Latest news with #USAirForce
South China Morning Post
2 hours ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
F-47's loyal wingmen drones ‘huge deal' for US sixth-gen air dominance programme
Full-scale models of the autonomous drones intended to serve alongside the US Air Force's sixth-generation fighter jets were on display at the Paris Air Show this week, with an official from one maker confirming their development was focused on the Indo-Pacific. Advertisement Jackson Lingane, communications manager at Anduril Industries – a major supplier of unmanned platforms to the US Air Force – said that once commissioned, its YFQ-44 known as Fury, was likely to be deployed in flashpoints that included the Taiwan Strait. '[The US Air Force] has been very transparent, it is focused on Indo-Pacific fights,' he said. 'One of the reasons Anduril Industries is here at the Paris Air Show is we think the science and shape applied in Fury also has a lot of application for European allies.' The YFQ-44 is included in the Increment 1 package of weapons for the F-47 sixth-generation fighter jet and its collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) drones that are in development as part of the US Air Force's next-generation air dominance (NGAD) programme. At the General Atomics booth, another full-scale model was on display – of its YFQ-42A drone that is also part of the NGAD's Increment 1 programme. Advertisement
South China Morning Post
4 hours ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
F-47's loyal wingmen drones ‘huge deal' for US 6th-gen air dominance programme
Full-scale models of the autonomous drones intended to serve alongside the US Air Force's sixth-generation fighter jets were on display at the Paris Air Show this week, with an official from one maker confirming their development was focused on the Indo-Pacific. Advertisement Jackson Lingane, communications manager at Anduril Industries – a major supplier of unmanned platforms to the US Air Force – said that once commissioned, its YFQ-44 known as Fury, was likely to be deployed in flashpoints that included the Taiwan Strait. '[The US Air Force] has been very transparent, it is focused on Indo-Pacific fights,' he said. 'One of the reasons Anduril Industries is here at the Paris Air Show is we think the science and shape applied in Fury also has a lot of application for European allies.' The YFQ-44 is included in the Increment 1 package of weapons for the F-47 sixth-generation fighter jet and its collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) drones that are in development as part of the US Air Force's next-generation air dominance (NGAD) programme. At the General Atomics booth, another full-scale model was on display – of its YFQ-42A drone that is also part of the NGAD's Increment 1 programme. Advertisement
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Investigating claims that E-4B 'Doomsday plane' flight was connected to Israel-Iran conflict
On June 17, 2025, rumors circulated that the U.S. military's so-called "Doomsday Plane" (the E-4B "Nightwatch") had taken flight on a mission related to the Israel-Iran conflict. A U.S. Air Force spokesperson told Snopes that the E-4B had flown a "pre-scheduled mission" within the United States on June 17 that was unrelated to events in the Middle East. A global flight tracking website showed that an E-4B did fly from a base in Louisiana to one in Maryland on June 17, and from Maryland to Nebraska the next day. As of this writing, there is no credible, publicly available evidence that the E-4B flew any mission related to the Israel-Iran conflict on or around that date. On June 17, 2025, a claim (archived) circulated on X (archived) that the U.S. military's E-4B "Nightwatch" — referred to as the "Doomsday plane" — had taken flight, with users suggesting it was related to the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran. This post (archived) about the purported flight garnered more than 500,000 views as of this writing: (X user @JimFergusonUK) Snopes readers also searched our website for information about the so-called "Doomsday plane." One of the United States' four E-4B "Nightwatch" planes flew on June 17, 2025, but that trip wasn't related to the current conflict between Israel and Iran, a spokesperson for the Air Force confirmed. "The E-4 flew a pre-scheduled mission yesterday, within the United States, that was unrelated to current events in the Middle East," the Air Force spokesperson told Snopes via email. Data from Flightradar24, a global flight tracking website, show that an E-4B operated by the U.S. Air Force flew from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on the evening of Tuesday, June 17, 2025. That same plane flew from Maryland to an Air Force base in Nebraska on June 18, 2025, the flight data show. The Air Force spokesperson did not confirm this was the same flight they referred to, but directed Snopes to this X post (archived) shared on June 18, 2025, that they said contained "more information" about the June 17 flight: One of the photos in the post shows a white plane with a blue stripe and writing above it. That's consistent with the appearance of the E-4B shown in photos on the Air Force website. The E-4B, also known as "Nightwatch," is a "militarized version" of the Boeing 747-200 commercial airplane, the Air Force explains on its website. It essentially serves as a command center for the president, secretary of defense and Joint Chiefs of Staff during war or other emergencies. If there is a national emergency or ground-based command and control centers are destroyed, the plane "provides a highly survivable command, control and communications center to direct U.S. forces, execute emergency war orders and coordinate actions by civil authorities," according to the Air Force. The plane's main deck is divided into six areas — a command work