Fightersweep

Video courtesy Royal Air Force via YouTube Today marks the 100th anniversary of one of the bloodiest World War I battles.  The Battle of the Somme was fought in northern France with the British suffering almost 60,000 casualties on the first day alone. Somme was fought between 1 July and 18 November 1916, with over a […]

Editor’s note:  In our inaugural “6 Questions” interview, FighterSweep.com was lucky enough to sit down with former F-14 Tomcat pilot and current NASA Astronaut CDR Reid “Tonto” Wiseman, USN, for a quick chat. We hope you enjoy! On May 29, 2014, Reid Wiseman launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the International Space Station […]

FighterSweep Fans, I teased you a couple months ago with a little snippet of the Dambusters Cruise video. Ever since that video came out, we at FighterSweep have been accused of being heartless and cruel for such a tease. Subsequently, we’ve taken it upon ourselves to rectify that situation, because it’s only a tease if […]

I remember sitting in my living room with my dad when I was a kid, watching Clint Eastwood in “Firefox.” The jet was just…cool: twin vertical stabs, two big motors, a ton of wing, canards, and more. It was just a big, menacing beast of an airplane. Arguably the most “futuristic” quality of the fictional […]

FighterSweep Fans, we talked a lot in the pass about the progression one would take from pedestrian to U.S. Air Force fighter pilot. After you track T-38s and receive your coveted wings, the next flying stop in your pipeline prior to your B-Course is a curriculum known as IFF, or Introduction to Fighter Fundamentals. In […]

There are quite a few things our Air Force requires to ensure battlespace dominance in the future. One of those things is low observable or “stealth” technology. That said, we cannot understate this obvious fact: we need another outfit in our closet besides a tuxedo. It’s typically a common-sense conversation for the majority of us, […]

China has made it abundantly clear: no one is immune from their making up the rules as they seek to expand their sphere of influence in the South Pacific. In another incident of territorial dispute, China has recently claimed the waters surrounding the Natuna Islands are “traditional fishing grounds.” China has acknowledged the islands belong […]

The investigation into the fatal March 2015 BAE Hawk mishap at MCAS Yuma has concluded, and the FAA is pointing in three directions. The Federal Aviation Administration has cited pilot error, USAF oversight, and USMC airport policies as probable causes for the stall. The NTSB report is definitely an interesting and eye-opening read. Take a […]

Both the Navy’s Legacy and Super Hornet fleets are having devastating readiness issues. Currently, three out of four Hornets are not ready to go to war. Why? The issue is threefold; demand for strike fighters to support missions in U.S. Central Command, the oft-discussed F-35C delay, and funding issues stemming from the Budget Control Act […]

The F-22 Raptor, the most feared combat aircraft in the world, is also much-maligned and has certainly had its share of challenges to overcome. The final aircraft to roll off the production line is 10-4195, and currently serves as the flagship for the 525th Fighter Squadron at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska. Aircraft 4195 was […]

An often ridiculed aircraft for its cost, high-profile accidents, and program delays in its infancy, the Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey has been consistently fielding new capabilities and is now adding yet another role to its burgeoning repertoire: air refueling. Having undergone proof-of-concept testing on an Osprey in Texas in August 2013, last week Naval Air Systems Command awarded a $58+ million […]

A Happy Saturday to you all, FighterSweep Fans! Our good friends down in the Land of No Slack recently embarked on a trip which took them to Kuopio, Finland. They were able to partake in a combined training exercise with European partner nations, but focused predominantly on the Finnish Air Force. The visit was much […]