Latest news with #F16
Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
NORAD sends fighter plane after latest unauthorized flight over Kerrville floods
The Brief Airspace over parts of Texas has been closed since the deadly July 4 floods. After several violations, NORAD dispatched an F-16 to the area Friday. There's no info yet on the offending pilot or mission. KERRVILLE, Texas - After the deadly Texas floods earlier this month, the FAA moved quickly to restrict the airspace in the area so that first responders searching for victims would not be hampered by drones, news helicopters, and other craft. But NORAD, the military division charged with keeping America's airspace, says that they had to send a fighter plane to the skies over Texas after civilian aircraft repeatedly violated a temporary no-fly zone. What we know The Air Force told FOX Television Stations that an unspecified civilian aircraft was intercepted for violating the no-fly zone and safely escorted out of the area Friday afternoon "by NORAD F-16 aircraft." The civilian aircraft was flying at relatively low altitude, between 4,000 and 5,000 feet. "This intercept, combined with yet another TFR violation, has resulted in a total of five unauthorized incursions into restricted airspace," the Air Force statement noted. What we don't know It's not clear what type of aircraft violation prompted the military intervention, what that craft's mission was, or what consequences – if any – that pilot may be facing. NORAD directed further questions to the FAA, which did not respond to a request from FOX Television Stations for more information. Dig deeper "TFR" stands for "temporary flight restriction," which is an order from the FAA that generally restricts non-governmental flights in a small area. They are usually issued for special events or security situations; presidential travel is one of the most common reasons. A collision between a privately-owned drone and a rescue helicopter over Kerrville back on July 7 highlighted the need for such orders. The collision forced the helicopter to make an emergency landing and took it out of service. A similar incident grounded a critical firefighting aircraft during the Los Angeles wildfires earlier this year. What you can do Private pilots and drone operators should know to check the FAA's website for NOTAMs – "notices to airmen" that warn about TFRs and other hazards – before they take to the skies. A map of current TFRs is also available. The backstory Catastrophically heavy rain led to deadly flooding along the Guadalupe River early on July 4. Campsites and communities were swept away; more than 170 people are still considered missing while at least 132 – including dozens of children – are dead. Rain returned to the area around Kerrville on Sunday, pausing efforts to find more victims. Some volunteers were asked to evacuate for their own safety amid the renewed threat of flooding. The Source Information in this report came from NORAD, the FAA, and the City of Kerrville, with background from FOX 7 in Austin. Additional details from the Air Force were added later. This story was reported from Tampa, Fla.
Daily Mail
08-07-2025
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Inside the double life of a female Israeli fighter pilot who joined top-secret mission to bomb Iran's nuclear programme
In her other life she works in marketing, has a husband and a loving family. Nothing out of the ordinary. But, as she left home one early morning in mid-June, no one in this young Israeli woman's family knew where she was headed - not even her husband. 'Major M' - her real name is classified - was about to make history in an F-16 Israeli Air Force jet. She was taking part in 'Operation Rising Lion', a covert operation years in the planning to obliterate Iran 's nuclear and military sites. In all, the Israeli Air Force struck more than 900 targets across Iran over a 12 day period. Iran responded with more than 500 missiles and thousands of UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) killing 29. Speaking exclusively to the Daily Mail, Major M has given a rare insight into her double life in the first interview in a British newspaper with any of the pilots who took part in Operation Rising Lion. 'We have two lives,' Major M says. 'It's very surreal because you're going through something that is so big and so meaningful and so intense and chaotic. And then the next day you have to go back to the office.' Women in Israel serve alongside men in the armed forces with almost all roles open to them. As a Navigator, Major M operates multiple systems for the aircraft while the pilot flies the jet. Discussing her role, she told the Mail: 'It can be intelligence systems, it can be weapons systems. The missions are so complicated these days with so much technology that it's a lot for one person to take on. So when you have a team of two, you can take on much more complicated missions and just analyse data in a very accurate and correct way.' For security reasons, Major M was unable to go into details of her mission over Iran but she did reveal some of the deadly arsenal at her disposal. She said: 'You have a lot of different kinds of weapons. You have GPS-oriented ones where you just have to have coordinates, and you have ones that you really have to navigate. You have to show the missile its way all the way. 'Yes there is a red button as one would imagine and there is an entire system of other tools to help you get the weapon to where it needs to but it's basically a joystick and a button.' Recalling the build-up to the Iran operation, she says: 'The threat is so real and so close that it's very easy to tell yourself why you're doing it and why it's important and it takes over everything else. We've been training for it for many years, so it's not something that we had to come up with in the past few weeks. We knew all along how this was going to happen when it did, but specifically for this one, I don't think anyone really knew until a few hours before.' Her parents and husband only knew after the event. She admits her family suspected she was in a covert operation but kept their anxieties to themselves. After her first Rising Lion mission, she flew twice during the 12 days of the operation, targeting Iranian military sites, and after she says that she felt a huge sense of 'relief' and was smiling because everyone had come back safe. 