Failed North Korean Op | 500th F-35| Blame the KC-46 |

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Edited by: Sidney McAlear

FLIGHT LINE

🎯  Navy SEAL Mission Inside North Korea Aimed to Tap Fiber-Optic Cable

In early 2019, a covert SEAL Team 6 mission authorized by then-President Donald Trump aimed to plant an electronic surveillance device on North Korean soil to intercept Kim Jong-un’s communications during nuclear negotiations. Inserted from a nuclear submarine via mini-subs, the SEALs aborted the mission after fatally shooting two to three unarmed North Korean civilians believed to be shellfish divers. The listening device was never installed, and the team exfiltrated under emergency conditions. (more)

Lowdown Debrief:

🎯 KC‑46A Boom Design Blamed for Three In-Flight Refueling Mishaps

A faulty boom design on the KC‑46A Pegasus has been identified as the cause of three separate midair refueling incidents involving U.S. and allied aircraft, according to a new Air Force Safety Center investigation. The incidents occurred in 2020, 2021, and 2023, resulting in over $14 million in damage to a B‑52, a C‑17, and a Royal Australian Air Force F/A‑18F Super Hornet, respectively. Boeing has agreed to cover repair costs. (more)

Lowdown Debrief:
The report found that the KC‑46’s boom acted with excessive force or insufficient flexibility, leading to physical contact damage during aerial refueling. Notably, the boom lacks an auto-disconnect feature that could have prevented these incidents. The most serious event involved the boom slicing into the canopy of a RAAF F/A‑18F, creating a 2-foot gash. While no injuries occurred, the damage qualifies each as a Class A mishap—defined as involving over $2.5 million in damage or a destroyed aircraft. The KC‑46 boom has been subject to multiple redesigns under the Remote Vision System 2.0 upgrade effort, but the system is not expected to reach full operational capability until at least 2026.

🎯 USAF Takes First Minuteman III Silo Offline

The U.S. Air Force formally decertified launch facility LF 5E10 at F.E. Warren AFB (Wyoming), marking the first operational Minuteman III silo taken offline as it transitions to the next-generation LGM‑35A Sentinel ICBM. (more)

Lowdown Debrief: The Sentinel program, which Northrop Grumman leads, is facing significant cost inflation and delays. The program aims to procure 634 missiles total. The Air Force aims to deploy 400 missiles across new silos throughout the Great Plains, plus hold 25 for development/testing. Officials emphasize that ICBM alert levels remain unaffected during the transition, ensuring no degradation of U.S. nuclear readiness.

The Sentinel program's projected acquisition cost has ballooned from an initial estimate of $77.7 billion to over $140.9 billion, triggering a formal Nunn-McCurdy breach and a full program restructure. Some projections place total costs as high as $160 billion, with lifecycle expenses over 50 years estimated at $264–$300 billion.

Major cost drivers include the decision to build entirely new silos and replace over 7,500 miles of copper cabling with modern fiber optics, after abandoning plans to reuse Minuteman III infrastructure.

Initial Operational Capability (IOC), originally slated for 2029, is now delayed by roughly two years, with the first flight test pushed to February 2031. Despite these setbacks, the Pentagon has reaffirmed its commitment to Sentinel as a cornerstone of U.S. nuclear modernization.

🎯 China Unveils New DF‑61 ICBM

China has publicly revealed the DF‑61, a previously unseen road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missile, during a military parade marking the 100th anniversary of the PLA. While official specifications remain undisclosed, its appearance adds a new system to the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) strategic inventory. (more)

Lowdown Debrief:
The DF‑61 joins a growing arsenal of Chinese ICBMs, including the DF‑41, DF‑31AG, and JL‑3 SLBM systems, supporting Beijing’s goal of achieving a full nuclear triad. The new missile underscores China's focus on mobility, survivability, and rapid nuclear force modernization. No official details on range, payload, or deployment timelines have been released.

P.S. DF-61 is the Threat of the Day…See Below

🎯 Greek F-16s Scramble to Intercept Turkish Jets Near Patmos

Hellenic Air Force F-16s intercepted two Turkish F-16s that entered the Athens Flight Information Region without a flight plan, conducting the intercept near the Greek island of Patmos before escorting them back toward Asia Minor. (more)

Lowdown Debrief:
Greek–Turkish air encounters are frequent due to overlapping claims in the Aegean, where Greece asserts 10 nautical miles of airspace but only 6 nautical miles of territorial waters, a boundary that Turkey does not recognize. These intercepts sometimes escalate into aggressive maneuvering, raising the risk of accidents. Past incidents include the 1996 Mirage 2000 shootdown of a Turkish F-16 and the 2006 midair collision near Karpathos, both resulting in pilot fatalities.

