Afterburner - The Aviation Magazine

26 March 2026

MILITARY AVIATION

Operation Poker – the French nuclear raid exercise

With the arrival of spring, Armée de l’air et de l’espace (the French Air and Space Force) conducted one of its major live-fly exercises of the year, codenamed Poker, which simulated a nuclear air raid. The training was carried out [...]
PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19PM

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19PM (c/n 651045, formerly “1045” of Československé letectvo / the Czechoslovak Air Force), on display at an intersection in Líně, near the Plzeň-Líně airfield, July 2025 At the beginning of the 1950s, the Soviet aviation industry began developing the [...]
MILITARY AVIATION

NATO strengthens Eastern Flank through IAMD exercise in Romania

In mid-March 2026, NATO Allied Air Command (AIRCOM) conducted a targeted Integrated Air and Missile Defence (IAMD) exercise in Romania as part of the enhanced multi-domain Vigilance Activity (eVA) “Eastern Sentry”. Designed to strengthen deterrence and enhance operational readiness along [...]
AVIATION HISTORY

20 March 1922 – USS Langley was recommissioned

On 20 March 1922, the United States Navy’s first aircraft carrier, USS Langley (CV-1), was officially recommissioned. USS Langley (CV-1) was the first aircraft carrier of the US Navy. The vessel had originally been commissioned in 1913 as the bulk [...]
MILITARY AVIATION

Arctic warfighting in focus – inside NATO’s exercise Cold Response 2026

Between 9 and 19 March 2026, approximately 32,500 soldiers from fourteen NATO countries took part in this year’s edition of the Norwegian-led Arctic military exercise Cold Response 2026. Since 2006, a series of NATO multidomain training operations, codenamed Cold Response, [...]

From active duty to history – a short review of military aircraft retirements in 2025

FEATURED

14 January 2026

The year 2025 marked aviation history with several notable farewells to iconic military aircraft. These included both well-known workhorses from the Cold War era and relatively newer designs that proved ineffective in the modern combat [...]

First ever wingsuit foil soaring flight with altitude gain

DREAMERS AND DOERS

26 November 2025

In its press release published on 19 November 2025, the Red Bull company announced that Austrian wingsuit pioneer Peter Salzmann had once again pushed the boundaries of what is possible in human flight. This time, [...]

FEATURED