International military delegates chat with exhibitors next to a FA-50 multirole fighter jet model developed by Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) at the Defense and Security 2025 exhibition in Nonthaburi, on the outskirts of Bangkok, Thailand. File. Photo by RUNGROJ YONGRIT / EPA
May 4 (Asia Today) — Hanwha Aerospace will acquire additional shares in Korea Aerospace Industries to strengthen cooperation in aviation, space and defense.
Hanwha Aerospace said in a regulatory filing Monday it decided to purchase about 2.96 million additional KAI shares on the open market. The acquisition is valued at up to 500 billion won ($340 million), equivalent to about 2.98% of the company’s equity capital.
The transaction will expand Hanwha Aerospace’s existing stake. The company currently holds about 3.31 million KAI shares. After the additional purchase is completed, its total holdings will rise to about 6.27 million shares, increasing its stake to 6.43%.
The purchase will be made in cash through open-market transactions from this month through December. The final acquisition size may vary depending on market conditions, including share prices.
Hanwha Aerospace said the purpose of the acquisition is to strengthen business cooperation. Industry observers view the move as a strategic step to deepen ties between the two companies in the aerospace and defense sectors.
KAI is South Korea’s leading aerospace company, producing aircraft, satellites and aerospace equipment. It reported 3.7 trillion won ($2.51 billion) in revenue and 187.3 billion won ($127 million) in net income last year.
The investment is expected to help Hanwha Aerospace seek stronger synergies between its businesses in space launch vehicles, aircraft engines and defense systems and KAI’s aircraft and space platform capabilities.
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After years of high-tempo operations in the Middle East, the Israeli Air Force is set to get two new fighter squadrons, one each of the F-15IA and the stealthy F-35I Adir. This will bring the total of F-35I squadrons to four and will add a second squadron of F-15IAs. While the numbers involved were not stated, the IAF has recently bolstered its fighter inventory in the form of 25-aircraft squadrons. This is almost certain to be the case here, too, which would provide the service with an additional 25 examples of each type, for an eventual inventory total of 100 F-35Is and 50 F-15IAs.
שתי טייסות קרב חדשות לצה״ל: ועדת השרים להצטיידות אישרה את תכנית משרד הביטחון וצה״ל לרכש שתי טייסות קרב חדשות מסוג F35 ו-F15IA, בהיקף של עשרות מיליארדי ש”ח
The Israeli Ministry of Defense confirmed on its official social media channels that, over the weekend, the country’s Ministerial Committee on Procurement approved its plan to simultaneously procure two new fighter squadrons.
“The scope of the deals is estimated at tens of billions of shekels and includes the integration of the squadrons into the Air Force, comprehensive support, spare parts, and logistics,” the ministry said.
In a statement today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referenced the two new squadrons. He also noted that, as part of Israel’s investment in military independence through domestic production of armaments and defense technology, the country “will develop groundbreaking Israeli-made aircraft.” He provided no further details about this project, although a fighter, along the lines of the failed Lavi, or even more likely, some kind of Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) type drone, is a possibility, as are different types of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) platforms. We also know of the existence of at least one secretive Israeli drone, referred to as RA-01 and used for covert missions, and further developments along these lines should not be ruled out. We are trying to get clarity on this aspect of the announcement.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:
“Israel is stronger than ever, and Israel must always be significantly stronger than our enemies.
Therefore, I advocate for two principles: Strengthening and independence.
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) May 3, 2026
Now that the acquisition has been approved by the Ministerial Committee, the Director General of the Ministry of Defense has authorized its procurement delegation in the United States to proceed with signing the deals with U.S. government and military officials “in the near future.”
A pair of IAF F-35A Adir and a single F-15I Ra’am join a U.S. Air Force B-52H Stratofortress bomber during a joint exercise. IAF via X
Neither a delivery timeline nor the likely costs of the deals have been specified.
In a statement, Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz explained that the two-squadron procurement is driven by “operational lessons learned from the campaign against Iran [that] require us to accelerate our force buildup.”
