From The Cockpit: Another Raptor B-Course Graduates!

Happy F-22sDay, FighterSweep Fans! What would a Tuesday be without a little Raptor awesomeness? We can’t speak for the rest of you, by the F-22 is definitely a favorite of ours, and this gives you a pretty rare peek inside the life of students learning how to tame the beast. This video comes from the […]

South Korea, USAF Combine Forces During “Buddy Wing”

[Editor’s Note: The long-standing alliance between the United States and Republic of Korea was demonstrated once again during Exercise Buddy Wing, where American pilots joined their South Korean counterparts in joint exercise “Buddy Wing.” There are some very familiar faces in this video, so we’ll give a special shout-out to the bros at the 36 […]

Hennings: An A-10 Pilot Reflects On The Superbowl!

[Editor’s Note: I remember reading about Chad Hennings as a younger man, inspired by his story of truly putting “service before self” and flying the Mighty Hawg during Desert Storm, then earning a spot on “America’s Team”–the Dallas Cowboys–after attending a tryout. What an awesome story! We hope you enjoy this one as much as we […]

Hawg Driver Coordinates Desert Storm Rescue Mission!

Editor’s Note: Twenty-five years after Operation Desert Storm began, there are still amazing stories of bravery and heroism emerging. Major General Johnson, currently the Director, Operational Capability Requirements, Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategic Plans and Requirements for the U.S. Air Force. Back then, he was a Hawg Driver who happened to be in the […]

Another “First” For USAF’s First Female Fighter Pilot

Editor’s Note: “Tally” has been an inspiration for most of our female fighter pilot friends. She was the Air Force’s very first female fighter pilot, the first female fighter pilot to graduate from the prestigious Weapons School, the first female fighter pilot to become a WIC instructor, and the first female to command an active-duty fighter […]

Pilot Saves Special Operations Team In Afghanistan!

Editor’s Note: To a man (or woman), our friends in tactical aviation don’t for an instant consider themselves heroes. They understand their mission is to support combat operations on the ground, and while the threat they face in the air is no less lethal or dangerous, the reverence of these pilots is always directed at the […]

EC-130H Compass Call: An Invaluable Combat Asset!

Editor’s Note: While they certainly do not get all the love and attention as their fighter and bomber counterparts, the aircraft contributing to combat operations using non-kinetic effects are just as vital to overall mission success. One such aircraft is the EC-130H “Compass Call,” an airborne tactical weapon system designed to disrupt communications, launch offensive […]

Which Combat Aircraft Are The Most Mission Ready?

Editor’s Note: There’s no denying the current ops tempo is absolutely crushing both man and machine. Compounding that fact is the age of our fleet. Calling a spade a spade, the median age of our airborne warfighting capability is…old. In this current fiscal climate, it’s going to get worse before it gets better, and one […]

Renewed F-22 Production A Non-Starter?

Editor’s Note: We concur with many members of Air Force senior leadership when they’ve said capping the production of the F-22A Raptor was an incredibly poor decision. We all got excited when a past presidential candidate promised to re-open the line, extolling Lockheed-Martin’s decision to retain the tooling and materials as brilliant. We absolutely agree. […]

“Maloney’s Pony” takes the fight to Daesh!

A Lockheed-Martin F-22A Raptor belonging to the “Fighting Eagles” of the 27th Fighter Squadron from Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia spent some time with the F-22 Combined Test Force at Edwards AFB, California this past year, playing a part in the Signature Management Program designed to help maintain the Raptor’s low-observable traits as radar and detection technologies improve. While that […]

B-1B Lancers Downrange: Taking The Fight To Daesh

Happy Sunday, FighterSweep Faithful! We know the articles have been coming through in a trickle for the past couple weeks, but please bear with us; we’ve been on the road doing our thing and generating original content for your eyes and imagination to feast upon, and we promise you won’t be disappointed! So with that […]

From The Cockpit: SHOCK and Awesome!

Happy Wednesday, FighterSweep Fans! We wanted to share a story with you that is very close to our hearts. Almost a year ago, we were on hand at Luke Air Force Base for a fini-flight. While the flight profile itself wasn’t particularly noteworthy–a low-level over Lake Powell, the pilot flying it certainly is. Our friend […]