The Perch

The USN's Blue Angels demonstration team during the 1992 MAKS airshow

Indonesia to Strengthen Air Force with Possible Purchase of 24 More French Rafales According to information published by French Newspaper La Tribune on July 4, 2025, Indonesia is set to finalize the acquisition of 24 additional Rafale multirole fighter jets during President Prabowo Subianto’s state visit to Paris, where he will be the guest of honor at France’s national Bastille Day celebrations on July 14. This upcoming order builds upon a foundational agreement signed in February 2022, in which Indonesia committed to purchasing 42 Rafale aircraft from Dassault Aviation. That contract was structured into three acquisition tranches of 6, 18, and 18 aircraft, which were formally activated in February 2022, August 2023, and January 2024. Deliveries of the first aircraft from the initial batch are scheduled to begin in early 2026. With the latest agreement, Indonesia will bring its total Rafale fleet to 66 aircraft, making it one of the largest non-European operators of the French fighter.

The first and only Catapult-Launched flanker J-15T on the PLAN's CV-17 "Shandong", together with its predecessor, the ski-jump J-15, on Open Day in Hong Kong.

The J-20 looks surprisingly beautiful from this angle!

🇨🇳Another look at this Modern Chinese Ekranoplan that has been making the rounds on the Internet. Looks like it has enough wing to fly outside of ground effect if necessary. Though perhaps with a lower MTOW or some other limitation. The VVA-14 was apparently capable of extended flight out of ground effect, for instance. Might be literally experimental ground effect plane for sake of experimenting. China is big enough industrial economy to go "well soviets didn't get it working, maybe we can, maybe we don't, let's try it and see what we learn" Maybe the next step will be something like a giant Lun-2 class in full battle mode carrying 2k soldiers across small bodies of water in minutes, I wonder where China can use something like this.... Oh...

🇨🇳 It looks like China might be taking notes from yet an other soviet project. A huge four-engine ekranoplan has been making the rounds on Chinese social media, and it’s already earning comparisons to the legendary Soviet "Caspian Sea Monster" (the *ahem* Lun Class aircraft) For the uninitiated, ekranoplans also known as Ground effect aircraft, are low-flying aircraft that hover just above the water’s surface, riding on a cushion of aerodynamic lift. They can fly under radar coverage, which made them particularly intriguing for military use during the Soviet era (see the aforementioned post) While its intended mission isnt officially confirmed, there’s speculation it could be used for rapid island logistics or even amphibious support possibly operating alongside the AG600 seaplane. There is also a possibility that the Chinese will decide, like the Soviets, to arm it with anti-ship missiles.

A Russian Su-27 Flanker intercepts a formation of U.S. Air Force aircraft, two B-1B Lancers, 28th Bomb Wing, KC-135R Stratotanker, 459th Air Refueling Squadron and B-52H Stratofortress, 2nd Bomb Wing