An F-35I, apparently seen during Operation Lion’s Roar, armed with external JDAM and AIM-9X Sidewinder. IAF via X
According to Katz, the Israeli campaign against Iran, Operation Lion’s Roar, “again demonstrated the power of the Air Force and its crucial role in safeguarding the security of the State of Israel. The operational lessons learned from this campaign compel us to continue accelerating our force development to ensure the Air Force’s superiority in the decades to come.”
“The procurement of these squadrons is a central part of the ‘Magen Israel’ program, which is designed to ensure the Israel Defense Forces maintains a sustained qualitative edge,” Katz added. “Our mission is clear: to stay one step ahead of our enemies.”
Magen Israel — Israeli Shield in Hebrew — includes other investments, too. As well as the new additional new fighters, it will provide funding for what is described as “a technological leap forward in the development and integration of autonomous flight capabilities, next-generation advanced defense systems, and the establishment of Israeli military superiority — both defensive and offensive — in space.”
The Magen Israel initiative has been approved by Prime Minister Netanyahu and the defense minister and will provide a budget of close to $120 billion over the next 10 years. Some of the funding for the new aircraft will almost certainly come from the United States, which delivers billions of dollars in military funding to Israel each year, largely tied to American weapons. Since October 7, 2023, Washington has surged tens of billions of dollars more, fast-tracking arms to the IDF.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the cockpit of an F-15 fighter during a visit to an Israeli Air Force base. Photo by GPO via Getty Images
Maj. Gen. (res.) Amir Baram, the director general of the Israeli Ministry of Defense, described the procurement as the “first and central step in implementing […] force buildup for a challenging security decade.”
“In the face of evolving threats in the region and alongside immediate procurement for wartime needs, we are committed to acting now to ensure the IDF’s military superiority even a decade from now and beyond,” Baram continued. “Operation Lion’s Roar has once again demonstrated the crucial importance of the strategic partnership between Israel and the U.S. and the need for advanced air power. The combination of the two squadrons’ distinct capabilities will provide the Air Force with full flexibility to address a wide range of combat scenarios.”
Israel signed a contract, with a ceiling of $8.58 billion, for its first 25 F-15IAs in December last year. These will be the first new Eagles that the country has acquired since 1999, when it received the last of its 25 F-15I Ra’am jets.
A rendering of the F-15IA for Israel. Boeing
That contract covered the design, integration, instrumentation, test, production, and delivery of 25 new F-15IAs, with an option for an additional 25, which Israel will now exercise.
Work on the first batch of F-15IAs is expected to be completed by the end of 2035. The aircraft will almost certainly feature extensive Israeli-specific modifications, as was the case with previous Eagles, especially when it comes to electronic warfare, weapons, and communications systems.
In August 2024, Israel was given U.S. approval to buy as many as 50 F-15IAs, as well as upgrade its existing F-15Is as part of an overall package valued at $18.82 billion that you can read about here.
In the past, the Israeli Ministry of Defense has said that deliveries of the F-15IAs would start in 2031, with between four and six aircraft being supplied annually.
The status of the plan to upgrade the F-15I fleet is unclear, but the additional F-15IAs will likely be earmarked for replacing the older F-15A-to-D Baz, two squadrons of which are still active.
An F-15I Ra’am carrying 2,000-pound class GBU-31 JDAMs. IAF via X
The Baz is used for both air-to-air and air-to-ground missions, but these are mainly very old jets, with the first examples having seen combat as long ago as 1979. These jets have been successively upgraded and also bolstered through transfers from U.S. Air Force stocks. They have also been heavily employed in recent combat operations.
The Baz fleet is highly illustrative of the fact that the IAF has been working at a considerable tempo for the last few years, something that has clearly put immense stress and additional hours on its fighters, some of which are 50 years old.
