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Search resuls for: ". US Air Force"


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☆ The US Air Force is finally getting rid of its A-10s, and its focus may be straying from the Warthog's unique mission
  + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Constantine Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com   time to read: +8 min
Those retirements would shrink the Air Force's A-10 fleet to 260 aircraft, and Air Force leaders plan to continue decommissioning A-10s in the years ahead. Not so closeUS Air Force joint terminal attack controllers during a close air support training with an A-10 in Nevada in September 2011. Michael HolzworthCurrent and former Air Force officials have said that the F-35 would take over the A-10's mission after the Warthog left the fleet. So it will perform the mission very differently," said Kendall, who is now the Air Force's top civilian official. Those skills "are perishable," Boeding added, "and the stakes are too high to not train dedicated crews (ground and air) in purpose build close air support aircraft."
☆ China is getting rid of its 'grandpa' fighter jets, but they may make a comeback for a one-way mission against Taiwan
  + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com   time to read: +6 min
China's last J-7 fighter jets may leave active service this year, according to Chinese state media. China's air force may convert some J-7s into drones, which could be used in an attack on Taiwan. (Between its air force and navy, China now has the world's third-largest aviation force, according to the Pentagon.) A J-7 fighter at the People's Liberation Army Aviation Museum in Beijing in December 2013. UCAVs make it possible for China's air force "to use relatively cheap, capable, low-risk airframes as a first-in asset to either strike or soften Taiwan's air defense systems," Rice added.
☆ The newest Sidewinders have become 'the weapons of choice' against unidentified objects over the US, top general says
  + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com   time to read: +5 min
To shoot them down, the jets have used the newest version of the Sidewinder missile, the AIM-9X. The high-tech AIM-9X is the best suited to take down the low-tech objects, a top US general says. But the US Air Force F-22 and F-16 fighters that destroyed a Chinese spy balloon and three other unidentified objects didn't use their 20 mm cannon. Instead, they used heat-seeking AIM-9X Sidewinder air-to-air missiles. US airmen move an AIM-9X missile to an F-22 at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida in September 2021.
☆ An F-16 fighter jet missed on its first try to shoot down a mysterious object over Lake Huron, top US general says
  + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com   time to read: +4 min
An F-16 fired an AIM-9X Sidewinder missile to take down a flying object over Lake Huron on Sunday. "On the fourth one, over Lake Huron, the first shot missed, the second shot hit," Milley said in response to a reporter's question, confirming earlier reports. "And in this case, the missile landed harmlessly in the water of Lake Huron. Sunday's operation marked the fourth instance in about a week in which a US Air Force fighter jet shot down a flying object over North American airspace. The general leading North American Aerospace Defense Command and US Northern Command offered an explanation on Sunday for why there has been a seemingly sudden increase in flying objects appearing over North American airspace.
☆ 3 suspicious objects have been downed across North America this week. Officials have no idea where 2 of the UAP came from and the pilots who shot them down can't agree on what they even look like.
  + stars: | 2023-02-12 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com   time to read: +10 min
US fighter aircraft shot down an object threatening airspace over Alaska yesterday. On Saturday, another unknown object, described as "cylindrical," was shot down over Canada. Here is what we know about the object shot down on Friday. The object shot down on Saturday was spotted in the Northern Canadian territory of Yukon. It is unclear if the object shot down off the Alaskan coast was of similar size or shape.
☆ After nearly 2 decades in service, the F-22 has its first air-to-air kills — neither against the jets it was designed to fight
  + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com   time to read: +4 min
The F-22, the top US air superiority fighter jet, finally has it's first air-to-air kills. In a week, this jet downed a Chinese spy balloon and an unidentified "object" in two separate engagements. Neither kill was a jet that the F-22 was designed to fight. A US Air Force F-22 prepares for aerial refueling over the Nevada Test and Training Range on March 2, 2011. Despite having operational experience in Syria in the 2010s targeting Islamic State assets, the advanced fighter has never recorded a confirmed air-to-air kill, but now it has two.
