Tag: U.S. Navy

New “bullets” for military railguns, which could strike enemy targets traveling at a whopping six times the speed of sound, are being tested. Electromagnetic railguns and lasers are two technologies the military is harnessing as an alternative to gunpowder. The U.S. Navy is pioneering the futuristic weapons that could play a vital role in future combat. […]

Editor’s Note: We’re very thankful both occupants of the helicopter were not seriously injured in this incident. Flying any aircraft, be it rotary wing or fixed wing, can be very dangerous at times. When there is more information to be had, we’ll definitely keep you updated! A Navy helicopter with a Florida-based training squadron made […]

Editor’s Note: FighterSweep Fans, I believe we have the best, most talented, credible team of contributors in aviation journalism. The majority of our writers are pilots, and most of those are either currently or former military aviators. Those who aren’t pilots work in the aviation industry in some capacity or other. So for all of […]

Editor’s Note: Boeing has been hit hard by not being awarded the contract for the Air Force’s B-21 Long Range Strike-Bomber. The company has suffered some internal shake-up of late and that, coupled with the prospect of the F-15 line closing, as well as that of the F/A-18 Super Hornet, Boeing is currently faced with […]

Editor’s Noted: As we reported previously, a very sophisticated U.S. Army reconnaissance aircraft crash landed near Irbil in northern Iraq two days ago. Photographs and video from the scene showed the highly-modified Beech KingAir 350 in a field, surrounded by what appeared to be U.S. Special Operations Forces. We have learned the rescue was executed […]

The 10 American sailors were on an unfamiliar assignment and running behind schedule. Setting off from Kuwait en route to Bahrain, the U.S. sailors had never navigated across the Persian Gulf in small patrol boats, and they were unaccustomed to traveling such a long distance in vessels designed for shorter missions in coastal waters or […]

Editor’s Note: Contract Red Air is getting to be a big business. Airborne Tactical Advantage Company, or ATAC, has been doing it for more than twenty years, for example, and boasts overseas clients as well as the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. With the deactivation of the 65th Aggressor Squadron at Nellis and issues with […]

I am curious how after one selects his aircraft after flight school as what squadron they are assigned and how they go about it and then after in the squadrons how one is selected to attend the Navy Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN). -Josh C. That’s a great question, Josh!  I clearly remember the uncertainty I […]

Editor’s Note: It’s difficult to imagine how today’s U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier Strike Group could be rendered both impotent and vulnerable, considering how it’s been an amazing instrument of deterrence and power projection for the past several decades. While the presence of a U.S. aircraft carrier off the coast of most potential threat nations–or within […]

Editor’s Note: A critical functionality of our Air Force aerial refueling tankers is their ability to refuel not on their own service’s aircraft, but also those of their sister service–the Navy and Marine Corps, as well as coalition fighters that use the probe-and-drogue system. This initial link-up between the Pegasus and Hornet was a huge […]

Editor’s Note: This is an issue near to our hearts, as the oxygen system was one of the causal factors which led to the death of a friend of ours in Alaska a little over five years ago, and several of our staff currently fly both the Legacy Hornet and Super Hornet. As most of […]

Editor’s Note: We’ve been talking a lot about budget woes across the Department of Defense recently. On the Air Force side of the house, F-35 and the A-10 have been hot topics of discussion, while the Navy side is dealing with some of its own JSF issues, as well as the UCLASS. Now, as part […]