Air Warfare magazine: tankers, RAF modernisation and more

What’s inside this edition:

COMMENT: Seller beware

Reports that ISR data from Chinese-made CH-3A TUAVs may have been used to help army snipers from Burma’s military, the Tatmadaw, target and kill civilian protestors in Mandalay once again raise serious questions around the ethics of drone sales and misuse of the hardware.

Features include:

Pegasus endgame

New tanker aircraft offer many operational advantages, allowing for more time spent airborne and reduced fuel consumption. However, the KC-46A has faced many delays over the course of its development. As costs continue to rise, the pressure is on to deliver the aircraft.

Maintaining air superiority

The UK’s Integrated Review has reinforced the government’s commitment to supporting the capabilities of the armed forces. However, the threat from near-peer adversaries and the growing asymmetrical capabilities of non-state actors demands that limited resources are spent optimally.

Lessons from the Caucasus

The 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict highlighted the importance of long-range capabilities on modern battlefields. Loitering munitions contributed to the Azerbaijani victory, resulting in a newfound international desire to obtain, and learn to counter, this type of weapon.

New kids on the block

Much has been said of new air power concepts such as next-generation fighters, loyal wingmen and low-cost UAVs, but without a proven track record on the battlefield and budgets tightening, will their influence be as seismic as originally hoped?

The need for speed

Able to travel at speeds exceeding Mach 5 while eluding most existing methods of defence and detection, hypersonics have become all the rage in recent years, and Russia is at the forefront of this race.

Beams come true

Airborne fire control radars are getting more aggressive, and evolutions in the AESA world are promising to outfit them with ways to jam their hostile counterparts.

Bonus content coming soon.