F-35

Wreckage of missing F-35 found in the Pacific—pilot still missing

Search and rescue teams located portions of the wreckage belonging to the downed Japanese Air Self Defense Force F-35 Joint Strike Fighter that went missing Tuesday evening. The search for the pilot is ongoing. At approximately 7:30 p.m. local time on Tuesday, a Japanese F-35A disappeared from the military’s tracking systems somewhere off the coast […]

Breaking: Japanese F-35 Joint Strike Fighter goes missing over the Pacific

On Tuesday, at approximately 7:30 p.m. local time, a Japanese Air Self Defense F-35A Joint Strike Fighter disappeared from Japanese tracking systems somewhere off the coast of northern Japan. According to local media reports, a search and rescue mission is underway. While not confirmed to be a part of this effort yet, a number of […]

China may bring Russia’s troubled stealth fighter back from the dead

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 […]

F-35 pilot Justin Lee interviews Michele Rigby Assad, CIA Officer and author of ‘Breaking Cover, My Secret Life in the CIA’

Michele Rigby Assad is a former undercover officer in the National Clandestine Service of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. Trained as a counterterrorism specialist, Michele served her country for ten years, working in Iraq and other secret Middle Eastern locations. Upon retirement from active service, Michele and her husband (also a former agent) began leading […]

Why do the Pentagon’s reasons for buying new F-15s keep shifting?

Even among fans of Boeing’s F-15EX initiative, you won’t find anyone who will contend that the F-15 is a superior aircraft to Lockheed Martin’s Joint Strike Fighter. On paper, a new F-15 does offer a number of advantages over the stealth F-35—higher top speed, lower operating costs, larger payload capacity, and greater operational range—but in […]

Why do the Pentagon’s reasons for buying new F-15s keep shifting?

Even among fans of Boeing’s F-15EX initiative, you won’t find anyone who will contend that the F-15 is a superior aircraft to Lockheed Martin’s Joint Strike Fighter. On paper, a new F-15 does offer a number of advantages over the stealth F-35—higher top speed, lower operating costs, larger payload capacity, and greater operational range—but in […]

Acting defense secretary under investigation for alleged Boeing bias

Patrick Shanahan, a former Boeing executive with no other government experience, is now the nation’s longest-serving acting secretary of defense in history, having taken on the role after James Mattis resigned in December. Some believed that Shanahan’s “acting” prefix would soon give way to a formal appointment to the job, but that effort has been […]

China says US media is lying about why Pacific nations want the F-35

China’s aggressive claims of sovereignty over the vast majority of the South China Sea have put the nation at odds with many of its Pacific neighbors, many of whom have conflicting claims over portions of the waterway. International law permits the navigation of waterways outside of about 12 nautical miles from a nation’s shore and […]

Acting defense secretary under investigation for alleged Boeing bias

Patrick Shanahan, a former Boeing executive with no other government experience, is now the nation’s longest-serving acting secretary of defense in history, having taken on the role after James Mattis resigned in December. Some believed that Shanahan’s “acting” prefix would soon give way to a formal appointment to the job, but that effort has been delayed […]