Military Heat

The Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 50/52/60 represents a further step in the evolution of the F-16 Fighting Falcon multirole jet fighter. There are many new modifications, most of them internally, but the biggest change visible to the eye is the pair of removable conformal fuel tanks and a dorsal avionics compartment that make the new Falcon one of the ugliest jets ever.

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On October 18, 2002, Boeing declassified its secret Bird of Prey during a rollout ceremony at the company’s facility in St. Louis. Named for a spaceship in the science fiction television series Star Trek, this technology demonstrator pioneered revolutionary advances in low-observable (stealth) features, tailless aircraft design, and rapid prototyping techniques.
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First developed by the Russians, plasma stealth technology is also known as “Active Stealth Technology”. Plasma stealth is a proposed process that uses ionized gas (plasma) to reduce the radar cross section (RCS) of an aircraft. A plasma stream is injected in front of the aircraft covering the entire body of the aircraft and absorbing most of the electromagnetic energy of the radar waves, thus making the aircraft difficult to detect. (Read more…)

The Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit is a low-observable, strategic, long-range, heavy bomber capable of penetrating sophisticated and dense air-defence shields.Operated exclusively by the US Air Force, the B-2 Spirit is a second generation stealth aircraft, following the F-117A Nighthawk.

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Also known as the Frisbee or the Wobblin’ Goblin the F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter is the world’s first aircraft that incorporates stealth technology.Developed by the famous Skunk Works division of Lockheed Martin as a development of the Have Blue stealth technology demonstrator, the F-117 Nighthawk flew for the first time in 1977.First delivery was made in 1982 and in 1990 the US Air Force received the last of the 59 aircraft ordered. (Read more…)

The heaviest combat aircraft ever to be built, the Tupolev TU-160 (NATO codename Blackjack) is a supersonic, variable geometry heavy bomber designed by the Tupolev Design Bureau.

Due to the antiflash white finish and excellent maneuverability the TU-160 was nicknamed by its pilots the White Swan.There are currently 14 White Swans in service with the Russian Air Force.

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September 25 marked the delivery of the first production Boeing EA-18G Growler to the US Navy.The Boeing EA-18G Growler is a new airborne electronic attack (AEA) aircraft that will replace the EA-6B Prowler, the Navy’s current AEA aircraft that has been in service since 1971.The Growler was delivered to the Navy ahead of schedule and within allocated budget.

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Last week the Iranian Air Force successfully tested the new Saeqeh fighter.On September 20 two fighter planes from the Azarakhsh (Thunder) fighter generation were successfully tested in Tehran.This new Iranian fighter, named Saeqeh (Thunderbolt) is the second type of Azarakhsh fighters.The Saeqeh is locally built and is based on adaptations of reversed-engineered, modified (twin-tail) American F-5 platforms developed by IRI, the Air Force and Iran’s Defense Ministry.

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The Tejas single-seat, single-engine, lightweight, high-agility supersonic fighter aircraft has been undergoing flight trials in preparation for operational clearance, and by mid 2005 had flown over 400 flights up to speeds of Mach 1.4. The Tejas light combat aircraft design and development program is being led by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) of the Indian Department of Defence with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) as the prime industrial contractor.

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Recently there has been a surge of Armee de l’Air (French Air Force) videos over the internet showing french pilots doing a lot of low flying and generally spectacular stuff.The french have a number of units all over the world and one of these places is the Replubic of Chad.The Mirages and Jaguars of Armee de l’Air have been operating in Chad since the 80’s and have been deeply involved during 80’s and 90’s in fights for Libyan containment (at least two French aircraft have been shot down), which have culminated with the bombing of the Libyan airfield of Ouadi-Doum.

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The IAR 93 Vultur (Eagle) is a single seat, twin engine, subsonic close support, ground attack and tactical reconnaissance aircraft. The program started in 1970 under original project name YUROM as a joint-venture between the Romanian INCAS institute and Yugoslavian VTJ engineers to meet requirements of both air forces.The two single-seat prototypes made simultaneous first flights on October 31 1974.The Yugoslavian aircraft was named SOKO/VTJ-J-ORAO.
There are many estimates as to how many IAR 93s were produced with figures ranging from 80 to 150.

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Ever wanted to pilot a russian jet fighter or have your very own russian attack helicopter? Nowadays all you need to do that is have a little bit of cash and your dream just might come true. If you have anything between 10k $ and 5 million $ you can buy anything from a MiG-21 interceptor to the world famous Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker. There are dozens of ex-military aircraft for sale.
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