An MQ-9A crashed in Maidan Wardak, Afghanistan earlier today. It was a Big Wing variant, used (to my knowledge) exclusively by the US and has previously been seen at a US base in Africa. It is distinct by the curved winglet, and has a wingspan of 79ft.

1x Polish AEW&C aircraft over Poland currently monitoring the eastern border. Additionally, 1x NATO refueling aircraft was over Polish airspace supporting fighter jets, including at least one F-35, in the task of neutralizing Russian drones that have crossed the Polish border.

At around 4 AM PDT this morning, USAF B-2A Spirit TIGER11 communicated with Seattle Center ATC while traversing Washington airspace on its way back from Joint Base Elmendorf, AK to Whiteman AFB, MO. TIGER11 is one of two B-2As that flew up to Alaska two days ago.

DEATH11 + DEATH12, possible B-2A Spirit bombers heading northwest over Washington at 8 AM local time. A2A comms on 341.750, talking with Seattle Center sectors 32 and 03. DEATH11 heading to YZT, DEATH12 heading to Spokane. DEATH11 might be heading to Alaska to join TIGER11 + 12.

A very kind gift from my dear friend @vcdgf555.bsky.social. A section of the exterior skin of a spare vertical stabilizer from SR-71A 61-7971; this aircraft flew in service w/ USAF from 1967 to early 1990, then w/ NASA from March 1990 to January 1995, then returning to USAF until retirement in 1997.

OK, if you're one of the two DTRA officer who spent the past 15 years of your career planning for the strike on Iran's Fordo nuclear site you must be SO MAD AT ME FOR THIS ARTICLE! You know what you should do.... www.npr.org/2025/06/25/n...

In the air over the Gulf of Oman is ZP527, a S-100 Camcopter operated by the Royal Navy under the designation Peregrine. These have been flying here since at least August of last year. Stationed aboard the HMS Lancaster are two Peregrines: ZP527 and ZP526. #ADSB #002E61 #002E60

So what? The literary world is always in the first detonation blast zone. Run towards the searing light. You don't want to live in the world without the arts. Become a writer.

590nm infrared on a cloudy day, shot with my lovely ltm voigtlander color skopar 35/2.5

USS Nimitz (CVN 68) Nimitz-class aircraft carrier coming into Guam - April 18, 2025 #ussnimitz #cvn68 SRC: INT- dvidshub.net#ussnimitz

The orientation of the Carl Vinson carrier strike group is in a defensive ring of 25 kilometers with air defense positioned toward the greater threat likelihood: two facing out to the WNW toward Houthi-controlled Yemen, and one covering the rear.

USAF WC-135R 64-14829 as COBRA29 flying over Washington on March 13. After years of following along with the Constant Phoenix program, it was nice to finally see one in person! #ADSB #AE037F

SSN-23, USS Jimmy Carter returning home to Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor after 4 days at sea. cc @warshipcam.bsky.social

US CENTCOM tweeted ~1hr ago a video dated Feb 23 showing an airstrike from the perspective of an MQ-9A Reaper over Idlib, Syria. The lack of explosion and resulting damage would suggest that this is (to my knowledge) the first footage of an R9X Hellfire in use.

Ten years ago today, we woke up to what some were calling “the Blizzard of 2015.” Here’s a look back at some of the most remarkable statistics from the "Snowmageddon" winter.

Went to a beach across from the Everett Naval Station to look at ships today, saw a cormorant having a snack instead.

India's LRAShM is its longest ranged, solely conventional missile yet and is an example of its mature missile development capability. With a stated range of over 1500km, this hypersonic missile will enable India to target Chinese forces located on the Tibetan plateau and beyond.

Platform Aerospace VA001 ultra long endurance UAV with callsign GZMO16 flying out of Al Udeid AB, QA. This is the first time I've seen N616VU, and the first time I can recall seeing a Vanilla Unmanned drone in Qatar. #ADSB #A806F6

Geolocation of B-52H weapons range training at an 'undisclosed location' in CENTCOMs AOR. The B-52H, Serial 60-0007, carried a payload of at least 6 JDAM bombs which were used at a bomb range south of Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan on Dec 4th. (31.558820°, 36.776021°)

General Atomics MQ-9B N479SG has been flying these arc patterns over the Yuma Test Center in New Mexico for the last four hours near a US CBP TARS aerostat. For 2 hours, it flew at 20,000ft versus the aerostat's 10,900ft. Then, it dropped down to 5,900ft.

1. A curious Ukrainian drone that crashed in September, 2024 was widely reported in russian media. Although various folks claimed this wreckage showed the remains of a jet engine, things did not look right.

Brand new E-11A BACN as BACN08 departed from the Lockheed Martin hangars at Martin State Airport just outside Baltimore, heading west. The newest BACN was delivered to the US Air Force at the end of last month. It is possible that this is N808LP. H/t @srplanespotter.bsky.social #ADSB #AE77A5

VALKYR22 is almost certainly WK022, which would be a new airframe that I have not seen before. The hex code matches with previously-identified WK025 with hex 43C809. Excellent spot by @borrowed7time.bsky.social.

All six USAF B-52 bombers at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. Great image from today via our friends at Planet Labs.

E-11A BACN 22-9047 is making the trip to NAS Sigonella from Robins AFB with callsign BLKWLF21. This is the first time this E-11A, the seventh in the fleet, is leaving the US after being delivered to the USAF in October 2023. #ADSB #AE77A4

Anime ass looking drones.