'We did our mission, we didn't make any mistakes and can be proud of ourselves and go back home for our next flight. 'I've never been more proud to be a part of the Israeli Air Force and I'm very grateful to participate in all the operations and to be able to say that I've contributed to keeping my family safe, friends safe and myself because we are citizens as well.' Israel's defence force requires national service from everyone aged 18 years onwards, with some exceptions. Major M said she was attracted to the air force because she 'always liked planes as a child'. The air force is becoming more popular for females, she adds, saying: 'When I joined, I think there were only around 20 women, but it's grown significantly since then. I think it's now over 70.' During this particular operation a female pilot and female navigator piloted a fighter jet for the first time in history which shows the growing trend of gender equality in the IAF. After being accepted at flight school and enduring vigorous training, she has stayed in the air force for 13 years and entered the reserves last year where she is always in training for a war situation. She isn't allowed to give details about the actual mission and which countries they flew over to get to Iran, but her sorties in Lebanon, in which Israel dismantled terror group Hezbollah, have prepared her well. 'It's a big thing, but I think we've all learned in the past, since October 7, that anything can happen. So you're mentally prepared for everything. You're both anxious because it's something new that we haven't done before, so it takes a minute to get used to, but we're trained in being focused and in being concentrated.'
RNZ News
07-07-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
Ukraine loses an F-16 pilot and his jet while fighting one of Russia's biggest ever aerial attacks
By Kostya Gak , Helen Regan , Billy Stockwell and Ivana Kottasová , CNN An explosion of a drone is seen in the sky over the city during a Russian drone, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine 28 June. Photo: Reuters via CNN Newsource / Gleb Garanich A Ukrainian pilot was killed and his F-16 fighter jet crashed after Russia launched a huge aerial assault involving hundreds of drones and scores of missiles overnight, the Ukrainian military says. The airman, named as 1st Class Lt Col Maksym Ustymenko by the Ukrainian air force, was the third F-16 pilot killed since the Ukrainians began flying the jets last summer, and his plane was the fourth F-16 Ukraine has lost since then. The air force said Ustymenko "did everything he could to steer the aircraft away from a populated area, but he did not have time to eject". Ustymenko's death is a major loss for Ukraine. Only a small number of the country's top pilots have been trained to fly F-16s, the most advanced of Ukraine's fighter jets. The training is highly specialized and takes months to complete. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ustymenko destroyed seven targets before being killed, praising him and the Ukrainian air force for "heroically protecting" the country's skies. Zelensky said Moscow launched 477 drones and 60 missiles towards six different locations overnight into Sunday (local time) - one of Russia's largest ever aerial assaults in terms of weapons deployed, according to a CNN tally. This residential building in Odesa was hit by a Russian drone on 28 June. Photo: Oleksandr Gimanov/AFP/Getty Images via CNN Newsource Russia has ramped up its airborne attacks against Ukraine in recent weeks, launching hundreds of drones and missiles nearly every night. These assaults are not just bigger and more frequent; they are also more concentrated and executed in a way that makes them a lot more difficult to combat - as they are flown at higher altitudes, out of reach of machine guns. Zelensky said on Sunday that more than 114 missiles, over 1270 drones, and nearly 1100 glide bombs were launched by Russia against Ukraine just this week. The Ukrainian leader pleaded with Kyiv's Western allies to provide more aerial defences for his country, saying Russia will continue to attack Ukraine for as long as it can. "This war must be brought to an end - pressure on the aggressor is needed, and so is protection. Protection from ballistic and other missiles, from drones, and from terror," Zelensky said. He added that Ukraine was ready to buy "American systems" to strengthen its air defences - a clear call to US President Donald Trump and his administration to allow Ukraine to purchase the Patriot air defence systems. The Patriots are widely considered to be among the best air defence systems. While there are other systems manufactured by some of Ukraine's other allies, none can match the Patriots when it comes to protection against advanced hypersonic and ballistic missiles. Ukraine is known to have roughly half a dozen of the US-made Patriot air defence systems, although the exact numbers and their locations are closely guarded secrets. The Patriots play a crucial role in Ukraine's air defence, protecting millions of civilians from Russian missiles. But Kyiv is at risk of running out of missiles for these systems, as Trump continues to threaten withdrawing US aid from Ukraine. The Ukrainian air force said Sunday it had downed 211 drones and 38 missiles launched by Moscow overnight. Russian strikes were recorded