Goddammit! We have an affordable, effective, and feared plane in our inventory and we’re going to sell (give) them to other countries??? The Air Force might not be interested in the A-10 because they can’t play MP3s or pilots can’t microwave their Hot Pockets while refueling, but I’m sure the jarheads would appreciate…

I’m sure if this would have been an actual successful test, North Korea would have released a video of the missile streaking off into the heavens occompanied by glorious music and narration praising the fatherland and dear leader. My guess is the missile went up a few hundred feet and came right back down into the…

My guess is that we may be witnessing the last (or one of the last) examples of a flyable F-14A. The TF30 was a bitch to keep flying, even for the USN. They probably keep a few examples flying by using parts from dozens of “hangar queens” and may be able to manufacture a few components themselves, but I seriously…

Holy Crap!! We’re screwed!! Iran has been able to genetically engineer Sasquatches, Yetis, and Abominable Snowmen to use as super soldiers. Steve Austin is our only hope.

How the hell do they keep those TF30s running? I mean with the F-4, at least you’ve got J79s all over the world, but they only put TF30s in the F-111, F-14, and early A-7s (non-afterburning).

Things will really get interesting when the tanker becomes autonomous. I wonder if the KQ-XX will be a big flying gas tank or if they will go for a large number smaller tankers. Going smaller would be less efficient, but would create the ability to refuel many more aircraft at the same time and would make it harder…

I sure do miss seeing those little A-7s on the flight deck.

I'm all for simple solutions, but it seems like there might be a cheaper way than running a jet engine to clear FOD. Of course, the way the Pentagon wastes money, those little sweeper carts that the Navy uses might cost millions of dollars a piece. The good news is that if the F-35B doesn't work out, the Navy can…

It's not like the military doesn't understand that concurrency doesn't really work. The F-100A was developed under the Cook-Craigie concept of concurrency in 1951. Sure the Super Sabre got into squadron service much faster, but at the cost of the life of renowned test pilot George Welch and a few dozen aircraft. The…

Advanced fabrication technics (and technologies) are something that the US aviation industry has really done well at since WWII. The aircraft that have been built with these innovations have not always been great, but America is usually at the cutting edge in fabrication and materials use. After WWII, no one could…

That's close to what I said:

Over the years I've talked with some pretty high placed military and DoD officials about the lack of modern IRST on Gen 4 and Gen 5 fighters. Here's what I've taken away from those discussions:

This will make a nice picket line for their A2/AD strategy. Put long-range SAMs on them (along with the Flankers) and they've dramatically extended their anti-air umbrella. If the really want to stir the pot, they should base some DF-21s there.

The Mk II version of the Mixmaster. Droppin' since 1970.

So...if we ever tow an unpowered, unescorted, de-weaponized barge near Iran, there's the possibility that it could get severely damaged.

The NASA B-57 has been doing some "spook" work in Africa and Afghanistan recently.

Here's a few more. I think the Marines still have a few in active service.

A-3 >> A-6 >> A-4 >> F-14 >> F-14 >> B-57 >> F-16 >> F-8 >> A-10 >> Blue Angel F-18 >> F-101 >> F-4 >> F-100.