For Israel, the F-15 in general is prized for its long range and impressive stores-carrying capabilities. As well as significant ‘magazine depth,’ the latest versions of the F-15 also have a notable ability to carry outsize weapons, including hypersonic missiles, another feature of the jet that will be of particular interest to Israel. The IAF is increasingly reliant upon air-launched ballistic missiles and other air-launched standoff weapons, for which the F-15 is an ideal launch platform.
The Baz is used for both air-to-air and air-to-ground missions, but these are mainly very old jets, with the first examples having seen combat as long ago as 1979. Successively upgraded and also bolstered through transfers from U.S. Air Force stocks, these jets remain very valuable to the Israeli Air Force, as demonstrated by their prominent role in recent combat operations.
A trio of F-15A-to-D Baz fighters carrying mixed air-to-air and air-to-ground payloads. Amit Agronov/IAF
Meanwhile, the F-35I is increasingly becoming a mainstay of the IAF for a range of combat missions both in close proximity to Israel and over much greater distances.
In 2023, Israel opted to buy a third squadron of F-35Is, covering 25 more jets worth approximately $3 billion, and expand the Adir fleet to 75 aircraft. This batch of jets is scheduled to be delivered starting in 2028.
Last year, Israeli “Adir” (F-35I) fighter jets successfully intercepted two Iranian UAVs launched towards Israeli territory. pic.twitter.com/FQsEjKzxct
A photo published by the Israeli Air Force shows the unique instrumented F-35I assigned to the Flight Test Center carrying four external 2,000-pound class GBU-31 JDAMs, plus AMRAAMs. IAF via X
Carrying external stores erodes the F-35’s valuable stealth characteristics in return for providing a considerably larger payload. For many of the kinds of missions that the IAF flies, especially against opposition with little to no meaningful air defense capabilities, such a tradeoff is well worthwhile.
As we have described in the past, there are strong arguments for Israel to pursue a policy of procuring a mix of fighters:
“Buying the F-15IA and F-35I will provide the Israeli Air Force with two complementary platforms, both of which are among the most capable anywhere in the world, especially when it comes to long-range strike. Israeli F-15s, in particular, are also used for forward networking and command and control nodes, vital for managing long-range operations. On the other hand, both the F-15IA and F-35I are also more than efficient for air defense, including against drone threats, as well as air-to-ground operations closer to Israel, such as the ongoing conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon.”
Overall, given the still-precarious security situation in the Middle East, and the strong possibility of more combat operations against Iran and others, as well as the proven nature of both aircraft types, Israel’s decision to buy more F-15IAs and F-35Is is hardly surprising.
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The U.S. Air Force’s budget for the 2027 Fiscal Year looks like it will bring a massive boost for the F-15EX program, with the planned buy now reportedly standing at 267 jets. TWZ was the first to report on the existence of what was then known as the F-15X, and has repeatedly argued in the past that investing in the Eagle II is a very logical decision for the Air Force. This is especially the case as the service looks to a future without its F-15E Strike Eagles, which have borne the brunt of combat operations for decades.
According to Breaking Defense, the Air Force’s fiscal 2027 budget, revealed yesterday, looks to buy another 24 F-15EXs at a cost of $3 billion, but this is just the start, according to the new plan. Ultimately, the service wants to more than double its previous Eagle II buy, which previously stood at 129 jets, with the total having fluctuated in recent years.
A formation of four U.S. Air Force F-15EXs assigned to Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, flies over the Gulf of Mexico. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Blake Wiles
The new move is primarily a response to the need to “begin to recapitalize the aging F-15E fleet,” an Air Force spokesperson toldBreaking Defense.
The plan will be supported by the Trump administration’s gargantuan defense budget for fiscal 2027, which requests approximately $1.5 trillion in total funding. You can read more about this development in our previous coverage of the budget, which includes munitions, missile defense, shipbuilding, and other programs, as well as aircraft. It’s important to note that this controversial proposal still has to pass through Congress, and some changes to it will be made, at the very least.
When the budget was first rolled out, it included funding sought for another 24 F-15EXs, but didn’t include details on the dramatic change to the planned total fleet size for the aircraft.
