Fightersweep

Back in May, a Russian Su-27 fighter intercepted an unarmed U.S. Navy P-8 surveillance plane while flying in international airspace over the increasingly contested Baltic Sea. The intercept, like many before it, was characterized as “unprofessional” by American Defense Officials, but received little fanfare in the American media. Why? Well, in short, it’s because these […]

Editor’s note: Erik Meisner served in Attack Company, 2nd Battalion 75th Ranger Regiment as a rifle team leader with deployments to the Middle East, Central America and Asia. He is also a licensed pilot. The following is his breakdown of the footage below: This raw video shows how air assets can support ground forces in […]

A B-1B Lancer, assigned to the 28th Bomb Wing, Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., and a KC-135 Stratotanker, assigned to the 328th Air Refueling Squadron, 914th Air Refueling Wing, Niagara Falls, N.Y., conduct aerial refueling over the continental United States on Dec. 10, 2018. The Lancer serves as premier platform for America’s long-range bomber force, […]

The flight began like any other, with the B-1B from the 7th Bomb Wing at Dyess Air Force Base in Texas on a routine return flight when a fire warning light popped on inside the cockpit on May 1 of this year. The Lancer’s four-man crew, comprised of a commander, copilot, offensive systems operator, and […]

The pilot that visually confirmed reports of an unidentified flying object in the skies over Arizona for air traffic controllers this past February has been identified as Blenus Green, an accomplished aviator and retired Air Force B-1B Lancer pilot, and according to him, it was no airplane. At right around 3:30 p.m. on February 24th, […]

The Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II, or “Warthog” as it’s commonly known, was the first aircraft the U.S. Air Force ever purpose built specifically for close air support operations. In the years since its introduction in 1976, it has become a trademark of American combat operations, providing quick-action support for U.S. and allied ground troops […]

A KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft with the 151st Air Refueling Wing prepares to refuel an HC-130J Combat King II with the 79th Recuse Squadron after a medevac mission over the Pacific Ocean Dec. 1, 2018. After a seven and a half hour flight, the HC-130 needed fuel to reach its destination of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, […]

Almost two decades after the catastrophic 9/11 attacks, al-Qaeda seems capable of mounting similar terrorist strikes involving hijacked airplanes. Despite the relentless pounding that the terrorist organisation has received at the hands of the U.S. and its international allies, the recent focus on the Islamic State (ISIS) appears to have given the arch-terrorist group the […]

Prior to last June, a U.S. aircraft hasn’t been forced to shoot down a manned enemy aircraft since a pair of Air Force F-15’s defeated two Serbian MiG 29’s in 1999. With that significant a gap in combat operations of that sort, one could be forgiven for fist pumping a bit about the Navy’s F/A-18E […]

Airmen of the 2nd Maintenance Squadron wash a B-52H Stratofortress during phase maintenance process at Barksdale Air Force Base, La.   U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Jonathan Snyder/3rd Combat Camera Squadron

The Kremlin offered up a late Christmas gift on Wednesday, unveiling brand new footage of a hypersonic missile test conducted that same day. The “Avangard” missile platform is a boost-glide vehicle that is deployed from the tip of an ICBM before gliding back to earth in a controlled descent at speeds in excess of Mach […]

Fifth-generation fighters may be the air frames of the future, but that future may not be quite as close as it seems. When it comes to the dog fights of the 21st Century, America may now be looking toward a workhorse of the past under the guise of the new F-15X program. The F-35, often […]