area, conference room, briefing room, an operations team work area, communications area and rest area — and can seat a crew of up to 112 people. It has features that are designed to protect it from the effects of a nuclear blast as well as an "advanced satellite communications system," the Air Force says. The E-4B also transports the secretary of defense and their staff during international travel, ensuring the team stays connected to military command and control structures. In order to "provide direct support" to the president and other defense leaders, at least one E-4B is always on alert 24 hours a day, seven days a week, at one of many selected bases throughout the world, according to the Air Force. For further reading, Snopes investigated whether Iranian state TV announced, "Tonight, a great surprise will occur, one that the world will remember for centuries." We also looked into a video that claimed to show Iranian missiles striking Israel in June 2025. Air Force spokesperson. "Re: Urgent inquiry: Fact check - E-4B Nightwatch." Received by Megan Loe. 18 June 2025. Email Interview. Flightradar24. "Live Flight Tracker - Real-Time Flight Tracker Map | Flightradar24." Flightradar24, Accessed 18 June 2025. X (Formerly Twitter), 18 June 2025, Accessed 18 June 2025. U.S. Air Force. "E-4B." U.S. Air Force, Accessed 18 June 2025.
LeMonde
8 hours ago
- Politics
- LeMonde
The American GBU-57 bomb is the only weapon capable of reaching Iran's Fordo nuclear site
"This entire operation (...) really has to be completed with the elimination of Fordo." As Yechiel Leiter, Israel's ambassador to the US, summed it up on Fox News on Friday, June 13, the goal of the attack launched against Iran, to put an end to its nuclear program, will only be achieved with the destruction of the uranium enrichment site, located 150 kilometers South of Tehran. The Israeli military claims to have struck the underground section of Natanz – the other Iranian uranium enrichment hub – which was confirmed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), though the extent of the damage was not specified. However, according to the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, which said it had informed the IAEA, Fordo, considered the crown jewel of Iran's nuclear program and protected as such, suffered only superficial damage from the strikes. Buried into the side of a mountain beneath 80 to 90 meters of rock and concrete, the site is out of reach of conventional weapons available to Israeli forces, explained Justin Bronk, a defense systems expert and researcher at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), a British think tank. The penetrating bombs in Israel's arsenal "might be able to collapse entrance and ventilation passages, only the United States Air Force has a conventional weapon capable of breaching the main facility from the air," he said, referring to the "Massive Ordnance Penetrator GBU-57/B." This precision-guided bomb weighs 13,600 kilograms, including a 2,700-kilogram warhead, and can burrow 60 meters underground before detonating, according to the US Air Force, which will not specify the types of materials it can penetrate. According to Bronk, "at least two weapons dropped sequentially into the same breaching aim point are likely to be required to reach and destroy the main centrifuge facilities at Fordo." The GBU-57 was designed "specifically for Fordo," said Ali Vaez, director of Iran research at the International Crisis Group, recalling that the Pentagon acknowledged in 2012 that the "bunker busters" it then possessed could not reach the site's underground facilities. The new version, presented in 2013 to Israeli political and military officials, according to the Wall Street Journal, was equipped with adjustable fuses to maximize penetration capabilities, more precise guidance systems and devices to evade Iranian air defenses. 'Defensive posture' Several types of heavy American bombers, including the B-52, are capable of carrying the GBU-57, but only the B-2 is authorized to do so. The stealth aircraft, which has a range of 11,000 kilometers, can carry two bombs, according to the US Air Force. "With the aid of aerial refueling [it] could even mount attacks on Fordow and other Iranian hardened targets from their home base in Missouri," noted Bronk. The use of this weapon would therefore require direct US participation in Israeli operations. Donald Trump did not rule this out on Sunday, but it is not currently on the agenda. The White House reiterated on Tuesday that US forces in the region remained in a "defensive posture." However, according to the flight tracking website AirNav Radar, about 30 refueling aircraft left the US on Sunday to land at, among other locations, Ramstein Air Base in Germany, as well as in the United Kingdom, Estonia and Greece. "It is a clear signal of strategic readiness," showing that "the US is positioning itself for rapid escalation," said Eric Schouten, director general of the intelligence firm Dyami Security Intelligence, told Reuters. As for the effectiveness of potentially using one or more GBU-57s, Vaez expressed doubt. American bunker-busting weapons were used in Afghanistan and Yemen, the researcher recalled, but "in both cases, the bomb did not help the US achieve its strategic objectives." Even if the US decided to use them, "it would be difficult for them to destroy the Fordo site," according to Kelsey Davenport of the Arms Control Association. "Even if they manage to do so, the destruction of Fordo "will not put an end to Iran's uranium enrichment program or resolve the risk of Tehran developing nuclear weapons. Iran gained valuable knowledge over the past several years about uranium enrichment and it may have stashed centrifuges at an undeclared site," she said. "Strikes may set Iran back, but it is not a long-term solution to preventing a nuclear-armed Iran."
