The GBU-31 JDAM looks almost boring. It has no dramatic rocket motor. No exotic seeker sits in its nose. At its core, it is a large gravity bomb fitted with a guidance kit. That simple idea changed ...

The AIM-7 Sparrow didn’t become famous because it worked perfectly. It became famous because the missile kept getting better. That distinction matters. The Sparrow began as an ambitious attempt to… ...

The problem isn’t that the F-35A Lightning II suddenly became a bad fighter. Its sensors and stealth still give it advantages older aircraft struggle to match. The problem is the machinery behind the ...

A missile designed in the Soviet era still shapes how pilots fight at close range today. That sounds strange until you look at what the R-73 missile actually changed. When it entered Soviet service in ...

The AIM-7 Sparrow didn’t become famous because it worked perfectly. It became famous because the missile kept getting better. That distinction matters. The Sparrow began as an ambitious attempt to ...

The BAE Systems Hawk T2 doesn’t need to be a fighter to teach fighter skills. That’s the point. At RAF Valley in Wales, student pilots use the Hawk T2 to learn how to manage radar contacts, electronic ...

A trainer jet is not supposed to become one of Asia’s most interesting military aircraft families. The KAI T-50 Golden Eagle did exactly that. Developed by Korea Aerospace Industries with Lockheed ...

A jet built to train fighter pilots is becoming something more. The Leonardo M-346 Master started as an advanced jet trainer, designed to prepare pilots for the demands of modern combat aircraft. But ...

A howitzer can throw a shell farther than its rival and still be the less useful weapon. That sounds backward, but artillery isn’t a drag race. A crew needs to receive a target, get into position, ...

A fighter pilot may spend thousands of hours preparing for a mission that lasts only a few minutes. Before climbing into a front-line F-35, Rafale, Eurofighter Typhoon, or another modern combat ...

Imagine having a nuclear weapon system that is expected to be ready every minute of every day, but whose most important feature is that you almost never see it. That is the logic behind the ...

What do you do when the cargo is so big, so heavy, or so awkward that almost every cargo aircraft on Earth simply isn’t an option? You bring out the Antonov An-124 Ruslan. This enormous aircraft was ...