in six locations with debris reported across eight locations, it added. The Russian Ministry of Defence claimed the strikes targeted Ukraine's "military-industrial complex facilities and oil refineries," but the Ukrainians said civilian infrastructure objects were hit. At least 11 people were injured, including two children, in a Russian attack in the city of Smila, in the central region of Cherkasy, local officials said in an update on Sunday. Three nine-storey buildings, private houses, and cars were significantly damaged in the shelling, as well as four educational institutions and a psychiatric hospital, Ihor Taburets, head of Cherkasy regional military administration, said. Also on Sunday, Zelensky announced he signed a decree that would take Ukraine out of the Ottawa Treaty, the international agreement that bans the use of anti-personnel landmines. A long-signalled move by Ukraine, the withdrawal still needs to be approved by Ukraine's parliament. Kyiv has long argued that it cannot continue to be member of the treaty because its attacker - Russia - is using landmines in its own territory. "This is a step that has long been demanded by the reality of war. Russia is not a party to this Convention and uses mines against our military and civilians on a massive scale. We cannot remain bound by conditions when the enemy has no restrictions," Roman Kostenko, a member of the Ukrainian Parliament, said in a statement. According to the United Nations, Ukraine is the most heavily mined country in the world. Russia has been using mines extensively in Ukraine's territory, but according a 2023 report from Human Rights Watch found that Ukraine has also used antipersonnel landmines. The US under the Biden Administration approved shipments of landmines to Ukraine last November. Large swathes of Ukrainian land, especially along the frontlines in the east and in areas that were once occupied by Russia, are off limits to civilians because of the mines. Makeshift signs and barriers warning people not to enter are a common sight on the edges of fields and forests and near roads. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the country "has made a difficult but necessary political decision" to withdraw from the Ottawa convention, saying the government was "convinced" it was necessary to do so. At the start of this year, the pact had 165 member states - although several major powers, including Russia, China, India, Pakistan and the United States, have never signed up to it. Finland, Poland, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania - which all border Russia - have also made moves to pull out of the treaty arguing they were essential for defence. - CNN
Russia Today
06-07-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
US fighter jet intercepts suspicious plane over Trump's golf club
An F-16 fighter jet intercepted a civilian aircraft that violated restricted airspace over US President Donald Trump's golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey on Saturday, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) has confirmed. The incident occurred at around 2:39pm local time, when a general aviation plane entered a Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) zone, which was activated due to Trump's presence in the area. NORAD scrambled an F-16 fighter aircraft, which performed a standard headbutt maneuver to alert the pilot and safely escort the aircraft out of the restricted zone. The interception was part of a broader alert response, as Saturday saw a total of five separate TFR violations in the Bedminster area – including three prior to the headbutt incident and one more later in the day. NORAD did not release additional details about the aircraft or pilots involved. NORAD intercepted a plane violating a Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) over Bedminster, NJ on July 5, 2025. Pilots, a reminder to check FAA NOTAMs before you fly! ➡️ Fly informed. Fly safe. #NORAD#AviationSafetyhttps:// 'Pilots, a reminder to check FAA NOTAMs before you fly!' NORAD posted on X, referring to Notice to Air Missions bulletins issued by the Federal Aviation Administration. The agency highlighted FAA NOTAMs 1353, 1358, 2246, and 2247 as especially relevant for flights near Bedminster. The command warned that pilots are responsible for verifying TFR zones before takeoff and stressed that its layered air defense system – comprising radars, satellites, and fighter jets – remains active in detecting and responding to unauthorized incursions. Trump has made Bedminster one of his main residences since returning to office in January, with the FAA frequently designating restricted airspace in the vicinity whenever the president is present. Pilots who violate TFR zones risk being intercepted, fined, questioned by the authorities, or having their licenses suspended.
Al Arabiya
06-07-2025
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
F-16 escorts plane out of area after airspace incursion near Trump's golf course
An F-16 US fighter jet on Saturday intercepted a general aviation aircraft that violated a temporary restriction of the airspace over US President Donald Trump's golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, the US military said in a statement. The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said the incident, which occurred around 2:39 p.m. (1839 GMT), marked the fifth unauthorized incursion of the restricted airspace on Saturday. A spokesperson confirmed the jet was an F-16. NORAD aircraft conducted a so-called headbutt maneuver to get the civilian pilot's attention and the aircraft was safely escorted out of the area, NORAD said in a statement. The White House had no immediate comment on the incident. NORAD has reported multiple similar incidents in recent weeks, and is urging general aviation pilots to check all notifications before taking off in the area.
