All posts tagged: Jets

Chinese Firm Claims It Tracked US Jets Over Iran During Operation Epic Fury

Chinese Firm Claims It Tracked US Jets Over Iran During Operation Epic Fury

Published by Jenni Sidey

Authored by Ameya Paleja via Interesting Engineering, MizarVision, a private Chinese company specializing in geospatial intelligence, claims to have tracked US aerial refueling missions of its KC-135 and KC-46 tanker aircraft during Operation Epic Fury. A report published earlier this month analyzed these activities and provided links to strike patterns witnessed in Iran.  The recent strikes conducted by the US over the past month surprised many around the world, but data from transporters refueling flights provided valuable information about their locations.  While bombers work to keep their location under wraps, the refueling tankers continue to broadcast their locations via Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast signals, which are publicly accessible. Researchers at MizarVision claims to have used this data to determine movements of bombers, giving them more insights on how the strikes were taking place.  What bombers has the US deployed?  Prior to the ceasefire announced last week, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force General Dan Caine confirmed that the US has staged 62 bomber missions. These involved all three of its strategic bombers, …

RAF jets scrambled as Russia bomber spotted close to UK | UK | News

RAF jets scrambled as Russia bomber spotted close to UK | UK | News

Published by Sam Flores

RAF jets were scrambled after a Russian warplane was spotted close to the UK. British fighter jets were on alert on Tuesday after a suspected Russian long-range bomber approached UK airspace. Two Typhoons from RAF Lossiemouth, in Scotland, and a Voyager refuelling jet from RAF Brize Norton, in Oxfordshire, flew towards Shetland after an unidentified Russian warplane was detected. However, it remained outside of British airspace and did not need to be intercepted. The Typhoons later returned to base after the threat was stood down. It comes as Vladimir Putin continues to threaten the UK. Over the last few weeks, Russian warships, spy ships and submarines have been detected close to Britain. Defence Secretary John Healey confirmed three Russian submarines carried out a “covert” operation over cables and pipelines in waters north of the UK last week. HMS St Albans, fuel tanker RFA Tidespring and anti-submarine Merlin helicopters were deployed following the activity by Moscow. Mr Healey said he was “confident” no cables had been damaged. However, he said two Russian vessels spent time over …

Starmer Urged To Ban US Jets At RAF Bases

Starmer Urged To Ban US Jets At RAF Bases

Published by Sam Flores

Keir Starmer has been urged to ban US jets from flying any missions from RAF bases following Donald Trump’s threat to destroy Iranian civilisation. The US president made the astonishing threat as the deadline he has given for Tehran to re-open the Strait of Hormuz approaches. In a post on Truth Social, he said: “A whole civilisation will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.” Starmer initially turned down Trump’s request to use British bases to launch missions against Iranian targets at the start of the war. However, US jets are now allowed to use the bases for “defensive” strikes on Iranian missile launch sites. Green Party leader Zack Polanski said those should also be banned in light of Trump’s latest threats. Posting on X, he said: “The UK must immediately and unequivocally suspend support for the US military. The government have tried to appease him, then they tried to say they’re standing up to him. Words aren’t enough – it’s time for action.” …

US rescues final airman after Iran shoots down two fighter jets

US rescues final airman after Iran shoots down two fighter jets

Published by Sam Flores

The United States has rescued the final crew member from a fighter jet shot down over Iran, concluding a days-long search-and-rescue operation that unfolded under fire and highlighted a sharp escalation in the conflict. The recovery comes after two U.S. military aircraft were downed in separate incidents, including an F-15 over Iranian territory and an A-10 that went down during the same period, marking the first such losses of American aircraft in the war and the first planes to be shot down by enemy fire in over two decades. One crew member from the F-15 was rescued shortly after ejecting, but the second remained missing for days, prompting an urgent and highly coordinated recovery effort. U.S. forces worked to locate the airman as Iranian forces — and even civilians — were encouraged to find him first, raising fears he could be captured. Officials say the final rescue required a complex operation involving special forces, aircraft, and intelligence support, carried out amid active threats. U.S. aircraft reportedly took fire during the mission, underscoring the risks of …

Iran says it downed two US jets as search for one pilot continues | US-Israel war on Iran News

Iran says it downed two US jets as search for one pilot continues | US-Israel war on Iran News

Published by Sam Flores

Trump says downing of F-15 will not affect talks as Iranian forces say they also struck an A-10 aircraft near Hormuz. Published On 3 Apr 20263 Apr 2026 | Updated: 6 hours agoUpdated: 6 hours ago Iranian forces have said they struck down two fighter jets belonging to the United States military, one over the southwest part of the country and another around the Strait of Hormuz. A spokesperson for the Iranian military’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said on Friday that air defences completely destroyed one F-15 jet. Later in the day, the Iranian military said it targeted an A-10 US aircraft that crashed into the Gulf. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list The New York Times had cited unidentified officials as saying that the A10’s pilot was safe after the crash. But the fate of at least one pilot from the downed F-15 crew is unknown. Several US media outlets reported that one crew member of the jet was located and rescued by US forces, but the other remains missing. US President …

