Category: Expert Analysis

Green Berets Matthew Lewellen, Kevin McEnroe, and James Moriarty approached the Prince Faisal Airbase in Jordan in their vehicle along with one Jordanian military officer. They were assigned the IA mission, meaning inter-agency, as a part of the CIA’s Timber Sycamore covert operation to train and arm so-called moderate Syrian rebels. At the gate there […]

Tunneling underground is a tried and true tactic of the guerrilla fighter, one that has become especially prevalent amongst those facing Western air power which they simply cannot match.  By the same token, it has also been argued that the suicide bomber is another tactic which the guerrilla, or terrorist rather, uses to a militarily superior […]

When and if you go to selection, you’ll no doubt hear it was harder “back in the day.” Regardless of when you go, you can’t just wing it. Everything about selection is personal. There are trials where you’re working in teams, but it’s still a personal evaluation. There is no team, only individuals. Beyond that, […]

In the aftermath of last week’s election, the media has been actively looking for someone to blame for President Elect Donald Trump.  Cultural blowback against Grubhub CEO, Matt Maloney, for sending out a company wide e-mail suggesting that Donald Trump supporters resign their positions within his company has demonstrated that a large percentage of Americans […]

IEDs, or Improvised Explosive Devices, have been responsible for three out of five combat deaths in Iraq since the start of the Iraq war in 2003.  These bombs come in a variety of forms, often concealed near or beneath driving surfaces to be detonated remotely when poised to do the most possible damage, but recent […]

What we know for sure about the new Chinese J-20 stealth fighter jet is subject to some debate.  We know that, according to claims within the Chinese government, that it was designed to compete directly with the latest in American fighter jet technology: the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.  Outwardly, its appearance resembles […]

The future of news isn’t dim – it’s extremely bright and on an excel spreadsheet. Coverage and news will become metadata for us to digest. An organization lambasted for its liberal bend – appeared on my newsfeed via conservatives more so than any other news service. This tells me there is value in the institution. […]

On July 9th, 1962 the United States launched a Thor rocket armed with a W49 thermonuclear warhead to an altitude of nearly two hundred and fifty miles and detonated it.  It took thirteen minutes for the missile to reach its predesignated altitude before the 1.45 megaton explosion illuminated the night sky for hundreds of miles […]

The military, as a whole, needs to be depicted as fairly useless in superhero movies. After all, why would we need a Norse god or a Hulk to fight our battles if the armed forces were equipped to do so themselves? More often than not, tanks and military aircraft exist in these films solely to […]

On October 25th, an LNG (liquefied natural gas) tanker named Galicia Spirit was attacked off the coast of Yemen. What makes this case stand out is that experts and authorities are treating it as a terrorist attack and not your run-of-the-mill Somali pirates angling for hostages. The skiff that conducted the attack was carrying a […]

As one  of our followers here on FighterSweep, you’re probably someone that likes to keep track of the latest news on America’s most advanced fighters–especially the stealthy, badass fifth-generation F-22 and F-35. More specifically, you’ve probably been keeping tabs on the development of the F-35–its setbacks, its achievements, and its march toward IOC. That also […]

Al-Jafr Air Base is a relatively desolate and deserted base. It’s smack in the middle of desert. There is not much around it, and even less in its outer corridor. But one place near it that is of consequence is Maan, Jordan. Maan, more than any other spot in Jordan, is an ISIL hotspot. Salafi […]