Congress Questions Air Force's Combat Rescue Readiness As HH-60W Helicopters Get Turned Into VIP Transports It's clear the HH-60W fleet isn't ideal for the Pacific, but concerns are growing around the capacity of any dedicated combat rescue capabilities. www.twz.com/air/congress...

No, A VC-25A Air Force One Jet Isn’t Being Retired Just Yet The ex-Qatari VC-25B “Bridge” aircraft is set to enter service soon, but, contrary to reports, the older VC-25As will keep flying. Story: www.twz.com/air/no-the-a...

Senators Want Answers On USAF Plans To Cut E-11 BACN Combat Communications Jets The E-11 fleet still provides highly in-demand communications and data fusion capabilities, but the USAF wants to push those functions into space. Story: www.twz.com/air/senators...

America’s Naval Force Posture Largely Unchanged With Iran Ceasefire Deal On The Horizon Here's where America's aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships are as of June 15, 2026. https://www.twz.com/sea/americas-naval-force-posture-largely-unchanged-with-iran-ceasefire-deal-on-the-horizon

F-22’s ‘Catfish’ 757 Testbed Spotted Carrying Raptor’s New Infrared Sensor Pod The Catfish 757 has spent decades supporting the F-22 program, and that work now extends to testing external stores. https://www.twz.com/air/f-22s-catfish-757-testbed-spotted-carrying-raptors-new-infrared-sensor-pod

Boeing “Encouraged” By C-17 Production Restart Discussions Congress recently asked the USAF for a briefing on the feasibility of buying new C-17s and allies have interest too. Story: https://www.twz.com/air/boeing-encouraged-by-c-17-production-restart-discussions

Marines’ AV-8 Harrier Jump Jet Takes Its Final Bow The Harrier Sundown ceremony marked the end of more than 50 years of Marine Corps jump-jet operations. Story: https://www.twz.com/air/marines-av-8-harrier-jump-jet-takes-its-final-bow

Next Generation Penetrator Bomb Slated To Replace MOP Has Been Designated GBU-76 The official designation comes as the Air Force plans to field the GBU-76 take shape. Story: https://www.twz.com/air/next-generation-penetrator-bomb-slated-to-replace-mop-has-been-designated-gbu-76

Littoral Combat Force Takes Up Station In Caribbean Under Navy’s New Deployment Concept Here's where all of America's aircraft carriers and big-deck amphibious assault ships are at: https://www.twz.com/sea/littoral-combat-force-takes-up-station-in-caribbean-under-navys-new-deployment-concept

Army Wants More Sensor-Laden Surveillance Balloons Over The Pacific High-altitude balloons are an increasingly critical part of the Army's future combat strategy, from providing networking to sensing to delivering kinetic effects. Story: www.twz.com/air/army-wan...

Supercarrier USS Gerald R. Ford To Act As Floating Nuclear Power Plant For Facilities On Land The Pentagon is exploring ways to keep the power on at critical bases after attacks or natural disasters, and there's a history of ships acting in this role. Story: www.twz.com/nuclear/supe...

These Are The American Destroyers Actually Equipped With Laser Weapons The U.S. Navy has placed directed energy systems on nine surface combatants and is looking to expand testing and deployment of similar systems across the fleet. Story: www.twz.com/sea/these-ar...

Where Are The Carriers As Of May 17, 2026: Ford Is Finally Home The Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group arrived home in Norfolk after a grueling, record-setting 326-day deployment. Take a closer look here: https://www.twz.com/sea/where-are-the-carriers-as-of-may-17-2026-ford-is-finally-home

New Version Of Bomber-Launched ARRW Hypersonic Missile Is A Ship Killer The USAF is moving to start work on a new ARRW variant able to hit moving targets with an eye toward future fights in the Pacific. https://www.twz.com/air/new-version-of-bomber-launched-arrw-hypersonic-missile-is-a-ship-killer

Trump Class Battleships Will Be Nuclear Powered Equipping the Trump class with nuclear propulsion presents benefits, but also massive challenges, and Navy officials had been pushing back against the idea. Read more here: https://www.twz.com/sea/trump-class-battleships-will-be-nuclear-powered

Possibility Of Operation To Retrieve Iran’s Enriched Uranium Appears To Rise As Negotiations Sputter Both Trump and Netanyahu made comments in the last 24 hours that point to a possible high-risk operation to snatch Iran's nuclear material. Latest: www.twz.com/news-feature...