☆ Japan says it has 'legal right' to destroy any foreign balloon in its airspace
  + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Julian Ryall | South China Morning Post | ) www.businessinsider.com   time to read: +5 min
Japan's defence minister says it would have the legal right to destroy any balloon that enters its domestic airspace. Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada said on Tuesday under existing laws, Japan would have the legal right to destroy any balloon that intrudes into its domestic airspace. "Intrusions into Japan's territorial airspace constitute a violation, even if it is a balloon," the Yomiuri newspaper quoted Isozaki as saying. In the future, it may be possible to use lasers or other technology to bring a balloon to earth, he suggested. Japan uses balloons for weather observations, but the prevailing winds mean that they typically travel east, over the Pacific, rather than over mainland Asia.
☆ B-52 crews are getting special brain training to help them fly the US Air Force's oldest bomber
  + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Hope Seck | Sandboxx News | ) www.businessinsider.com   time to read: +7 min
US Air Force B-52 crews are going through a special brain- and body-conditioning program. The program is part of an effort to find the best way to enhance the performance of Air Force crews. Other airmen could get access to similar programs in the future, an Air Force official said. Officers on the lower deck of a B-52 at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota in August 2006. A B-52 bomber drops cluster bombs over Afghanistan on October 7, 2001.
☆ After bloody failures in Ukraine, Russians are reconsidering the role of their military's 'elite' paratroopers
  + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com   time to read: +7 min
The issues raised about the role and value of paratroopers are not unique to Russia's military. Russian paratroopers in the Kyiv region in March 2022. Russian paratroopers unload a truck from an IL-76 to join the NATO peacekeeping operation in Bosnia in January 1996. That point underlines the debate about the value of airborne forces — a debate that isn't unique to Russia. That battle, an ignominious Allied defeat, has stood as a lesson in the limits of airborne forces.
☆ Decades after winning the world's first jet-powered dogfights, US fighter pilots are still flexing their muscles over Korea
  + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Benjamin Brimelow | ) www.businessinsider.com   time to read: +9 min
That November, US Air Force and Navy pilots notched the first victories between jet-powered aircraft. The first, involving an Air Force Lockheed F-80C Shooting Star piloted by Lt. Russel Brown, occurred on November 8, 1950. Air superiorityUS Air Force F-80C fighters return from a mission in August 1952. The Air Force's 'first'A US Air Force F-80C armed with napalm bombs takes off from a Korean airfield in February 1951. The exercise, called Vigilant Storm, involved roughly 100 US aircraft and some 140 South Korean aircraft flying more than 1,600 sorties.
☆ A Swedish-made fighter jet could tip the scales against Russia in Ukraine, but it might not get there any time soon
  + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( Sebastien Roblin | ) www.businessinsider.com   time to read: +16 min
Ukraine's air force remains in the fight almost a year after Russia's shambolic invasion. Sooner or later, Ukraine must induct new jet fighters into service — and they sure aren't buying them from Russia. JAS-39 Gripen: background and capabilitiesA Swedish JAS 39 Gripen at Bobo, Norway in October 2018. A Hungarian Air Force JAS-39 Gripen in August 2010. JAS-39 Gripen vs. F-16A US Air Force F-16 takes off from Aviano Air Base in Italy in June 2020.
☆ 3 spy aircraft that were also 'weather balloons'
  + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( Blake Stilwell | ) www.businessinsider.com   time to read: +4 min
China has said that it is a weather balloon that has gone off-course. It wouldn't be the first time that a spy balloon has been described as a weather balloon. China is probably just taking a page out of the US government 1960s-era cover-up playbook that we'll call: The ol' "Weather Balloon Dodge." Thomson ReutersThere's a reason the Department of Defense believes China's weather balloon is actually a reconnaissance balloon: The DoD is developing reconnaissance balloons of its own. If any of the massive balloons get forced down, they'd just be another weather balloon, which the National Weather Service still uses.
☆ US Air Force crews have revived a method to load bombers that hasn't been used in 30 years
  + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( David Cenciotti | The Aviationist | ) www.businessinsider.com   time to read: +4 min
US Air Force weapons loaders at Dyess Air Force Base revived a capability unused for three decades. In January, airmen used a Launcher Load Frame to pre-load munitions that were then loaded on a B-1B bomber. download the app Email address By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider as well as other partner offers and accept our Terms of Service and Privacy PolicyThe US Air Force has recently released some interesting photos showing the activity carried out a Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, earlier this month. A US Air Force weapons load crew member helps transport a Launcher Load Frame at Dyess Air Force Base on January 9. A Launcher Load Frame is raised into a B-1B at Dyess Air Force Base on January 9.
