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The J-10B was on the ground at a recent open day, in a suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD) configuration. (Photo: Chinese Internet) A new photograph of the Chengdu J-10B combat aircraft in suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD) configuration has appeared on the Chinese Internet. The canard-delta fighter was seen at the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) Open Day, held at Changchun airbase in northeast China. The fighter was carrying a pair of PL-8 short-range air-to-air missile on Station 1 and 7; a pair of YJ-91 anti-radiation missiles on Station 2 and 6; and two 500-kg laser-guided training...

Here’s why Wild Weasel missions were among the most dangerous sorties flown in Southeast Asia. During the Vietnam War the main threat to the strike packages was the V-750 (S-75) Dvina, the first effective Soviet surface-to-air missile (SAM). Better known by the NATO designation SA-2 Guideline, the missile was developed in the mid 1950s and it was used to shoot down Gary Powers’ U-2 over the USSR in 1960 and Maj. Rudolph Anderson’s U-2 over Cuba in 1962. North Vietnam began receiving SA-2s shortly after the start of Operation Rolling Thunder and on Jul. 24, 1965, a Guideline shot down...

Part 1 of a very interesting, early 1980s, documentary about the creation and development of the Wild Weasel SAM hunting missions, from the earliest missions against Russian missiles in Vietnam with F-100's to the planes and equipment of the(then) present day.

The US Navy (USN) will dip into its own inventory to supply Australia with the ALQ-99 jammer pods it needs for its future Boeing EA-18G fleet. The southwest Pacific nation is converting 12 of its 24 Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornets into the electronic attack Growler configuration. While the low-band transmitter for the ALQ-99 suite is relatively new and in production, the mid-band jammers are not in production. "We will be teaming with Cobham, Lansdale, Pennsylvania, to deliver low band transmitters to the RAAF [Royal Australian Air Force]," says the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR). "The remainder of the transmitters and...

Say you own a 20-year-old car and intend to drive it beyond the year 2050. It will need some fixing. A challenge similar to that continually faces Whiteman Air Force Base, home to the B-2 stealth bomber. Many aircraft parts made in the 1980s, when the first of 21 B-2s rolled out of a Northrop Grumman Corp. hangar, are as obsolete today as the floppy disk. Yet the plan is to keep those bat-winged bombers flying, and eluding the latest in radar technology, until 2058. The Pentagon is moving forward with a $2 billion, 10-year effort to modernize the fleet’s...

U.S. pilots plant SEAD with Turkish counterparts by Staff Sgt. Daryl Knee Anatolian Falcon 2012 Public Affairs 3/9/2012 - KONYA, Turkey (AFNS) -- The Turkish and U.S. air forces continue to combine their air assets and share tactics in large-force employments during Exercise Anatolian Falcon 2012 here March 5-16. During LFE exercises, units oftentimes take advantage of the high number of aircraft participating to test mass communication efforts, but the 480th Fighter Squadron pilots from Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, are sharing suppression-of-enemy-air-defenses tactics with their Turkish counterparts. SEAD, the 480th FS's specialty, is any action taken to deter enemy surface-to-air...

Predator UAV Employed in Non-Traditional SEADMar 24, 2003 Summary The U.S. military has employed a Predator unmanned aerial vehicle to attack air defenses near Basra. This attack suggests CENTCOM is employing a limited and non-traditional strategy for tactical air defense suppression to facilitate close air support. Analysis The U.S. military has reportedly employed an armed RQ-1A Predator unmanned aerial vehicle for the first time in the war in Iraq. The Predator reportedly fired a Hellfire II missile against an Iraqi anti-aircraft artillery position near Basra. Employment of the UAV suggests the United States has begun suppression of enemy air...