2 U.S. jets downs, Iran hits Gulf refineries as war caps Week 5 : NPR

2 U.S. jets downs, Iran hits Gulf refineries as war caps Week 5 : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

A view of a residential area affected during the U.S.-Israeli military operations in the city of Karaj, in Alborz province, several miles west of Tehran, Iran, on Friday. The area was struck on March 9. Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images One U.S. F-15 fighter jet went down in Iran, and a second U.S. Air Force combat plane crashed near the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, according to a U.S. official, capping off another week of intensified fighting in the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. The official was speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the incidents. Blasts and sirens rang out across the Middle East from Iranian drones and missiles since overnight. Kuwait’s largest oil refinery was hit, setting some of its units on fire. Meanwhile, dozens of countries — not including the U.S. or Israel — launched renewed efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway for the world’s oil supply that has been largely blocked by …

Fighter jets escort plane away from Mar-a-Lago

Fighter jets escort plane away from Mar-a-Lago

Published by Sam Flores

Fighter jets on Sunday escorted a civilian plane away from President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla. The ​North American Aerospace Defense ​Command (NORAD) said the aircraft violated the temporary flight restriction around 1:15 p.m. “The situation was resolved safely,” NORAD wrote in a Sunday statement on the social platform X. The F-16 fighter… Source link

Key E-3 Sentry jets hit, over a dozen U.S. personnel hurt in strike by Iran : NPR

Key E-3 Sentry jets hit, over a dozen U.S. personnel hurt in strike by Iran : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

A member of police special forces stands guard on top of a vehicle in downtown Tehran, Iran, Monday. Vahid Salemi/AP hide caption toggle caption Vahid Salemi/AP NPR has confirmed more than a dozen U.S. service members were wounded and two E-3 Sentry aircraft were damaged in an Iranian strike on an air base in Saudi Arabia on Friday. President Trump has repeated the assertion that Iran wants a deal while he has also ordered thousands of U.S. troops to deploy to the Middle East and even warned the U.S. may try to seize Iran’s oil and Kharg Island — or blow it up. On Monday, Trump expanded a threat he had made if Iran refuses to open the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping passage, writing on social media the U.S. would not only destroy Iranian electric plants and oil wells but also “possibly all desalinization plants!” That would potentially raise the number of civilian infrastructure sites targeted in the region. Iran struck a desalination plant in Kuwait overnight. And three United Nations peacekeepers were killed …

The long, strange saga of Iran’s F-14 fighter jets : NPR

The long, strange saga of Iran’s F-14 fighter jets : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

The final catapult launch of the F-14 Tomcat fighter aircraft aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt on July 28, 2006. The U.S. military retired the plane that year. U.S. Navy/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption U.S. Navy/Getty Images Since the start of the Iran conflict, retired U.S. Navy Cmdr. Ward Carroll has been keeping a close eye on satellite photos and videos that appear to show Israeli airstrikes hitting Iranian F-14 fighter jets, the same type of aircraft that he flew for much of the 1980s and 1990s. Carroll thinks what he is seeing might represent the destruction of the last operational F-14s anywhere in the world. “While I understand the tactical necessity of taking them out … I’m also filled with sadness at their demise,” he says of the airplane that defined his military career. It’s unclear if Israeli strikes have in fact destroyed the last of Iran’s F-14s. Still, if confirmed, their loss would close the book on a decades-long saga that saw their unprecedented sale in the 1970s to a Middle Eastern ally …

NATO forced to scramble jets after horror Russian attack as warning to UK issued | World | News

NATO forced to scramble jets after horror Russian attack as warning to UK issued | World | News

Published by Sam Flores

NATO was forced to scramble warplanes in two allied countries after Russia fired waves of strikes on Ukraine. Fighter jets in Poland and Romania, which both share a border with Ukraine, were launched as a defensive precaution amid the major Russian attacks. It came as the Kremlin warned Britain of “dire consequences” over the use by the Ukrainian armed forces of UK-supplied Storm Shadow missiles to strike Russian territory. Russia launched drone and missile strikes across Ukraine overnight after suffering critical damage to its energy supplies and exports following a separate pinpoint Ukrainian strike on the port of Primorsk. Ukrainian officials said several civilians were killed in the latest strikes on the country. Russia used strategic Russian bombers in the attacks which led to the scrambling of NATO fighters in Poland. Warsaw’s operational command said: “Due to the activity of long-range Russian air forces conducting strikes on Ukrainian territory, Polish and allied air forces have begun operating in our airspace.” This involved fighters and early warning aircraft, with ground-based air defence and radar reconnaissance systems …