●Monitor
MIL layer · military flights
/monitorWhat it answers
Live positions of detected military aircraft: airframe type, altitude, speed, heading, operator, theater, nearest home base.
When to open it
- To spot a surge on a theater: an unusual deployment of AWACS, tankers or recon generally runs ahead of an operation of any size.
- When brent or the safe-haven tape moves with no obvious headline: check whether fighters or bombers are airborne over a sensitive area.
- To place a Military or Conflict headline: see for yourself what is flying, where, and under whose flag.
Anatomy
Switch on MIL in the layer grid at top right. Each aircraft shows up as an icon colored by type and turned to its heading. Several of the color codes share the operational tape's palette (red = combat / high value, amber = strategic support, blue = patrol, purple = drone).
Click one and an info card opens in the top-right corner, while the last 24 hours of track is drawn on the map.
How to read it
The icon on the map
| Element | How to read it |
|---|---|
| Color | Fighter · Bomber · Attack · Recon · AWACS · Patrol · Drone · Tanker · ISR · Transport · Helo · Trainer · VIP · Unknown. |
| Orientation | The icon points along the heading. |
| Z-ordering | Where icons overlap, high-value types (Fighter, Bomber, Drone, Attack, AWACS) sit above Trainer / Transport / Helo. |
The info card (click a flight)
| Block | How to read it |
|---|---|
| Header | Type dot plus the label in caps (FIGHTER, TANKER…), the ICAO type code where known, then AIR / GND for its state. |
| Callsign + registration | Radio callsign (or the ICAO24 hex failing that), followed by the civil registration where published. |
| ALT / SPD / TRK | Altitude as a flight level (FL360 = 36,000 ft pressure), ground speed in knots, track in degrees. |
| Operator + SQ | The operating force (US Air Force, RAF, IRIAF…) and the transponder squawk code. |
| Timestamp | Relative (Just now, Nm ago…). |
| Near | Nearest military base when the aircraft is within range. |
| Theater + ICAO | The operational theater it is assigned to, and its ICAO24 hex. |
The track drawn on the map
Clicking draws the aircraft's path over the last 24 hours. It clears on its own when you click empty space or another object.
Controls
| Gesture | Effect |
|---|---|
| MIL toggle in the grid at top right | Turns the layer on or off. |
| Click a flight | Opens the info card and draws the 24h track. With Fly on, the camera recenters on it. |
| Click empty space or Esc | Closes the card and clears the track. |
| Click the info card | Opens the matching Intel page in a new tab. |
The layer reloads automatically every 30 seconds.
Cross-check with other Hawkline features
- An abnormal concentration of AWACS + tankers: TDI, Flights stream — see whether the theater is off baseline.
- An active ZONE near heavy airframes in flight: the event feeds its signal count.
- Cross-check with Bases in the reference layers to read take-off and landing patterns.
Keep in mind
- ADS-B is a self-declared signal. Plenty of military platforms switch their transponder off, spoof their registration, or fly under a civil callsign. An empty map doesn't mean an empty sky — least of all over Ukraine, Yemen or Taiwan.
- No mission inference. The layer shows what is flying, not why. A B-52 over the Pacific can be a routine patrol or a deterrence signal — the reading is yours to make.