An F-15EX assigned to Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, flies a training mission over the southeast United States. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Blake Wiles
Now, the Air Force has made clear that it wants to keep the F-15EX production line open for longer, ensuring that it will receive both fifth-generation F-35As and F-15EXs — the latest iteration of the F-15 that first entered service with the Air Force in 1976. Ultimately, a third line will spin up once the sixth-generation F-47 combat jet enters series production. As for the F-35, these are still being bought in the latest budget request, and they also get a boost, but they are not currently being delivered with radar, as the Block 4 upgrade is in limbo.
The Pentagon in its budget request says it can speed up fielding of the F-35’s Block 4 by a year, to 2030, as it increases spending on the program. This is reliant on reconciliation approvalhttps://t.co/F5NdnDxpKT
Overall, the Air Force expects to see its budget increase by around a whopping 38 percent compared to fiscal 2026, to $338.8 billion. Of those funds, a significant proportion will go into procurement, driving this up by around 30 percent, although that covers all assets, and not just new fighters.
The budget also includes significant increases for weapon system sustainment and flying hours.
At the same time, the Air Force budget includes requests to retire a number of aging aircraft, something that the increased F-15EX numbers will help address.
In particular, for fiscal 2027, the Air Force wants to get rid of 20 F-15Es. These would be the oldest examples, which include the aircraft fitted with the less powerful Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-220 engines.
The F-15EX sits alongside an F-15E Strike Eagle at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. U.S. Air Force photo/1st Lt. Karissa Rodriguez
Of course, it remains possible that lawmakers will block such a move, although having more F-15EXs to replace these jets should make it a more acceptable proposal.
Additional F-15EXs mean more capability for the Air Force.
While the F-15EX will almost certainly take on a multirole mission once it’s more established in service, the air-to-air mission is currently the priority due to the Air National Guard getting the first of these jets. These units are tasked with the homeland air sovereignty mission, which focuses on intercepting aircraft and shooting down potential barrages of cruise missiles and, now, long-range one-way attack drones. As we have outlined in the past, the F-15EX is ideal for this role, especially, and a much more reasonable proposition for this mission than a more complex fifth-generation platform:
In the homeland defense role, which is the bread and butter of the F-15C/D ANG units, the F-15EX’s payload, range, open architecture, very advanced electronic surveillance and warfare suite, and overall adaptability will be of incredible use over many decades of service. You do not need a stealth fighter to do this mission. In fact, much of what is traded in terms of reliability, performance, and sustainment cost for low observability hinders the homeland defense mission. This includes raw kinematic performance. The F-15 can get places very fast when it needs to and still has fuel left over to do something once it is there, which is critical for quick reaction alert missions.
U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Matthew Olde, the F-15 director of programs and operations at Defense Contract Management Agency Boeing St. Louis, exits an F-15EX at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Michigan. U.S. Air National Guard photo by Tech. Sgt. Andrew Schumann
The customer also seems very happy with the jets.
In its 2025 annual report, the Office of the Director, Operational Test & Evaluation (DOT&E) provided an absolutely glowing assessment of the F-15EX, as you can read about here.
In terms of the air-to-air mission set, the report noted:
“Against the level of threat tested, the F-15EX is operationally effective in all its air superiority roles, including defensive and offensive counter-air against surrogate fifth-generation adversary aircraft, as well as basic air-to-ground capability against the tested threats.”
The reference to the F-15EX’s effectiveness against fifth-generation threats is especially notable. While it’s unclear exactly what kinds of threats are being referred to, a fifth-generation fighter will typically have a low-observable design, advanced ‘sensor-fused’ avionics, and generally high performance, among other attributes. In fact, very much the kind of threat that the Air Force would expect to face in a potential conflict with China.
Once the F-15EX takes on more offensive missions, it becomes even more relevant, especially as an F-15E successor, including carrying outsized payloads, among them hypersonic missiles, over long distances, which would likely be critical in a conflict in the Pacific.
