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It was dubbed by some defence analysts as a ‘game-changer.’ Earlier this year, Russia’s newest fighter aircraft rolled down a runway in the country’s Far East for its 47-minute debut flight. The 72-foot-long, twin-engine T-50 fighter bears a striking resemblance to the US Air Force’s F-22 Raptor, widely considered the most lethal air-to-air fighter aircraft ever produced—so lethal that US law prohibits its export. Yet the United States is buying just 187 F-22s, in order to husband resources for buying larger numbers of the smaller and less powerful F-35 fighters. The problem, according to two Australian defence analysts, is that...

Ever since the U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey cast doubt on the efficacy of aerial bombardment in World War II, and particularly after its failure to bring victory in the Vietnam War, air power has acquired a bad reputation. Nowadays, killing enemies from the skies is widely considered useless, while its polar opposite, counterinsurgency by nation-building, is the U.S. government's official policy. But it's not yet time to junk our planes. Air power still has a lot to offer, even in a world of scattered insurgencies. More... Military aviation started off splendidly in 1911, when the Italians pioneered aerial bombing in...

Defense: The administration decision to scrap a proven aircraft in favor of a supposedly cheaper, more flexible replacement is proving to be an expensive mistake. We may wind up defenseless and broke. The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter that was supposed to be America's frontline fighter for the foreseeable future is in big trouble. Defense Secretary Robert Gates fired the general in charge of the program this week amid concerns of spiraling costs and program delays. Gates also announced he is withholding $614 million in fees from the prime contractor, Lockheed Martin. Daniel J. Crowley, one of Lockheed Martin's project managers,...

Arab states, particularly in the Gulf, are seeking to build up their air power and missile defenses to counter any challenger from Iran. Mostly they're looking to their traditional arms suppliers in the West, the United States, Britain and France, but Russia is pushing hard for a piece of the action. This year's biennial Dubai air show, which opened Sunday in the United Arab Emirates, provided a showcase for the latest technology on offer. Air power has been the deciding factor in most Middle Eastern conflicts since the 1967 Arab-Israeli conflict, when Israeli warplanes annihilated the air forces of Egypt,...

Since World War II, the U.S. military has used air power as a decisive force multiplier to prevail in peacetime and in combat. In fact, "American ground forces have not come under attack from enemy air forces since the Korean War."[1] Usually, the military with the best and most fighter aircraft achieves air superiority (control of the airspace over the operational zone). Accordingly, Air Force leaders consider their air superiority mission their second highest priority, behind only nuclear deterrence.[2] The U.S. military has consistently gone one step further by establishing air supremacy, in which "the opposing air force is incapable...

WASHINGTON, June 18, 2009 – As U.S. forces in Iraq prepare to pull back from most major cities by June 30 according to an agreement with the Iraqi government, U.S. air support will continue to enable and protect security gains made over the past two years, a U.S. commander said in a “DoDLive” bloggers roundtable yesterday. Air Force Col. Michael Fantini, commander of the 332nd Expeditionary Operations Group, oversees a spectrum of air support missions that include nontraditional intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; security operations support; high-end precision engagement; airlift of passengers and cargo; and combat search and rescue. His team...

KABUL, June 3, 2009 – The Afghan National Army Air Corps is a vital and rapidly growing component of Afghanistan’s security forces and is building air power to deny terrorists a safe haven in Afghanistan, a U.S. Air Force general here said. Air Force Brig. Gen. Walter D. Givhan, commander of Combined Security Transition Command Afghanistan’s Combined Airpower Transition Force, waits to launch as a passenger on the first Afghan Army Air Corps Mi-35 mission to fire the 12.7 mm nose gun and 57 mm rockets in more than eight years, May 27, 2009. U.S. Air Force photo by...

I received the following via email. "Anyone know anything about this aircraft? I am told it is German, early 30's vintage -- but some of the background suggests the pictures were taken at a later time. Is it real, or was it built for a movie? The designer appears to have not known a whole lot about parasite drag. Could it have been an amphib when the wheels were retracted into the wheel 'pants'? Note the heavy artillery in the last photo. Perhaps the rapid fire rearward pointing cannons also served a dual function: stall recovery! With twelve pullers and...

BETHESDA, Md. – Quentin C. Aanenson, a fighter pilot whose wartime experiences helped millions of television viewers understand World War II, has died. A subject of Ken Burns' documentary "The War" and the producer of his own film a decade earlier, Aanenson died Sunday of cancer at his home in Bethesda, his son, Jerry said. He was 87. "He lived a magnificent life," Jerry Aanenson said. "He said if he had a chance to be 15 again, he wouldn't take it." The native of Luverne, Minn., flew 75 combat missions in Europe as a captain in P-47 Thunderbolt fighters. His...

BAGHDAD, March 23 (KUNA) -- Up to 15 Al-Qaeda operatives were killed Sunday in an air raid by US fighter jets over Diyala district, northeast of the capital, Baghdad. Iraqi security sources told KUNA that the American planes shelled Al-Qaeda hideouts in the village of Baladros, southeast of Baqouba, Diyala's largest city, killing 15 members of Al-Qaeda. Meanwhile, official spokesman for the law implementation plan Major General Qassem Atta said no military attire would be on sale at markets to prevent suicide bombers from impersonating security personnel.

