A military avgeek X-ing for military avgeeks
Joined May 2019
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Japan's carrier plan is taking shape! Under the current plan, JS Izumo and JS Kaga are being converted to operate F-35Bs, with square bows, heat-resistant decks, and reworked interiors. Izumo is expected to start F-35B operations in 2027 and Kaga in 2028. On land, Japan's first F-35Bs have been at Nyutabaru AB in Kyushu since August 2025, part of a plan to buy 42 F-35Bs in total. Kaga has already hosted both USMC and British F-35Bs.
A lot of you loved (and hated, because of the incorrect photo) the MQ-25 post, so here's my honest take. In my opinion, the unglamorous aircraft are where the real story in military aviation is. Tankers, early warning planes, airlifters, trainers, and drones nobody puts on a poster. Fighters get the fame, but without these support aircraft, they'd run out of fuel, eyes, and supplies pretty quickly. Which unglamorous aircraft deserves more love? Drop yours! 👇
The USNavy now has two carriers ready to run its MQ-25 Stingray tanker drone! USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) just joined USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) with its own Unmanned Air Warfare Center, the control hub that lets the ship's crew command drones. The Stingray is meant to take over aerial refueling from Super Hornets, which have reportedly spent 20 to 30 percent of their carrier flights just tanking other jets! The first production MQ-25 flew in April, and the Navy plans to buy 76. Not flashy, but it might be the most useful drone in the Navy.
Readers added context they thought people might want to know
The attached image is a 2018 Lockheed Martin concept render of a proposed MQ-25 design (similar to its RQ-170), not actual Boeing MQ-25 Stingrays or RQ-170s.
popularmechanics.com/military/aviat…
breakingdefense.com/2018/08/navy-e…
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MQ-2…
One of the reasons I visited @NtlMuseumsScot today was to see this particular aircraft: Avro Vulcan XM597. This isn’t just a museum piece. She’s a Falklands combat veteran that flew two of the war’s most unusual and dangerous missions: hunting Argentine radars over Port Stanley. Each was a round trip of roughly 8,000 miles from Ascension Island, with over 15 hours in the air and a chain of up to 11 Victor tankers keeping her fuelled all the way. Quite an undertaking for a bomber being used in a role it was never designed for! 1/3
XM597’s first outing was Black Buck 5 on May 31, 1982. She fired two US-made AGM-45 Shrike anti-radiation missiles at an Argentine TPS-43 surveillance radar. It was damaged, but not destroyed. So the crew, under Sqn Ldr Neil McDougall, returned on June 3 for Black Buck 6. They orbited the target area for 40 minutes, waiting for TPS-43 to switch on. It stayed silent. Then they switched targets, firing two Shrikes at a Skyguard fire-control radar and knocking it out. Not bad for a lumbering nuclear bomber hastily adapted for a job it was never built to do! 2/3
Then came the twist! Heading home, XM597’s refuelling probe broke during refuelling, leaving Ascension out of reach. Sqn Ldr Neil McDougall diverted to Rio de Janeiro. The crew dumped classified documents into the South Atlantic from 40,000 ft and tried to jettison their remaining Shrikes. Unfortunately, one refused to leave its pylon! Brazil detained the Vulcan and crew until June 11, and kept the missile!!! XM597 eventually flew to East Fortune on April 12, 1984. Notice the Brazilian flag 🇧🇷 on her nose? That’s a reminder of her Brazilian detour.
Anyway, that’s the story of Vulcan XM597. A bomber built to deliver nuclear bombs. Sent to hunt radars. Detained in Brazil with a missile stuck under her wing. One jet, but a legend of an aircraft. 3/3
Spent the day at Scotland’s National Museum of Flight, and what a lineup! From the Avro Vulcan that took part in the Black Buck raids to an English Electric Lightning that could overhaul a Concorde, and of course a Concorde itself, there’s plenty here for both military and civilian avgeeks. Here are a few of my favourites from the visit. Enjoy!
The Super Hornet line is officially winding down! On September 29, the same day Boeing won the F/A-XX contract, the Navy awarded Boeing a roughly $16.7 million contract to support the orderly shutdown of the Super Hornet and Growler production lines in St. Louis. The clock is ticking for the Navy’s do-it-all jet 😞 1/2
The Super Hornet isn't going anywhere just yet. F/A-XX is still years away, so Super Hornets and Growlers will keep launching off carrier decks while the F-35C, MQ-25 and eventually drone wingmen fill in around them. It may never have had the glamour of some other fighters, but the jet will be remembered as one of the most useful fighters of the modern era. So #avgeeks, now I ask you: what's your favourite thing about the Rhino? 2/2
With 5,195 built, the F-4 is America's most-produced supersonic fighter. Not bad for a twin-engine brute designed in the 1950s, eh! The F-16 is chasing the Phantom’s production record. But, here's the kicker: the F-4 did it in 23 years. The F-16 has had over 50, and is still chasing!
An amazing view of AH-64s from the 12th CAB’s “Viper Battalion” lying in ambush, hovering just a few feet above the ground during a training exercise (Circa 2020). Attack helicopter crews train hard to hug the terrain, using trees, ridgelines and folds in the ground to mask their approach from enemy radar and SHORAD. Then, at the right moment, they pop up, unleash their missiles and disappear back into cover. It may not look like much, but Western attack helicopters are deadly ambush predators, especially when hunting armour.
Poland got its first Italian-built F-35! 🎉 On October 1, the ninth F-35A landed at Łask Air Base, and it's the first Polish jet assembled at Leonardo's plant in Cameri, Italy. The first eight came from Fort Worth. Poland has ordered 32 F-35As and expects 14 on home soil by the end of the year.
EARL of BUFF? The USAF is using VR to train the next generation of B-52 pilots. Called EARL (or Experiential Air Refueling Lightweight Simulator), the set up lets student pilots practise one of the hardest skills in aviation: aerial refuelling. The payoff? Fewer tanker sorties, lower costs and more practice before pilots ever leave the ground. The BUFF may be old, but its training pipeline certainly isn't, so this is a cool move 😗
The five programs that will define American air power over the next decade, in my opinion. No. 1: drone wingmen! The USAF now wants at least 500 Collaborative Combat Aircraft by 2032, an F-22 just commanded a Fury drone in flight, and the Navy's MQ-25 Stingray is getting carrier control hubs. This is the biggest shift in air combat since, perhaps stealth, and it's moving faster than most people realize. 1/5
An F-22 pilot just became an airborne quarterback! Earlier this month over Edwards AFB, a Raptor pilot paired and sent live tactical commands to a YFQ-44A Fury, Anduril’s collaborative combat aircraft. It was a first for both the F-22 and a pre-production Fury. The two jets took off, joined up in the air, and the Raptor pilot sent mission plans to the drone over a tactical data link. In other words, the two linked up and started coordinating. But what happened next is where things get interesting... 👀 1/2
No.3 the F-47. It's in engineering and manufacturing development, and first flight is still targeted for 2028. I'll be honest, I want to see more than renders. But if the Air Force pulls this off on schedule, it sets the bar for every sixth-gen Western fighter that follows. 3/5
No. 5, Bell's MV-75 tiltrotor. The Army picked it to replace the UH-60, six prototypes are planned, and a production decision is due in 2028. Tiltrotors have had a rough ride, but in my opinion this is their best shot at going mainstream. That's my five! What's on your list, and what did I miss? 👀 5/5