But even without these offensive attributes, the Eagle II offers capabilities that are unique in the Air Force.
An F-15EX fires an AIM-120D missile during a test mission near Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. The F-15EX can carry up to 12 AIM-120 missiles. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. John Raven
Using the F-15EX as an arsenal ship of sorts, especially when equipped with long-range missiles, in cooperation with its stealthy counterparts operating silently and forward, is a tactic, among others, we have long discussed. Equally compelling is the case for the two-seat Eagle II serving as a ‘drone controller’ for the Air Force’s forthcoming Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA).
Beyond all this, the F-15EX can carry a lot of payload over a long distance, to include traditional air-to-ground weapons. If the F-15EXs replace F-15Es, they will certainly have a focus on air-to-ground missions, as well.
Just as important as its capabilities and its proven airframe, the F-15EX promises to deliver a lot on the investment. The jets should provide lower operational and sustainment costs compared to both legacy and fifth-generation types, and over many decades.
In the past, Boeing told TWZ that the F-15EX has a 20,000-hour airframe service life. “This has been enabled by running a full-scale fatigue test long enough to show structure that is good beyond 20,000 hours, and structural redesigns purposely implemented by Boeing have addressed known fatigue-critical locations,” the company’s Rob Novotny explained. This is a major benefit of an extremely mature and evolved airframe. It will be able to serve for the better part of a century at common usage rates. When you amortize the unit cost over, in some cases, two and a half times the service life of most fast jets, it offers a very clear value proposition. The cost per flight hour is also well understood after decades of Eagle operations, including years of service of similar advanced variants.
The airframe life alone is key here. 20k on these! Most tactical jets are roughly around 8k then SLEP to 10k. It’s not just about the cost of acquisition, that is really a smaller factor. Operational and sustainment cost and longevity are critical factors.
The program was then slated to grow from 98 aircraft to 129 in the Fiscal Year 2026 budget proposal.
That decision came only weeks after President Trump made the surprise announcement that the Michigan Air National Guard, which is losing its A-10 attack jets, will be reequipped with the F-15EX.
At that point, Portland, Fresno, New Orleans, and two squadrons at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan, were slated to get the F-15EX. This plan would have required some 90 jets out of the 98-aircraft inventory. Adding Michigan, and based on those squadrons expanding to 21 jets, would require 126 aircraft. That would have left just three aircraft to satisfy test, evaluation, and training requirements.
F-15 Eagle Crew Chiefs inspect their aircraft on the flight line at Kadena Air Base, Japan. DoD photo by Master Sgt. Val Gempis, U.S. Air Force. (Released)
Increasing the planned buy to 267 jets opens up the possibility of creating 13 squadrons of 21 jets, with three F-15EXs left over. Exactly what final balance the Air Force decides upon remains to be seen, but whichever way you look at it, it’s a major boon for the Combat Air Forces.
It seems almost inevitable that at least some of the additional F-15EXs will be used to replace aging F-15Es.
The possibility of swapping out F-15Es for F-15EXs is something we discussed back in 2020.
In an official Justification and Approval document at the time, the Air Force stated:
“The objective of this program is to rapidly develop, integrate, and field the F-15EX weapon system to refresh/replace aging F-15C/D aircraft. A decision to also refresh F-15E aircraft has not yet been made, but remains an option.”
After four losses in Operation Epic Fury, the relatively small 215-strong Strike Eagle fleet remains in high demand with an enduring commitment in the U.S. Central Command region that leverages many impressive niche capabilities. With just six frontline Strike Eagle squadrons, at least one is always deployed. The F-15E is also capable of delivering nuclear weapons and is the first jet certified to employ the newest variant of the B61 tactical nuclear bomb.
An F-15E from Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, carrying a B61 Joint Test Assembly, departs Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, for the Tonopah Test Range. U.S. Air Force/Courtesy photo by Santos Torres
Replacing these critical jets is fast becoming a priority, and one that the F-15EX is uniquely suited to fulfill.