C-5 Galaxies Now Slated To Keep Flying Until 2050 As Readiness Plummets To 37 Percent Nothing in the USAF's inventory can do what a C-5 can, but even after costly upgrades, they remain extremely temperamental. Story: www.twz.com/air/c-5-gala...

Where Are The Carriers As Of May 11, 2026: 20 Warships Enforce Iran Blockade Meanwhile, USS Nimitz has made a stop in Rio as part of its circumnavigation of South America and repositioning cruise to Norfolk. Take a closer look and read more here: www.twz.com/sea/where-ar...

F/A-18 Super Hornet Drops Bombs Down Smoke Stacks Of Iranian Tankers Running Blockade The attack comes as the UAE claims it was struck again by Iran and hours after the U.S. and Iran exchanged blows. Latest: www.twz.com/news-feature...

Camouflaged F-15E Painted To Mark F-111’s Libya Raid Blasts Through Mach Loop On First Flight Hauling eight inert GBU-12 laser-guided bombs, the F-15E painted for the anniversary of Operation Eldorado Canyon made a low-level flight through Wales. Story: www.twz.com/air/camoufla...

Letter From The Editor: 10 Years And 11,000 Articles Later TWZ was launched 10 years ago and we are still here and growing thanks to all of you. https://www.twz.com/news-features/letter-from-editor-10-years-and-11000-articles-later

Commercial vessels and American warships are coming under Iranian attack around the Strait of Hormuz as a new U.S. maritime protection plan has kicked off. Latest: https://www.twz.com/news-features/u-s-ah-64-apache-mh-60-seahawk-helicopters-sink-six-iranian-boats

First Ships Transit Strait Of Hormuz Under New U.S. Protection Plan Project Freedom appears to be aimed, at least for now, at evacuating ships stuck in the Persian Gulf since the war began. Latest: https://www.twz.com/news-features/first-ships-transit-strait-of-hormuz-under-new-u-s-protection-plan

First B-52 To Arrive For Re-Engining At Boeing Plant Later This Year New Rolls-Royce F130 engines are a critical upgrade for Air Force B-52s, but work has been beset by delays and growing costs. Story: https://www.twz.com/air/first-b-52-to-arrive-for-re-engining-at-boeing-plant-later-this-year

Where Are The Carriers As Of May 3, 2026: Ford Finally Heads Home Two carrier strike groups remain in the Middle East as President Trump announces ‘Project Freedom’ to get trapped ships out of the Persian Gulf. https://www.twz.com/sea/where-are-the-carriers-as-of-may-3-2026-ford-finally-heads-home

Iranian Attacks Change Way Navy Refuels Its Ships In Middle East The Navy created a commercial "tanker treadmill" to top off its oilers out at sea, offering lessons that could have larger impacts on future ops. https://www.twz.com/sea/iranian-attacks-change-way-navy-refuels-its-ships-in-middle-east

New Low-Cost Cruise Missile Features Tomahawk-Like Range With a range of over 1,000 nautical miles, the RAACM-ER cruise missile aims to go far while costing less. Story: https://www.twz.com/air/new-raacm-er-low-cost-cruise-missile-features-tomahawk-like-range

F-15EX Buy Was Just Doubled By The USAF, Which Makes Perfect Sense While it is initially replacing the F-15C, more F-15EXs will provide a ready successor to aging F-15E Strike Eagles and possibly other types. https://www.twz.com/air/f-15ex-buy-was-just-doubled-by-the-usaf-which-makes-perfect-sense

Ford Class Review Puts Navy’s Future Carrier Plans Into Question The review includes comparing the Ford class to the Nimitz class and seeing what has been gained or lost operationally. Read our full report here: www.twz.com/sea/ford-cla...