☆ As fighting rages in Ukraine, the US is sending drones to keep an eye on another tense corner of Europe
  + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Constantine Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com   time to read: +7 min
US Air Force MQ-9 Reaper drones deployed to Greece during the final weeks of 2022. Operating from Larissa air base, the drones will keep an eye NATO's borders in southeastern Europe. The deployment comes as NATO grapples with the war in Ukraine and with tensions between Turkey and Greece. Predator in the skiesUS Air Force airmen do pre-flight checks on an MQ-9 at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam in May. A US Air Force F-15C at Larissa Air Base in May 2021.
☆ The US Air Force's newest fighter jet just showed off a new way to fire missiles
  + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( Stefano D'Urso | The Aviationist | ) www.businessinsider.com   time to read: +5 min
In November, F-15EX fighter jets fired missiles from their new weapon stations for the first time. The new outer wing weapon stations increase the F-15EX's payload over that of its predecessor. This Operational Flight Program Combined Test Force mission was the first Air Force test flight to validate the weapons could be fired effectively and safely from those stations. Now, the new pylons are equipped with two LAU-128 missile rails each, adding four missile stations to the payload. An F-15EX takes flight for the first time out of Eglin Air Force Base in April 2021.
☆ Ongoing headaches with F-35 fighter jets are rippling through the rest of the US military's combat aircraft fleet
  + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com   time to read: +6 min
US Air Force maintainers work on an F-35A at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada in February 2020. Nial BradshawRussia's air force has been mocked for poor maintenance that has undercut its airpower in the Ukraine war. Particularly troubling was a November 2022 GAO study that analyzed readiness of 49 US military aircraft models between 2011 and 2021. A reassembled F-35A is hoisted during a training course at Hill Air Force Base in September 2022. The Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps together plan to spend $20.2 billion a year for tactical aircraft development and procurement between now and 2027.
☆ Only 3 countries have managed to build 5th-generation fighters, but nearly a dozen are already working on 6th-gen jets
  + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Benjamin Brimelow | ) www.businessinsider.com   time to read: +12 min
(The recently unveiled B-21 bomber is billed as the world's first sixth-gen aircraft, but little is known about its capabilities.) Lockheed Martin, Northrup Grumman, and Boeing are believed to be competing to build the jets, and all have released illustrations of sixth-gen aircraft. FCAS/SCAFA full-scale model of the Future Combat Air System at the Paris Air Show in June 2019. An illustration of Japan's next-generation fighter aircraft concept. While China is making heavy investment in military aviation, Russia's ability to develop next-generation jets may be shrinking.
☆ 15 years after 'officially' retiring its first stealth jet, the US Air Force is looking for help to keep the F-117 flying for another decade
  + stars: | 2023-01-02 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com   time to read: +6 min
The B-21 is expected to arrive 40 years after the US's first stealth aircraft, the F-117 Nighthawk. The F-117 was officially retired in 2008, but the Air Force is still putting the stealth jet to use. The US Air Force is now making plans to keep some of its Nighthawks flying until at least 2034. The Air Force currently has about 45 F-117s, more than 10 of which have been approved for transfer to museums, Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek told Insider. A woman dances on a US Air Force F-117 downed west of Belgrade on March 28, 1999.
☆ Here's why these US Air Force A-10 attack aircraft rock fearsome shark teeth war paint
  + stars: | 2023-01-02 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com   time to read: +6 min
An A-10 pilot told Insider about the history of the shark teeth war paint. Those planes are the ones rocking the ferocious shark teeth war paint, he said. US Air Force Senior Airman Brandon Hill, 74th Aircraft Maintenance Unit dedicated crew chief, guides Lt. Col. Matthew Shelly, the 74th Fighter Squadron commander, at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia, June, 26 2021 US Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. The first P-40s to feature the shark mouth war paint were the British Royal Air Force Tomahawks. The 74th and 75th Fighter Squadrons are still part of the 23rd Fighter Group while the 76th is now a Reserve unit with 476th Fighter Group.
