One of the most important roles on any ship is ensuring fire protection. The US Navy’s latest Super Carrier, the USS Gerald R Ford, is no exception.
Continue reading Loading F-18 Fire Shell on USS Gerald R Ford
The USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) conducting flight operations in the Atlantic. The Stennis, when fully crewed, has a capacity of more than 6,000 officers and crew.
Continue reading USS Stennis November Flight Ops in Atlantic
Raptors were flown by Reserve pilots assigned to the 302nd Fighter Squadron
Raptors assigned to Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson, Alaska land during the Reserve Unit Training Assembly weekend March 9. The Raptors were flown by Reserve pilots assigned to the 302nd Fighter Squadron during the 477th Fighter Groups monthly training weekend. During the week the 477th Fighter Group, Alaska’s only Reserve unit, integrates with the active duty 3rd Wing.
The F-16 Fighting Falcon – also known as the Viper – is a legendary fighter jet. Thousands are currently in use by air forces around the world. An interesting fact about the F-16 is that it was the first ever fighter jet to use a side control stick.
One of the most challenging exercises military pilots must perform is refueling their aircraft from a tanker jet midair. It takes years of training to become proficient at this task, and it requires intense sustained focus every time to perform successfully.
Continue reading Refueling a Warthog at Night
Today kicks off National Aircraft Carrier month here in the US! It’s a month-long celebration of these behemoth ships. The US Navy is by far the world’s largest operator aircraft carriers, so there will be plenty to see!
We’ll start it off with some stunning footage of the USS Gerald R Ford (CVN 78) undergoing high speed turn tests for the first time earlier this week. Your jaw might drop from the size of these ships, but just wait until you see how maneuverable they are!
Get ready to strap down the flight deck – it’s about to get a little rough.
While the Ford project has had some serious delays and cost overruns, this is still a very gratifying test to see completed successfully. Finally she’s out on the seas, and showing what she’s capable of!
Remember today is just the start of Aircraft Carrier Month! We have some pretty incredible content lined up that we’re very excited to show. Keep checking back often.
Check out the latest Aggressor paint scheme out of Nellis AFB – it doesn’t disappoint!
A-10 Thunderbolt II Cockpit Footage of a 190th Fighter Squadron, 124th Fighter Wing, Idaho Air National Guard, dropping live bombs and conducting flying operations June 8, 2019 for Green Flag-West at Nellis AFB, Nevada.
The sheer power shown in the above video is incredible. The 30 mm rounds fired by the A-10 are devastating to any targets that are hit, which are usually numerous considering the aircraft’s accuracy. Re-watching the video a few times gives you an even better impression of the effects of the weapon on the aircraft, and the pilot’s deadly precision despite it.
About a year ago the US Military Update channel on YouTube, devoted entirely to promoting the missions and work of the US Military Servicemembers, was de-monetized by the YouTube Team. Despite our millions of views, tens of thousands of loyal fans, and hundreds of videos, YouTube decided we didn’t deserve any of the revenue from ads shown during our videos. Our appeal earlier this year was also denied.
Details of an overnight raid against ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi by US Special Forces are starting to emerge. According to US Defense Secretary Mark Esper, in an interview with ABC Sunday morning, the raid involved fewer than 100 US troops who were on the ground in Syria for over two hours at al-Baghdadi’s compound.
The raid resulted in the death of al-Baghdadi, who blew himself up with a suicide vest, according to Esper.
Continue reading US Special Forces Al-Baghdadi Raid Location & Details
The F-22 Raptor is known for its stealth capabilities worldwide. Years before its introduction into service, adversaries were already clamoring to develop radar defenses able to see it. Even in 2019 it remains as elusive as it is awesome. Below we’ll take a look at the F-22’s radar cross-section, and how its able to slip through air defenses undetected.
Aggressor Squadrons are known for their colorful camouflage paint schemes, which are designed to mimic the camo types often used by adversary forces. Aggressors serve as the enemy aircraft in training exercises, so US and allied pilots get familiar with recognizing and fighting against aircraft with these unusual appearances.
Check out the incredible composite image below showing the F-22 Raptor performing a Minimum Radius Turn. The Raptor is able to turn so tightly due to the thrust vectoring capabilities of its two powerful afterburning engines. As the angle of the thrust increases, the engines literally start pushing the jet tighter into the turn, leading to some truly incredible maneuvers.
In this day of computers and drones, it’s easy to forget just how incredible this plane was. It still holds the all-time record as the fastest manned aircraft in the world, a title it’s held since 1976. Check out more surprising facts, as well as some incredible photos and videos, of the SR-71 Blackbird below.
The effort, cost, and danger of the SR-71 program is readily apparent, especially considering the space suits required for pilots to fly the plane at its cruising altitude. All of this was expended and endured just to take some photos. What was so great about them? This brings us to the first surprising fact about the SR-71.
SR-71 Blackbird could produce images detailed enough to…
SR-71 Surprising Fact #1:
The camera on the SR-71 Blackbird could produce images detailed enough to read a car license plate from 80,000 feet. This fact was published by the Airman, the US Air Force’s official magazine. That might help explain why so much energy and money were poured into this program over the years.