WASHINGTON, July 30, 2007 – Operations in Iraq are putting pressure on insurgents, keeping them off balance and eliminating their safe havens, a senior spokesman there said today. “We have established a degree of tactical momentum … and will continue to build on that momentum,” Navy Rear Adm. Mark I. Fox, deputy spokesman for Multinational Force Iraq, said during an in-country media roundtable this morning. “We continue to pressure former sanctuaries in the Baghdad belts -- around Ramadi and in and around Baqubah -- denying (al Qaeda in Iraq) freedom of movement and disrupting extremist secret cells while increasing the...

TRIPOLI, Lebanon - A missile-firing helicopter joined the Lebanese army offensive against al-Qaida-inspired militants on Saturday, the second day of a push against Islamic fighters vowing a fight to the death inside a Palestinian refugee camp. Army tanks shelled militant hideouts in the Nahr el-Bared camp by this northern port city, blasting upper floors of buildings where the militants placed snipers. A Lebanese air force helicopter fired two missiles and strafed militant positions in the first use of airpower since fighting began with the Fatah Islam group on May 20. The air attack was an apparent attempt to block an...

29 March 2007 Air powered car provides cost savings A car with an air-compressed engine will be able to drive around 124 miles or eight hours for just under $2. The OneCAT, created by Moteur Development International (MDI) Founder Guy Nègre, can reach a speed of 68 mph and can cover about 124 miles, or eight hours of travel, which is more than double the road coverage of an electric car. When recharging the tank, the car needs to connect to an outlet for three to four hours or attach to an air pump at a gas station for two minutes....

Wild Bill Wilder takes a look at the role of Air Cavalry in the Vietnam War. Upon arriving in Vietnam in the fall of 1965, the proud young sky troopers of the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) took a lot of ribbing from the grunts. They ridiculed their “cruising” around in the sky, enjoying a soft army life. In angry defense, a young private, embarrassed, yet intensely proud of his unit and his accomplishments, retorted, “Go to hell! We’re still cavalry!” And they were. It is true that their arrival on the battlefields of Southeast Asia was not heralded by a...

8/21/2006 - BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan (AFPN) -- U.S. Army and coalition forces on the ground in Afghanistan rely on a special team of Air Force officers to help provide airpower at the right time and place. The Air Component Coordination Element, or ACCE, is relatively new to operations involving more than one branch of service and other nations, but supports Combined Joint Task Force-76, which oversees Operation Enduring Freedom. "We help the CJTF planners integrate air and space power into the development of their campaign plan," said Brig. Gen. Christopher D. Miller, the ACCE director here. According to Air...

ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE: The first Air Force reservist chosen to fly the most technologically advanced fighter jet on the planet said his experience with the aircraft so far has been ?eye watering. Maj. Randall W. Cason, an F-16 pilot stationed at 10th Air Force headquarters at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Carswell Field, Texas, was selected by the Air Force as the first member of Air Force Reserve Command to fly the F-22A Raptor. Fighting an F-22 is like being blindfolded and trying to hit a pin he said. Its stealth gives it an overwhelming advantage...

From someone in the Navy now retired, living near Pensacola ... after leaving VP47 in 1967, he was the Admin Chief for the Blue Angels... Chief Flora, retired USN... Enjoy the pictures... We see strength in our Military and sadly, we see the Twin Towers. Something I never want to forget. Niagara Falls... so beautiful. I wonder who wins this battle? Ha Anyone know the name of the old sailing vessel? What a beauty, not many left. Blue Angels over San Francisco Bay. Watch for Alcatraz prison. Too Close for me... Backoff Buddy. ALCATRAZ AND FRISCO BAY. BIG BIRD COMMING...

The U.S. Air Force is surging ahead with plans to revitalize its bases on Guam from which to project power into the skies over the western Pacific and the islands and continent of Asia.Bombers are already stationed regularly at Andersen Air Force Base on rotation from the United States, as are aerial tankers essential to long range operations. A wing of 48 fighters is on the way. Perhaps most critical will be unmanned surveillance and intelligence aircraft known as Global Hawk that can remain on station for 24 hours at a range of 1200 miles from base.Reconstruction of runways from...

/8/2006 - NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. (AFPN) -- Units from across the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, Australia and the United Kingdom gathered here for the second part of the Red Flag 06-1 exercise, which started Feb. 6. More than 130 aircraft and 2,500 personnel will fight and support in a simulated air war over the Nellis Test and Training Range during day and night missions, through Feb. 18. “Red Flag exists mostly because of the Nellis Test and Training Range -- a lot of air space out there, a lot of ground space,” said Maj. Greg Weart, Red...

1/3/2006 - BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) -- When Soldiers and Marines call in an air strike on an enemy position, the 727th Expeditionary Air Control Squadron tracks the airplanes and allocates the airspace for the mission. The squadron, known as Kingpin, is a radar control and identification agency responsible for identifying all aircraft flying in the 270,000 square miles of airspace over Iraq. The unit is deployed in three separate locations in the region. By rapidly identifying air traffic, military or civilian, Kingpin creates a real-time "air picture" that the combined air operation center uses to maintain control of...