Free Republic

Over the years, Israel has requested the chance to become the F-22 Raptor’s sole foreign operator. While the F-35 Lightning II fighter is often considered to be the best of its kind in service today, another American-made fifth-generation jet, the F-22 Raptor, may have surpassed it. The older F-22 Raptor features all the latest and greatest features. The platform’s unmatched stealth, impressive speed, and sophisticated avionics and sensors makes the F-22 arguably the most coveted fighter series across the globe. Israel is perhaps the Raptor’s biggest fan. Surrounded by hostile adversaries and currently embroiled in a multi-front war against Iran,...

US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on Sunday that its forces conducted dozens of precision air strikes targeting known Islamic State (ISIS) camps and terrorists in central Syria. “The strikes against the ISIS leaders, operatives, and camps were conducted as part of the ongoing mission to disrupt, degrade, and defeat ISIS, in order to prevent the terrorist group from conducting external operations and to ensure that ISIS does not seek to take advantage of the current situation to reconstitute in central Syria,” CENTCOM said. It added that the operation struck over 75 targets using multiple US Air Force assets, including B-52s,...

The US Secretary of State has approved a potential foreign military sale to Israel, which includes Boeing F-15IA and F-15I+ fighter jets and related equipment, estimated to be worth $18.82 billion. The proposed deal comprises up to 50 new F-15IA multi-role fighter jets and upgrades for 25 existing F-15I aircraft. It also encompasses various associated equipment such as engines, radars, navigation pods, missile launchers, and advanced avionics. Deliveries of the new aircraft are expected to commence in 2029.

Joe Biden delivered a speech at Everytown’s Gun Sense University at the Washington Hilton after his son Hunter was found guilty of three federal gun felonies. (snip) “If they wanna think to take on government if we get out of line … guess what? They need F-15s! They don’t need a rifle!” Biden said.

The White House is set to approve an $18 billion arms sale to Israel including several dozen F-15 fighter planes. It would be the biggest arms sale by Washington to Tel Aviv since the start of Israel's war against Hamas on October 7. The sale has been under consideration since the United States received a formal request in January 2023. Speeding up the delivery was among the main requests from Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant when he visited Washington last week. Gallant held talks with U.S. officials including Biden's National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin....

PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. – The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office got more than a dozen calls on Saturday after a sonic boom caused by low-flying jets shocked residents and caused damage ranging from items falling off walls to broken glass. The sheriff’s office took calls from Pomona Park, Lake Como, Crescent City and as far north as Palatka, and several people reported seeing two low-flying jets and hearing loud booms, which were the result of the jets breaking the sound barrier. One caller said they saw the sonic boom bubble. The jets involved were F-15s from the Florida Air National Guard....

The chief of the Boeing aircraft manufacturer’s defense wing was in Israel on Sunday and Monday to advance the supply of new, long-awaited refueling planes and fighter jets for the Israeli Air Force looking to boost its capabilities to strike Iran. Speaking to reporters at the Boeing Israel offices in Tel Aviv, Ted Colbert, the Boeing Defense, Space and Security President and CEO said the company would be supplying Israel with 25 F-15IA fighter jets — the Israeli variant of the advanced F-15EX — with options for 25 more.

In July 2020 ,the United States Air Force contracted with Boeing for the delivery of new F-15 fighters, to be dubbed the F-15EX. The idea behind the F-15EX is remarkable in its simplicity: We have a great fighter plane, but our existing fleet is old, so why not just buy some new ones?

Speaking from Pennsylvania on Tuesday, President Joe Biden issued a message for “brave right-wing Americans,” saying that they “need something a little more than a gun” to fight against the United States, giving the example of an F-15 fighter jet as something to use instead. “And for those brave right-wing Americans who say it’s all about keeping Americans independent and safe, you want to fight against the country? You need an F-15, you need something a little more than a gun,” Biden told the crowd, referring to the second amendment. In Biden’s speech, he stressed that the Second Amendment is...

Here is the video of Biden Speaking from Pennsylvania on Tuesday 8/30/22. Biden: "For those brave right-wing Americans who say it's all about keeping Americans independent and safe, if you want to fight against a country you need an F-15. You need something a little more than a gun."

Ukraine has been asking for more fighters since the war started, but the US refused to support a deal that could have seen Poland supply 28 MiG-29s, a Russian-made jet of the type its remaining pilots are used to flying. Washington was concerned that supplying fighter jets could be deemed escalatory by a nuclear-armed Russia. Despite the refusals, Ukraine continues to press its case, and overnight its air force tweeted “the greatest need is for fighter jets” and asked specifically for F-15s and F-16s, whose original designs date back to the 1960s and 1970s, which it said its pilots could...

