Naval Fleet Of The World

21/08/2026

€21.24 billion in new arms orders in one year — and the Rafale, the same jet that flies from the deck of the Charles de Gaulle, is still doing the heavy lifting. France's 2025 export ledger, unpacked: https://migflug.com/jetflights/french-arms-exports-2025-rafale-record-2026/

France’s 2025 arms exports held at €21.2 billion, its report to Parliament shows, with the Rafale and a big Indian Navy order again leading the book.

21/08/2026

The carrier's quarterback is getting a new brain. The E-2D Advanced Hawkeye's biggest-ever upgrade just passed its critical design review — no new wing, no new rotodome, everything changes behind the fuselage skin. Read the full story on migflug.com/jetflights

21/08/2026

Every modern aircraft carrier — American, British, French, Chinese — has one thing in common: the landing area is angled a few degrees off the centreline. That crooked deck started as a sketch by a Royal Navy captain, and it solved the deadliest problem in naval aviation: what happens when a jet misses the wires.

The napkin idea that made the jet carrier possible:
https://migflug.com/jetflights/angled-flight-deck-invention-carrier/

The angled flight deck let carrier jets go around after a missed landing instead of crashing. A British invention that made modern jet carrier operations possible.

20/08/2026

A man in a minivan photographing B-2 stealth bombers through a fence. Engineers with two lives. Front companies buying jet parts. The decades-long hunt for the West's aerospace secrets is bigger than any one spy story — and it's still running: https://migflug.com/jetflights/china-espionage-western-jet-secrets/

From B-2 stealth to jet engines: the documented cases of Chinese espionage against Western aerospace and defence technology — and Beijing's denial.

20/08/2026

Two aircraft carriers quietly swapped ends of the same sea in the same week. As USS George Washington left the South China Sea, China's newest carrier Fujian moved in - catapults and all. What does the rotation tell us about the balance in the Pacific?

Full story: https://migflug.com/jetflights/china-fujian-carrier-south-china-sea-us-carrier-rotation/

As USS George Washington headed west out of the South China Sea, China’s newest carrier Fujian sailed back in.

16/08/2026

Ever wondered what happens when a warship runs out of drones mid-deployment? The answer used to be: wait for a resupply ship. Aboard USS Essex, it now means switching on a printer. Firestorm's xCell system builds drones at sea, on demand, from raw stock - and it may quietly change how long a ship can keep fighting. Full story: https://migflug.com/jetflights/firestorm-xcell-3d-printed-drones-uss-essex-sea-2026/

Firestorm Labs 3D-printed 1,000+ parts and 12 Squall drones aboard USS Essex in 12-foot seas - the first factory-in-a-box built combat drones at sea.

16/08/2026

Aircraft carriers are the ultimate way for a navy to say we are here. So when two of them swap ends of the same sea in the same week, pay attention.

China's newest carrier Fujian moved into the South China Sea just as the USS George Washington moved out. Same water, very different message.

https://migflug.com/jetflights/china-fujian-carrier-south-china-sea-us-carrier-rotation/

As USS George Washington headed west out of the South China Sea, China’s newest carrier Fujian sailed back in.

16/08/2026

Ever wondered how America's first seagoing nuclear deterrent actually worked? Long before Polaris and Tomahawk, a submarine had to surface in enemy waters, roll a cruise missile out of a hangar on deck, and launch it while sitting on the open sea. The Regulus crews knew exactly how exposed that made them. Their story: https://migflug.com/jetflights/vought-regulus-submarine-cruise-missile-deterrent/

Before Polaris, the Vought Regulus gave the US Navy its first sea-based nuclear deterrent - a jet cruise missile subs had to surface to launch.

14/08/2026

When the Supermarine Scimitar first crashed onto a carrier deck in 1958, it was the biggest, heaviest and most powerful aircraft the Fleet Air Arm had ever tried to fly from a ship. Twin Avons gave it so much thrust a pilot could stand it on its tail - and the Royal Navy paid dearly for that power. The story: https://migflug.com/jetflights/supermarine-scimitar-royal-navy/

The Supermarine Scimitar was the Fleet Air Arm's biggest, heaviest and most powerful jet, and Supermarine's last aircraft, but it flew a deadly line.

10/08/2026

France retired it. Britain retired it. But somewhere over India, the SEPECAT Jaguar is still thundering along at low level — and the Indian Air Force is buying up the world's last spare parts to keep its 'Shamsher' flying. The story of the Cold War strike jet only one country still flies: https://migflug.com/jetflights/sepecat-jaguar-india-last-operator-shamsher/

Long after Europe retired it, India still flies the SEPECAT Jaguar strike jet, known there as the Shamsher, as the world's last operator.