Russia’s military forces deployed to the border with Ukraine are ready for a full invasion at a moment’s notice, and the Pentagon is warning that the U.S. and NATO understanding of the situation could degrade if forced to withdraw its reconnaissance aircraft from nearby airspace amid a conflict. 

An ongoing revamp of Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) will include a further expansion of the Foreign Internal Defense (FID) mission, Lt. Gen. Jim Slife tells Aviation Week. 

The U.S. government has extensively declassified information regarding Russia’s buildup of forces near Ukraine and the Kremlin’s possible plans to justify an invasion, and the head of the National Reconnaissance Office said that to an extent he supports further sharing of details to deter aggression. 

India is deploying its Tejas fighters to Europe for the first time to participate in a multinational exercise in the UK.

The surprise decision follows the appearance of the jet trainer at last year’s Dubai Airshow, and would make the UAE the first Middle Eastern customer for the platform. 

The U.S. will forward deploy up to eight F-35As to NATO’s eastern flank and send 32 AH-64 attack helicopters to Poland and the Baltic region by the end of the week as tensions continue to flare between Russia and Ukraine.

British auditors have warned that the UK’s defense equipment plans are again at risk because of over-optimistic assumptions about future budgets and costs. 

The UK is facing further delays to the integration of MBDA’s Meteor beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile onto the Lockheed Martin F-35.