India Today
9 hours ago
- Politics
- India Today
What is Doomsday Plane E-4B, and why has it landed in DC? Should the world be worried?
On the morning of September 11, 2001, soon after two commercial jets rammed into the World Trade Centre towers, the TV news suddenly flashed what many journalists referred to as "a surreal and unexplained sight" – a large, unmarked white jumbo jet circling low over Washington, DC, directly above the White mysterious aircraft was identified as an E-4B Nightwatch, or the "Doomsday Plane". It is a highly-modified Boeing 747-200 aircraft that serves as the National Airborne Operations Centre (NAOC) for the US airborne, it becomes a mobile Pentagon, the headquarters of the US Department of Defence. The aircraft is spotted so rarely that on the fateful day in 2001, CNN journalist John King, reporting live from Lafayette Park across the White House, noted that such airspace (around the White House) is "generally restricted", and the presence of this aircraft even made US Secret Service agents hyper-alert, as per author Mark H Gaffney's 2007 research paper: "Why Did the World's Most Advanced Electronics Warfare Plane Circle Over The White House on 9/11".NBC journalist Bob Kur called it "the most surreal of this morning's scenes," describing a very slow, low flyover, the research paper also rarely-seen plane was spotted landing at Joint Base Andrews in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, raising fresh concerns about the US's readiness for a potential large-scale conflict in West Asia, where Israel and Iran are engaged in a full-blown war over Iran's alleged nuclear media is abuzz with speculation that the "Nightwatch's" landing in DC shows heightened alertness within US defence the US Air Force has time and again maintained that such flights are routine, as one of the reportedly four planes in the fleet is always on "alert status", ready to launch within aircraft's appearance in the media during volatile times is also viewed as a demonstration of military readiness and strategic ROLE OF THE DOOMSDAY PLANEThe E-4B Nightwatch, or the Doomsday Plane, is the nickname for a specially-modified military aircraft designed to serve as a survivable airborne command centre in the event of a nuclear war or national aircraft ensures that US military and civilian leadership, most notably the President of the United States, the Secretary of Defence, and top military commanders, can continue to command and control American forces even if ground-based facilities are aircraft is operated by the US Air Force's Air Combat the aircraft can directly communicate with nuclear submarines, bombers, and intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) silos. It is equipped with Very Low Frequency (VLF) and High Frequency (HF) antennas that allow global communications, even during nuclear E-4B IS A FORTRESS IN AIRadvertisementThe jumbo jet was built to withstand a nuclear blast, electromagnetic pulse (EMP), and other forms of electronic warfare. The plane does not even have windows in critical areas, as it is designed to reduce vulnerability to jet is also equipped with shielded wiring and hardening to continue operating under severe conditions. The Doomsday Plane can stay airborne for days as it has in-flight refuelling technology, and can accommodate over 110 personnel aircraft is continuously updated with the latest technologies, including modern digital communications and hardened systems for cyber is also reportedly the backup for the Air Force One aircraft for the US President's overseas trips. However, military commanders also use them for various missions.A common myth about the aircraft is that it can launch nuclear weapons. It is a command centre, and not a weapons ORIGINS OF THE AIRCRAFTThe E-4B Nightwatch was developed during the Cold War, first entering service in the 1970s. It was originally designed under the Looking Glass programme to ensure the US could retaliate in case of a nuclear first strike by the Soviet suggest that during the Cold War, at least one Doomsday Plane was always airborne. However, after the Soviet Union collapsed, the E-4B no longer flew 24/7 but remained on ground fleet, however, may reportedly be upgraded in the coming years, given its high maintenance costs and the need for modernised Watch
