Pilots of the F-22 Raptors that shot down the Chinese spy balloon may have taken their callsigns from a famous World War I flying ace. The modern pilots, whose fighter jets on Saturday took off from Langley Air Force base in Virginia, used the callsigns ‘FRANK01’ and ‘FRANK02,’ in honor …

The U.S. Air Force shot down a Chinese spy balloon Saturday afternoon over the Atlantic Ocean, officials said. The balloon’s sensor package appeared to have separated from the balloon intact, and is the subject of an intense recovery effort, sources told Soldier of Fortune. Earlier in the day, the Federal …

The U.S. on Wednesday prepared F-22 fighter jets, and imposed a 50-mile radius ground stop on air traffic in Montana, among other responses to a Chinese spy balloon above the western United States, sources told Soldier of Fortune. The ground stop occurred one day before the Pentagon convened a hasty …

Now that China’s spy balloon got busted flying over the United States, Beijing acknowledges that yes, it’s their balloon, but it’s not what everything thinks it is. The airship is really a weather balloon that blew off course, Beijing says. Media outlets on Thursday night broke the news that NORAD, …

A Chinese spy balloon has been flying at high altitudes above the continental United States, Pentagon officials said on Thursday. “The United States government has detected and is tracking a high-altitude surveillance balloon that is over the continental United States right now,” Pentagon spokesperson Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said in …

Note from publisher Susan Katz Keating: Today marks the third installment of the new Advisory Committee here at Soldier of Fortune. The members are people I trust and admire, and who I have known over the years. I think of them as SOF’s very own Magnificent Seven. They all are veterans …

American military forces killed a key ISIS facilitator and about 10 ISIS operatives in a Wednesday night raid in Somalia, senior administration officials said Thursday. No Americans were killed in the raid, officials said. The key target was Bilal al-Sudani, who had been expanding the terror group’s footprint in Africa. “The …

Note from publisher Susan Katz Keating: Today marks the second installment of a new development at Soldier of Fortune: the addition of an Advisory Committee. The members are people I trust and admire, and who I have known over the years. I think of them as SOF’s very own Magnificent …

“There is deep cold, frozen earth, and fighting.” In this special report, RFE/RL correspondent Maryan Kushnir shows what he encountered on the front line in recent days in Soledar. Ukrainian troops faced waves of Russian and Wagner Group fighters, Kushnir found. Later, Russian forces claimed to have seized control of …

Note from publisher Susan Katz Keating: Today marks the launch of a new development at Soldier of Fortune: the addition of an Advisory Committee. When I first sought to form this board, I approached people I trust and admire, and who I have known over the years. I came up …