F-35

For nearly twenty years now, the United States has been embroiled in combat operations spanning multiple nations and against multiple opponents. These terror groups often hide in plain sight, infiltrating the local population and making it extremely difficult to identify and engage targets. As a result, counter-terror operations tend to have little in common with […]

A tactical air control party specialist assigned to the 12th Combat Training Squadron works with the Brazilian Air Force TACPs and the 124th Air Support Operations Squadron, Idaho Air National Guard, at the National Training Center, Fort Irwin, California, June 12, 2019. The Brazilian Air Force was training with the 124 ASOS TACPs and the […]

Last week, China released a video that showed seven of their fifth-generation J-20 stealth fighters flying in formation, suggesting to the world that China’s most advanced warplane may have finally moved into mass production. The stealth platform, which is believed to be based on stolen plans for America’s F-22 Raptor, has run into a number […]

Only weeks after Russia announced that it would be giving its dying fifth generation fighter a new lease on life (in the form of plans to actually produce 76 of the aircraft), Russian President Vladimir Putin has been spotted peddling the fighter to Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. This sales pitch has been seen by […]

The F-15 is a legendary air superiority platform with an unscathed combat record and the title for fastest fighter jet in the U.S. arsenal. It, along with a limited number of F-22 Raptors, represent America’s dog fighting force, as these two aircraft are the only platforms built to fill the primary role of air-to-air interceptors. […]

An integral component of modern U.S. battlefield superiority is air power. More specifically, the ability to call in effective and timely close air support (CAS) provides ground troops with a crucial advantage over their opponents, whether these are Taliban fighters in the mountains of Afghanistan, ISIS terrorists in the deserts of Iraq, or Russian mercenaries […]

Acting Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan is the longest-serving acting Pentagon head in American history, though he may have just cleared the final hurdle necessary to pursue an official appointment. An Inspector General (IG) investigation into the possibility Shanahan demonstrated favoritism toward his former employer while conducting official Pentagon duties has now cleared the former Boeing […]

Earlier this month, an F-35 Joint Strike Fighter belonging to the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force went down over the Pacific during a training flight. Three other F-35s participating in the flight returned home safely, with the pilot and much of the missing F-35’s wreckage, still missing. “The Japanese have the lead there, and we’re working […]

The search continues for a Japanese Air Self-Defense Force F-35A that went down off the coast of Honshu in northeast Japan last Tuesday. The pilot, Maj. Akinori Hosomi, remains missing. Days after the Joint Strike fighter went missing on Japanese radar, bits of wreckage were found in the Pacific, confirming reports the aircraft crashed, but […]

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 […]

For months now, internet pundits and lawmakers alike have debated the logic behind the Pentagon-directed United States Air Force (USAF) initiative to procure new F-15s from Boeing. In an era of stealth fighters like the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and F-22 Raptor, many people would argue that purchasing new “old” fourth-generation fighters is a step […]

As the United States attempts to close the capability gap presented by Russian and Chinese hypersonic missiles, another (even faster) weapon is quickly making its way toward operational service on American fighter jets: lasers. It may sound like science fiction, but with weapon systems like the AN/SEQ-3 Laser Weapon System (also known as the XN-1 […]