Stealth

Fifth generation fighter platforms and hypersonic missiles are all the rage this holiday season, with every aspiring global military power in a rush to not only develop and build each, but to show them off to the world like school kids coming back from Christmas break. Between F-35 elephant walks, J-20 air shows, and heavily […]

The fielding of hypersonic anti-ship missiles by America’s competitors have created a pressing need for the U.S. military to adjust its peer warfare strategy. America’s fleet of Nimitz and Ford class super carriers serve as the nation’s primary method of force projection the world over, but when held at bay a thousand miles from enemy […]

The United States boasts not only the largest and most powerful air force in the world, it actually boasts three of them. If you were to divide the airborne assets employed by the Air Force, Navy, and Army into service for separate nations, each branch would earn a spot on the military power podium; that’s […]

When it comes to the general public, stealth technology is among the most widely acknowledged but least understood facets of the American defense apparatus, and as such, there’s also a great deal of confusion regarding the defensive weapon systems designed to engage them. Russia’s S-300 and S-400 air defense platforms, for instance, are often touted […]

The U.S. Air Force’s forthcoming long range stealth bomber, the B-21 Raider, is slated to enter into service within the next seven or so years. That would suggest that all testing will be completed and the bomber will have already been in production long enough to field service ready aircraft as soon as 2025. That seems […]

Sometimes it can be tough to appreciate the logic behind which defense technologies the United States Government deems suitable for export. The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, for instance, is regularly touted as the most advanced aircraft ever developed, but Uncle Sam is happy to distribute them willingly to paying nations with friendly relations to help […]

China’s long-touted Chengdu J-20, claimed to be the nation’s first fully functional fifth generation fighter platform, is neither fully functional nor is it technically a fifth-generation fighter — despite already being entered into service in China’s People’s Liberation Army. Fighter generations are not determined by a formal committee; generational labels are more like industry shorthand […]

When it comes to the general public, stealth technology is among the most widely acknowledged but least understood facets of the American defense apparatus, and as such, there’s also a great deal of confusion regarding the defensive weapon systems designed to engage them. Russia’s S-300 and S-400 air defense platforms, for instance, are often touted […]

The Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor, the world’s first ever fifth-generation fighter, is still widely considered to be not only a superior dogfighter to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter but likely, the most capable air superiority fighter on the planet. Its unique combination of stealth characteristics, speed, and maneuverability set it apart from acrobatic fourth-generation fighters […]

A grainy photo surfaced on social media recently that appears to show a U.S. Air Force F-22 squarely in someone’s crosshairs. Some research reveals that the image was originally posted on the Instagram account “Fighter_Bomber.” The image’s caption is in Russian. It describes how the image was taken using the infrared targeting cameras of the […]

For years now, the F-35 has been compared to the wide variety of aircraft it is eventually expected to replace. Everything from the close-air-support legend A-10 Thunderbolt to the fastest fighter in the U.S. stable F-15 has had the F-35 laid down alongside it in an effort to spot strengths and weaknesses. Because the F-35 […]

According to reports in Chinese media, the H-20 stealth bomber is nearing its first test flights — potentially suggesting that their long-range bomber may reach operational status before America’s forthcoming B-21 Raider. While long-range stealth bombers like America’s B-2 Spirit have been a facet of American force projection for decades, China’s bomber fleet remains far […]