☆ Russia's war in Ukraine shows why troops need to learn to put their phones away, top US Marine general says
  + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Christopher Woody | ) www.businessinsider.com   time to read: +6 min
To do that, younger troops will have to unlearn some habits, the Marine Corps' top general says. New Marine recruits turn in cell phones at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego in October. Targeting cell phones has been a feature of the fighting between Russia and Ukraine since 2014. Ukrainians and foreign governments have eavesdropped on Russian troops using unsecured phones to talk to each other and to their families in Russia. A Marine records a Drum and Bugle Corps performance at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort in March 2014.
☆ For 60 years, the US Navy has been training dolphins and sea lions to keep rivals away from its most sensitive hardware
  + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Gidget Fuentes | ) www.businessinsider.com   time to read: +16 min
The US Navy has been training dolphins and sea lions to detect undersea threats since the 1960s. A US Navy trainer with a Mark 5 Marine Mammal sea lion in Key West in October 1990. The program worked with sharks, rays, and sea turtles but settled on dolphins and sea lions. US NavyThe Navy Marine Mammal Program's budget for 2023 provides $40 million for "food, medicine, veterinary care, husbandry, and facilities," Wilson said. A US Navy sea lion jumps into a riverine command boat during a mine-countermeasures exercise in Bahrain in November 2014.
☆ 3 times the US military brought back 'obsolete' weapons to take on new enemies
  + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Miguel Ortiz | We Are The Mighty | ) www.businessinsider.com   time to read: +6 min
Most military enthusiasts are familiar with the Reagan administration's 600-ship Navy and the reactivation of the battleships USS Iowa, Missouri, New Jersey and Wisconsin. However, USS New Jersey was brought back into active service once before. US ArmyAn evolution of the famed M1 Garand of WWII and Korea, the M14 battle rifle became the standard-issue rifle for the US military in 1959. It served as the basis of the M21 Sniper Weapon System introduced in 1968 and M25 Sniper Weapon System introduced in 1991. Though both weapon systems have been largely replaced by the M24 Sniper Weapon System, the M14 lives on as the Mk14 Enhanced Battle Rifle.
☆ The US military is planning for a 'transformative' year in Asia as tensions with China continue to rise
  + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Christopher Woody | ) www.businessinsider.com   time to read: +8 min
Amid rising tensions with China, the US military has sought to bolster its presence in Asia. US forces there may see the "most transformative year" in a generation in 2023, a US official said. Major changes to the US military presence in Asia face logistical and political hurdles, however. Other countries have sought more training with the US military or, in the case of Palau, to host US forces. There are opportunities for the US "to expand its access and deepen relationships" in both Northeast and Southeast Asia, said Thompson, a former US Defense Department official, but US leaders will have to reckon with the limits of those partnerships, especially in Southeast Asia.
☆ The F-14 Tomcat first flew 52 years ago. Here's why the US destroyed them rather than let anyone else buy them.
  + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Blake Stilwell | We Are The Mighty | ) www.businessinsider.com   time to read: +4 min
The US Navy's famed F-14 Tomcat fighter jet first flew on December 21, 1970. There was only one foreign customer for the advanced F-14 Tomcat fighter during its heyday: Iran. Rob Tabor/USAFThe Iranian air force was so skilled in the Iran-Iraq War that a lone Tomcat could clear the skies of enemy aircraft without firing a shot. The idea of selling Iran rare F-14 parts so it didn't have to cannibalize its own F-14 inventory was preposterous. It was this concern that led the Pentagon to shred every leftover F-14 Tomcat.
☆ The legendary SR-71 spy plane first flew 58 years ago, and enemy jets and missiles could never catch up
  + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Brent M. Eastwood | ) www.businessinsider.com   time to read: +5 min
The spy plane set a number of flight speed records. Spy planes such as the SR-71 Blackbird could really boogey. This allowed it to outrun and evade over 4,000 enemy missiles that were fired at it over the years. Sometimes enemy radar worked; sometimes it didn'tThe SR-71 Blackbird Judson Brohmer/USAFAnother thing that helped the SR-71 was its reduced radar cross section. The Swedes came closeAn underside view of an SR-71 Blackbird strategic reconnaissance aircraft in flight at an undisclosed location.
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