A modified Challenger 650, likely operated by Metrea, has flown missions above Somalia over the past ~8 weeks. The bizjet (N9191) is equipped with a radar system, SIGINT antennas, and an EO/IR sensor, and orbited over regions of known counterterror operations against Al-Shabaab and IS-Somalia.

Eyes on Baekdu: unwrapping South Korea’s ISR bizjets A new post with an overview of South Korea's ISR bizjets, covering their capabilities, the history of the programs, and the ongoing modernisation amid growing threats from North Korea. Learn more: open.substack.com/pub/bizjetso...

USN MQ-4C 169602 with callsign FATCAT15 departed from Al-Dhafra AB, UAE a few minutes ago. 602 arrived at Al Dhafra on September 28th. This is its second visible flight since then, and its first with an actual callsign. #ADSB #AE7811

Qatar Emiri Air Force Bayraktar TB2 flying with callsign "UNIDENT" out of Dukhan / Tamim Air Base. This airframe has been flying regularly over Qatar, but it's been a while since I've spotted them. #ADSB #001071

Another MQ-4C with callsign VVPE804 crossed the Atlantic from NAS Jacksonville, FL heading to NAS Sigonella, Italy. #ADSB #AE7815

Republic of Singapore Air Force G550 CAEW 016 flying with an Israeli hex code and callsign G550. This airframe shows up every once in a while, but it's been quite some time since I last saw it. #ADSB #738A4F

RuAF Tu-154 RA-85843 with callsign RFF7429 departing Pyongyang Sunan International Airport, DPRK after ~1 hour on the ground. #ADSB #154F53

Yesterday, USAF RQ-4B 11-2046 with c/s FORTE12 took off from Sigonella AB, IT and spent ~23 hrs in the air flying over the Baltics & Finland before landing at RAF Fairford, UK. This is the 1st time a US RQ-4 has deployed to the UK & the 2nd time an RQ-4 has flown over Finland. #ADSB #AE5421

A subset of planes holding for KSEA because of the current thunderstorms in the area. A ground stop was issued at 03:41Z.

British Army Watchkeeper WK037 as "ARIES037" landed at Pärnu Airport, Estonia. This is, to my knowledge, the first time a Watchkeeper has flown in Estonia. However, since it never tracked in the air, it could have just been taxiing. #ADSB #43C87B

USAF E-11A BACN 11-9355 as "BACON55" departing from MCAS Miramar, California after arriving there four days ago. It did not appear on flight tracking sites during the time in between. It is likely heading back to the Middle East. #ADSB #AE4DE1

The US withdrawal from two bases in Niger leaves a gap over Western Africa in MQ-9 ISR coverage. An article from Le Monde claims that the US is planning to move to the Ivory Coast, filling most of the gaps.

MQ-9B SeaGuardian N479SG departed El Mirage, CA and landed at MCAS Kaneohe Bay, HI. This airframe has recently been used to test a Net Enabled Weapons capability. H/T @vcdgf555.bsky.social #ADSB #A5E420

MQ-4C 169659 departed from NAS Mayport around 03/29 18:30 UTC as TRITON16. 6 hours later, it reappeared over the North Atlantic with callsign VVPE659, headed towards Europe. This is the first time I have seen an MQ-4C in this area. #ADSB #AE7812

Vanilla Unmanned Ultra-Long Endurance UAS flying out of Naval Outlying Field Imperial Beach with callsign VU0009, broadcasting an ICAO hex code tied to s/n VU06, #A24873 and registration N249VU.

A video released by the Houthis yesterday showed chunks of a downed MQ-9A ER Reaper drone. Analysis of the video of the wreckage shows that the drone carried another example of the mystery pod that has appeared in Japan, Syria, Kuwait, and Romania, with a few changes. 1/2

Another set of Russian decoy aircraft were created at Krymsk air base last year. Just like those at Russia's Yeysk, Mozdok, and Engels-2 air bases, these decoys don't cast shadows or change locations.

My new Bellingcat piece with @konraditurbe.dev on identifying small drones from open source data is out! Read to learn about how you can often tell what drone someone is flying just by looking at the on screen display: www.bellingcat.com/resources/20...

Quick and dirty visualization I've been working on, showing email alerts sent to me via FlightRadar24 plotted on a map. More to be done.

General Atomics MQ-20 N903PC #ADSB #AC7B99 is flying as UAV17 according to a filed flight plan similar to one it flew on September 20, which took it up to the Dugway Proving Grounds in Utah. It is likely that this is heading to the same location. 1/2

As a follow-up to the work I did earlier this month with @rileymellen.bsky.social on the Reapers flying over Gaza, I've put a lot of the research that I did into a blog post. ameliairheart.substack.com/p/cronus-rea...

Parts of an MQ-9A Extended Range Reaper washed ashore on the coast of Somaliland, likely the result of the recent shoot-down by Houthis in Yemen. These parts can be matched to stabilizers, external fuel tank, and a mystery pod that has appeared in Syria, Romania, Japan, & Kuwait.

DYNSTY11 KC-46A flying overhead tonight at 20,000ft.

For the past week I've been tracking mysterious tracks that appear south of Crete, fly over Gaza for 3 hours, and then fly back. I suspected these to be MQ-9A Reapers. Thanks to excellent work by @rileymellen.bsky.social & Eric Schmidtt, we have some more details. www.nytimes.com/2023/11/02/w...