The F-15E shares similar cutting-edge technology as found in the F-15EX. It has been upgraded with the Raytheon AN/APG-82(V)1 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, the new Advanced Display Core Processor (ADCP) II, and it too is receiving the new Eagle Passive/Active Warning Survivability System, or EPAWSS, self-protection system.
With the F-15EX numbers outlined in its fiscal 2027 budget request, the Air Force would be well placed to replace a significant proportion of its Strike Eagle inventory.
As well as the F-15E, the Air Force needs to replace F-16s and A-10s. At least some of the planned retirements of these types could be covered by F-15EXs. Having the line healthy and warm could allow for more Eagle IIs to be bought to cover the F-15E fleet and some F-16 and A-10 retirements beyond the 267 F-15EXs currently planned. This may make even more sense as the F-16 ages and becomes more expensive to operate, in particular.
With the Air Force at large feeling the effects of years of underinvestment in new fighters, and with China presenting a massive pacing challenge, the Air National Guard is now pushing Congress to approve multiyear funding for the acquisition of between 72 and 100 new fighters each year. Again, the Eagle II could help meet this need, although there are limits to what the production line can support, especially with foreign orders.
An F-15C assigned to the 123rd Fighter Squadron, Portland Air National Guard Base, Oregon, taxis to the runway at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, while an F-15EX assigned to the 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, prepares to take off. U.S. Air Force photo by William R. Lewis
It remains to be seen exactly how the jets will be fielded and, as noted earlier, Congress will have to approve this budget request for it to be signed into law.
As it stands, however, the F-15EX appears to be going from strength to strength, with the Air Force increasingly enthusiastic about the latest iteration of the iconic Eagle.
Streaming entertainment giant Netflix is in negotiations to buy the historic Radford Studio Center lot in Studio City.
Netflix plans to purchase the Los Angeles studio that has been home to generations of landmark television shows, including “Gunsmoke” and “Seinfeld,” according to two people with knowledge of the pending deal who were not authorized to speak about it publicly.
The studio’s previous operator, Hackman Capital Partners, defaulted on a $1.1-billion mortgage in January. Investment bank Goldman Sachs took over the property and is in talks with Netflix to sell it for between $330 million and $400 million.
Representatives for Hackman and Netflix declined to comment on the planned sale.
Culver City-based Hackman Capital Partners and Square Mile Capital Management teamed up to buy the Radford Avenue property from ViacomCBS in 2021 with a winning bid of $1.85 billion, after a competitive battle for the 55-acre studio beloved by the television industry.
At the time, the staggering price tag underscored the value — and scarcity — of TV soundstages in Los Angeles as content producers scrambled for space to shoot TV shows and movies to stock their streaming services. It was one of the largest-ever real estate transactions for a TV studio complex in Los Angeles.
Since then, production has substantially declined in Southern California. L.A. continues to battle the loss of production to other states and countries, as well as the lingering effects on the industry of the pandemic and the 2023 dual writers’ and actors’ strikes. Cutbacks in spending at the major studios after a surge in streaming-fueled TV production have further damped film activity in the region.
Founded by silent film comedy legend Mack Sennett in 1928, the lot became known as “Hit City” in the decades after World War II as popular TV shows such as “Leave It to Beaver,” “Gilligan’s Island,” “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “The Bob Newhart Show” and “Will & Grace” were made there. The storied lot gave the Studio City neighborhood its name,
Netflix, which has a market cap of about $455 billion — more than double that of Walt Disney Co. — has maintained its dominance in the global streaming business with more than 325 million subscribers.
The Los Gatos-based company has production offices worldwide, including facilities in Albuquerque, Brooklyn, London, Madrid and Toronto.
Netflix had secured an $82.7-billion deal to buy Warner Bros. studios and streaming services in December, but withdrew from the bidding war in late February after Paramount Skydance offered $31 a share. As part of the switch, Netflix was paid a $2.8-billion termination fee.
