran has been engaged in talks with major powers to restore a 2015 agreement that gave it sanctions relief in return for guarantees it would not […]https://www.defencetalk.com/israel-pm-standing-next-to-f-35-jet-warns-iran-of-long-arm-79359/

DefenceTalkThe Air Force Research Laboratory’s 711th Human Performance Wing and the 28th Test and Evaluation Squadron executed an in-flight vapor purge test in a F-15E Strike Eagle, Aug. 16-19, 2022. This test is part of a larger Department of Defense effort to evaluate cockpit environmental conditions after a chemical weapon attack. This F-15E test is […]https://www.defencetalk.com/air-force-executes-first-in-flight-next-gen-aircrew-protection-test-in-f-15e-strike-eagle-79306/

DefenceTalkJOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska: Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson’s 525th Fighter Squadron (FS) recently won the 2021 Raytheon Trophy, which is awarded to the best air-to-air fighter squadron in the United States Air Force, taking the lead in advancing the baseline air-to-air threat to a peer level adversary. “[The 525th FS] flawlessly executed this mission with multiple […]https://www.defencetalk.com/525th-fighter-squadron-awarded-2021-raytheon-trophy-79280/

DefenceTalkThirteen German military aircraft were on their way to Australia on Tuesday as Germany looks to strengthen its presence in the Indo-Pacific region amid growing tensions with China. The six Eurofighters and seven military transport aircraft were due to land in Singapore on Tuesday before travelling on to Australia under the mission dubbed Rapid Pacific […]https://www.defencetalk.com/german-fighter-jets-to-make-debut-in-indo-pacific-79200/