Fleet size is the number that gets quoted. What a force can actually put in the air on a given morning is a different figure, and usually a much smaller one. An air arm holding 180 fighters at a 55 percent mission-capable rate fields fewer than one holding 120 with good spares support.
This section covers hardware across air, land, sea and space. Combat aircraft, rotorcraft, warships and submarines, armored vehicles, satellites, and the sensors that tie them together. New programs are followed from requirement to service entry, existing fleets through their upgrades, which usually matter more since most of the equipment flying in 2040 is already built.
Most of what changes a platform arrives after delivery: a new radar, a software drop, a sustainment contract that fixes a parts problem at last, or a quiet decision to delete a capability nobody funded.
Specifications are reported where a program office or a budget document supports them. Where they do not, the number is called an estimate.
China’s CH-7 stealth flying-wing unmanned aircraft has completed a first known flight, according to state media footage released today. The material shows ground checks, takeoff, in-flight shots, and a recovery to the same airfield, placing the long-running program into open flight testing.
Navy leadership says the service will move ahead with a new frigate program built on an existing U.S. design and try to get the first ship in the water by 2028. Huntington Ingalls Industries will serve as the lead for the design
HH-60W Jolly Green II rescue helicopters and an HC-130J Combat King II arrived in Puerto Rico. Operation Southern Spear continues to add airlift and recovery support. KC-135 Stratotankers have started operating from the Dominican Republic. KC-46 Pegasus tankers also continue forward activity
The first B-52 fitted with an AESA radar reached Edwards Air Force Base this week after a ferry flight from San Antonio. The aircraft completed the Dec. 8 move under the B-52 Radar Modernization Program, and the test team at Edwards now
According to industry sources, the former Roosevelt Roads Navy base in Puerto Rico remains the leading candidate for the initial stop. The airfield has hosted U.S. aviation detachments linked to the operation since September. Vermont Air National Guard 158th Fighter Wing F-35A
China’s state aircraft group says its large jet-powered Jiutian uncrewed aircraft completed its first flight Thursday at Pucheng in Shaanxi province. AVIC described the drone as having “a large payload, high operational ceiling, wide speed range, and short takeoff and landing capabilities.”
Draft language released this week for the fiscal 2026 defense policy bill would block the Navy from starting early contracting work for its first Modular Attack Surface Craft batch unless the service commits to vessels built from the start for unmanned operations.
Online flight tracking data showed two U.S. Navy F A 18 Super Hornets fly into the center of the Gulf of Venezuela on Tuesday. They held tight orbits over the water for about 40 minutes. The callsigns shown on the public feed
A Russian Air Force Antonov An-22 heavy transport crashed in the Ivanovo region on December 9, 2025. Russian investigators said everyone on board died. The loss likely removes the last flying An-22 from Russian service. The type already flew rarely and recent
The U.S. Navy recovered an MH-60R Seahawk and an F/A-18F Super Hornet from the South China Sea on Dec. 5. The aircraft came from USS Nimitz. Both crashed on Oct. 26, about 30 minutes apart. The Navy said recovery teams lifted them
Aircraft covers military fixed-wing from fighters to airlifters. The engines that decide their range and most of their schedule risk sit in Aircraft Propulsion. Aircraft (Civil/Military Systems) handles the airliner-derived tankers, patrol aircraft and special-mission conversions. Helicopters follows rotary-wing procurement and sustainment.
Naval Systems runs from surface combatants to submarines and the yard capacity behind them. Armor, artillery and battlefield logistics are in Land Systems. Space Systems handles satellites, launch access and orbital infrastructure, and Surveillance & Reconnaissance the sensors that turn all of it into usable information.