🎯 125th FW Welcomes USAF’s 500th F‑35A

The U.S. Air Force’s 500th F‑35A Lightning II has been officially delivered to the Florida Air National Guard’s 125th Fighter Wing, arriving at Jacksonville Air National Guard Base. The milestone bolsters the unit’s ongoing transition from F‑15C/D Eagles to fifth‑generation airpower, enhancing homeland defense and Agile Combat Employment (ACE) readiness. (more)

Lowdown Debrief:
The 125th Fighter Wing becomes the fourth Air National Guard wing to operate the F‑35A, joining the 158th FW in Vermont, 187th FW in Alabama, and 115th FW in Wisconsin. Over 1,100 F-35s have been delivered worldwide.

🎯 China Showcases J‑20s and Loyal Wingmen in Victory Day Military Parade

China’s Victory Day military parade in Beijing featured a prominent display of advanced airpower, including formations of J‑20 Mighty Dragon fifth-generation fighters and several types of unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs), signaling rapid strides in autonomous and stealth technologies. Among the systems presented were potential loyal wingman-type drones, suggesting progress toward integrating manned–unmanned teaming in the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). (more)

Lowdown Debrief:
The J‑20s flew in formation with what analysts believe to be next-generation UCAVs resembling concepts like the GJ-11 Sharp Sword and other stealthy delta-wing designs. China’s advances come as it attempts to close the gap with U.S. airpower in the Indo-Pacific, particularly in developing loyal wingman systems akin to the U.S. Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program. This parade was held to commemorate Japan’s surrender during World War II.

SNAPSHOT

🚩 Pentagon awards $1.74 billion contract for APKWS rocket production. (more)

🚩 South Korean troops fired warning shots after North Korean soldiers briefly crossed the DMZ. (more)

🚩 Russian Kinzhal missiles and Geran-3 drones hit Kyiv on Aug 27, killing at least 16, wounding 48, and striking a hospital, homes, and the Bayraktar drone plant under construction (more).

🚩 Ex-MD Anderson researcher Yunhai Li was arrested in Houston for attempting to smuggle 50–90 GB of U.S.-funded breast cancer vaccine research to China, facing trade secret theft charges (more).

🚩 NORAD intercepted a Russian IL-20 reconnaissance aircraft in the Alaskan ADIZ on Aug 24 with F-16s and an E-3, confirming it stayed in international airspace (more).

🚩 The U.S. secretly approved selling 3,350 Extended-Range Attack Munitions to Ukraine, with first deliveries due in October for strikes up to 250 miles under Pentagon oversight (more).

🚩 The U.S. approved a $103.9M sale of up to 96 AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles to NATO for Belgium, Italy, and Romania, boosting allied F-35 air defense capability (more).

🚩 A Russian fighter intercepted a U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon with advanced AN/APS-154 radar off Crimea and southern Russia in the Black Sea (more).

🚩 The United States Air Force inked a historic agreement on August 22, 2025 to train its first batch of student pilots at Italy’s International Flight Training School (IFTS) in Sardinia using the T-346A, marking the first time initial USAF pilot training will occur at a NATO partner’s facility (more).

THREAT OF THE DAY (TOD)

Threat: DF-61 (Dongfeng-61)
Country of Origin: China
Initial Operational Capability: 2025
Primary Role: Road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) for nuclear strategic deterrence
Proliferation: Currently limited to China; no exports reported/planned

Variants:
🔺 None officially confirmed. Believed to be closely related to the DF-41 ICBM, possibly a modified successor or variant.

Specifications:

• Range: ~12,000 km (≈6,480 nautical miles)

• Launch Platform: Road-mobile, 16-wheel transporter erector launcher (TEL)

• Guidance System: Inertial guidance with BeiDou satellite updates

• Propulsion: Three-stage solid-fuel rocket

• Armament / Payload: Nuclear warheads, likely MIRV-capable (exact loadout unconfirmed)

• Defensive Capability / Survivability: Road mobility allows rapid relocation, complicating preemptive strikes

• Maximum Speed: Hypersonic (exact values not disclosed; comparable to other ICBMs at >Mach 20)

Recent Combat Activity:
🔺 Unveiled during China’s September 3, 2025 Victory Day parade

Fun Fact:
The DF-61’s transporter erector launcher is almost identical to that of the DF-41, leading to speculation that it may be a disguised variant or rebranded evolution rather than an entirely new system.

Answer: C (19 nations total)

F‑35 Partner Nations (8):

1. United States

2. United Kingdom

3. Italy

4. Netherlands

5. Australia

6. Norway

7. Denmark

8. Canada

F‑35 Foreign Military Sales (FMS) Customers (9):
9. Israel
10. Japan
11. South Korea
12. Belgium
13. Poland
14. Finland
15. Switzerland
16. Germany
17. Singapore
18. Czech Republic
19. Romania