aviation

A Thunderbird Jr. speeds past its larger counterparts at Misawa Air Base during Air Fest 2009 Oct. 18, 2009.   U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Samuel Morse/Released

The Pyramids of Giza appear in the distance as a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III flies over Cairo, Egypt, during Exercise Bright Star on October 15, 2009. The C-17 crew is from the 437th Airlift Wing, Charleston AFB, S.C. Bright Star is a joint international military airdrop exercise whose purpose is to strengthen and […]

F-16 Aggressors fly over the Joint Pacific Alaskan Range Complex looking for enemy aircraft during Red Flag-Alaska 09-3 July 28, 2009, Eielson Air Force Base. RF-A is a Pacific Air Forces-directed field training exercise poised at giving aircrews their first 10 flights in combat. The F-16 Aggressors are assigned to the 18th Aggressor Squadron.   […]

The 107th Arlift Wing and 914th Airlift Wing training together for a recruiting photo oportunity over Niagara falls, July 15, 2009.   U.S. Air Force Photo by TSgt Catherine E Perretta

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, […]

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, […]

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

A Hawaii Air National Guard F-22 Raptor approaches a Wisconsin ANG KC-135 Stratotanker to receive aerial refueling, Dec. 11, 2018, over the Pacific Ocean, near the Hawaiian Islands. Sentry Aloha provides tailored, cost effective and realistic combat training for U.S. Air Force, ANG and other Department of Defense services to provide warfighters with the skill […]

The SR-71 Blackbird has had an almost immeasurable effect on the world we live in today. Its record as the fastest aircraft ever to take to the skies speaks to the incredible engineering and problem solving employed by Lockheed Martin in the 1960s, and the reconnaissance missions it carried out over the Soviet Union and […]

ARABIAN SEA (Dec. 14, 2018) Two F-35B Lightnings II, assigned to Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 211, right, an F/A-18E Super Hornet, assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 151, and an F/A-18F Super Hornet, assigned to VFA 41, fly in formation. The John C. Stennis Carrier Strike Group, Essex Amphibious Ready Group, and 13th Marine […]

Capt. Jason, a U-2 Dragon Lady pilot with the 5th Reconnaissance Squadron, waits in his pressure suit before his flight at Osan Air Base, South Korea, Dec. 11, 2018. The U-2 is a single-seat, single-engine, high-altitude reconnaissance and surveillance aircraft that routinely flies eight to 11-hour missions. (Last name withheld for security purposes.   U.S. […]

There is no debate that America’s fifth generation fighters, the F-22 and F-35, tend to garner the most publicity, but in terms of operational aircraft, all of the functional Raptors and Joint Strike Fighters employed by the entire U.S. military wouldn’t even add up to a sizeable chunk of the number of F/A-18 Hornets and […]