F-22

When it comes to fighter jets, the modern world is currently amid a transition. The combat-proven fighters we’ve grown to know and love over the years are reaching the ends of their operational lifespans, and while update programs are underway for many of them, technological strides made in the years since these platforms first took […]

For all the strengths boasted by America’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighters and F-22 Raptors, these stealthy fifth generation platforms still suffer from one significant drawback during combat operations: their relatively low magazine capacity. In order to maintain their stealthy profile, these fighters have to carry their ordnance internally, limiting the firepower they can bring into […]

In recent months, Turkey announced plans to purchase Russia’s advanced S-400 air defense system, a decision that cost them their opportunity to purchase America’s premier fighter, the F-35. Since then, speculation has run rampant about what fighter platform Turkey will procure in its place, with initial rumors pointing toward Russia’s fifth-generation Su-57. These rumors were […]

At the end of World War II, the United States boasted around 300,000 combat aircraft. Today, America has only around 13,400. Of course, the U.S. still has more air power than any nation on the globe, but there’s something to be said for that loss of sheer volume when it comes to developing strategies for […]

When it comes to American air dominance, no platform gets more attention than the high-cost and high-performance F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Of course, the F-35’s monopoly on the media’s attention makes a fair amount of sense: by most accounts, it’s the most technologically advanced and expensive aircraft ever to enter the fight, and thanks to […]

Over the past few days, headlines have popped up all around the world indicating that a German tech firm had managed to track a pair of American F-35s for nearly a hundred miles when they visited Berlin last year for an airshow. The company, called Hensold, used a new form of radar that reads and […]

From a journalistic perspective, covering the F-35 program can be a bit of a quagmire at times. The aircraft is undoubtedly among the most advanced and capable air platforms ever to take to the sky, but the plane’s development has also been a clinic in poor planning, over-spending, and the inherent flaws in putting an […]

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is, without question, one of the most advanced combat aircraft ever to take to the sky. While most of the media coverage regarding the F-35 tends to focus on its stealth capabilities, the technology that makes the F-35 stand head and shoulders above its multi-role competition isn’t just skin-deep. By […]

For the first time, the U.S. Air Force is deploying the world’s most advanced fighter to the Middle East to participate in combat operations. While Marine Corps F-35Bs have already participated in combat operations over Afghanistan, this deployment marks the first outing for the Air Force’s F-35A iteration of the platform. The first F-35As reached […]

Russia has a long and storied history of fielding capable fighter platforms that evoke anxiety in American pilots and interest from Chinese officials. A number of Chinese fighters in operations today are either production lines purchased directly from the Russian government or, as is the case with their carrier-based J-15s, were reverse engineered from Russian […]

Although Russia’s defense program marketing efforts may be among the most robust in the world, China is no slouch when it comes to making lofty claims about military capabilities through state-owned media outlets with global reach. China’s latest claim pertains to a new radar system that, according to reports, might render stealth technology obsolete. In […]

Although Russia’s defense program marketing efforts may be among the most robust in the world, China is no slouch when it comes to making lofty claims about military capabilities through state-owned media outlets with global reach. China’s latest claim pertains to a new radar system that, according to reports, might render stealth technology obsolete. In […]