Master Sergeant Steven Conklin, spokesman for the 142nd Wing, said the military is authorized to fly supersonic 15 miles beyond the coastline, but pilots should not have the nose of the jet pointed toward the coast.The 142nd Wing in a Facebook post apologized for causing concern among coastal residents."During this training, we inadvertently went supersonic, and caused a sonic boom while pointed slightly toward the coastline while greater than 15 miles away from land," the 142nd Wing posted on Facebook. "We understand that this caused concern from our coastal residents and for that we sincerely apologize."

The unidentified object dropped down from above and matched their altitude before flying alongside the airplane for around 30 minutes. While the pilots have not been named, one was understood to be a career pilot with 19 years' experience while the second was a veteran fighter pilot who had previously flown F-15's. They have been described as "competent airmen, highly experienced with observing and identifying aircraft, and are capable of determining normal observations and incidents from unusual ones." According to the report by the National Aviation Reporting Center on Anomalous Phenomena (NARCAP), the plane had departed Queretaro International Airport and...

January 6 rioters used video sharing app TikTok to recruit participants and even warned them to bring guns to the Stop the Steal rally that preceded it, the Department of Homeland Security says. DHS's Office of Intelligence and Analysis filed a report this April highlighting concerns that violent content was growing on the Chinese-owned social media platform, from promoting the riot and acts of terrorism to instructing others how to build bombs and sabotage railroad tracks. The five page report, obtained by the Property of the People transparency watchdog group and shared with Politico Thursday, comes as federal authorities examine...

President Joe Biden warned Tuesday that the country was facing a choice between "democracy or autocracy" following the passage of restrictive voting laws by nearly two dozen states and took direct aim at former President Donald Trump's role in spreading misinformation about the 2020 election. "In America, if you lose, you accept the results," Biden said in a speech on voting rights at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. "You don’t call facts 'fake' and then try to bring down the American experiment just because you're unhappy. That's not statesmanship. ... That's selfishness. That’s not democracy; it’s the denial of...

The nation scrambled to buy F-15s and nuclear weapons after President Biden said in a speech Wednesday that you'll never beat a government unless you have the fighter jets and intercontinental ballistic missiles.All over the nation, American citizens were seen parking their brand-new F-15s in their driveways and garages. Some wealthier Americans purchased the F-22, while less fortunate citizens were forced to buy the F-35 joint fighter. But no matter what craft they chose, American citizens said they were just glad to finally be protected against a tyrannical government."I need an F-15 to beat the government? Say no more, fam!"...

“This isn’t the first time Biden’s warned the gov’t would use every weapon in its arsenal against Americans,” quipped Tom Elliott, remembering how Biden said something like this at a rally early last year. Maybe the Second Amendment should be extended to include F-15s. Seriously, though, this dumb gun-control talking point is deathless even though it’s never been clearer how untrue it is. There are many lessons to be learned from America’s adventure in Afghanistan but an easy one is that a crudely equipped force using guerrilla tactics is fully capable of prevailing over one with superior firepower. That lesson...

The Air Force envisions the F-15EX as a sort of weapon truck, able to carry large munitions that the F-35 cannot. The F-35 can carry less than 6,000 pounds of munitions internally, whereas the F-15EX can carry almost 30,000 pounds of munitions on its external pylons. On battlefields with modern air defenses, the F-35 could stealthily collect targeting data and relay it to an F-15EX, which could then utilize advanced low-observable or hypersonic munitions to eliminate enemy targets.

When Lee Kuan Yew died Monday at age 91, the founding father of Singapore did not leave just his legacy as the prime minister whose authoritarian policies shaped a backwater British colony into the world’s fourth-wealthiest nation. He also left Singaporeans with one of the most formidable armies in the world. The tiny island state of 5.4 million, with a land area far smaller than New York City’s, has more fighter jets than Spain, Poland or Sweden. Its army has as many tanks as Italy, which is more than 400 times the size. Its navy boasts the only stealthy ships...

Two jets from different eras, with different missions, strengths, and weaknesses, face off in a battle for today’s funds. The F-35 Lightning has been the Air Force’s sole new fighter program since 2009, when the F-22 Raptor program was prematurely terminated. While behind schedule, the program has been a top Air Force priority for more than a decade and until recently, was expected to remain USAF’s only fighter program until a future capability, still undefined, comes online. Now the F-35 faces a new challenge from an old jet design, a variant of the F-15 Strike Eagle; an airplane from an...