RBT's Defense Blog

It’s been over a decade since the last Boeing C-17 Globemaster III rolled off the assembly line in Long Beach, California.  When India bought the ‘White Tail’ it seemingly brought an end to the era of America's premier heavy-lift tactical transport. However, global security dynamics have shifted dramatically. India needs to double its heavy lift transporter fleet, and I had created a blog about how the C-17 production line could be shifted and started in India. Now, buzz from major defence circles, including official acknowledgments from Boeing leadership; indicates that early-stage discussions are underway regarding a potential, highly extraordinary reboot of the C-17 Globemaster III production line. In the world of military aviation, once a production line closes, it’s almost always dead for good. The tooling gets dismantled, the specialized supply chains evaporate, and the engineering talent disperses to other programs. The Strategic Void: Why C-17 is Irreplaceable ...

For nearly two decades, the General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper was the undisputed king of the skies in modern asymmetric warfare. It was the poster child of the Global War on Terror—an exquisite, hunter-killer platform that could loiter over a target for over 24 hours, beaming back high-definition video before quietly delivering a precision strike. But the geopolitical landscape has shifted dramatically. High-intensity conflicts and advanced air defense networks have exposed the Reaper’s Achilles' heel: it was designed for permissive environments, not contested ones. Faced with mounting combat losses and an unsustainable financial equation, the U.S. Air Force (USAF) has officially set its sights on what comes next. In mid-2026, top military officials finalized the requirements for a successor program, colloquially dubbed "MQ-9 Next." Here is a look inside the strategic shift that is fundamentally redefining the future of unmanned aerial warfare. The Catalyst: The R...

                          Russia has offered its Superjet SJ-100 to India to manufacture it and boost the number of passenger aircrafts available for regional travel in India. India and Russia have committed to a new aircraft production partnership, with India’s state-backed Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) signing a memorandum of understanding with Russia’s PJSC United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) to produce civil commuter SJ-100 aircraft, the companies have announced. The Superjet SJ-100 is a twin-engine, narrow-body Russian regional passenger aircraft already in commercial service, with more than 200 units operating across 16 airlines worldwide. Under the new arrangement, HAL will have the rights to manufacture the aircraft in India for Indian customers. The agreement, signed in Moscow on Tuesday (October 28), marks a significant step in India’s ongoing efforts to manufacture a passenger aircraft for the first time. HA...