Military Heat

After tens of years of development and tens of billions of dollars spent on the project, the world’s first production tiltrotor aircraft, the V-22 Osprey entered service with the U.S Marines. There is still a lot of controversy surrounding this aircraft, so how exactly did it all begin?

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Over the skies of North Korea some of the most intense jet dogfights took place between USAF pilots and their F-86 Sabres and North Korean and Russian pilots flying the MiG-15 “Fagot”. This is the story of the first dogfight between the two rival aircraft. See pilot Bruce Hinton claim first blood for the F-86 Sabre. (Read more…)

January 31, 2006 marked the maiden flight of the P-791 experimental hybrid airship. Developed by Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Development Programs aka Skunk Works, the P-791 hybrid airship was flight tested at Lockheed Martin’s flight test facility on the Palmdale Air Force Plant 42.

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After the end of WW II, and with the success of the Nagasaki and Hiroshima atomic bombings, USAF commanders believed the future of military aviation lay in long range, high altitude strategic bombers. In the 1950s one of the most impressive nuclear bombers was developed for the United States Air Force Strategic Air Command: the North American XB-70 Valkyrie.

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The Sea Shadow is an experimental stealth ship designed by the US Navy, Lockheed and DARPA ( Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency). The Sea Shadow was ordered in 1982 to examine the applicability of stealth technology on naval vessels as well as a test bed for automatic on-board systems to reduce the number of crew members. (Read more…)

Soon after World War II, one of the most amazing jet fighters was conceived for the US Air Force: the McDonell XF-85 Goblin, known as the “Flying Egg” because of its very small size ( only 4.5 meters in length ) and rotund appearance. The XF-85 Goblin was designed to be carried inside the bomb bays of giant strategic bombers and deployed in case of enemy attack. The giant Convair B-36 strategic bomber was to play the role of mothership for this little parasite aircraft. (Read more…)

The Merkava Mark 4 is the latest main battle tank to enter service with the Israeli Defence Force (IDF). Tracing its roots way back to the 1960s, the Merkava ( Hebrew for chariot ) was named after the IDF development program launched to design and manufacture a main battle tank domestically. The Merkava Mark 4 is probably the best protected tank in the world.

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The Dassault Mirage 2000 is a highly successful multirole combat jet fighter manufactured by Dassault Aviation of France. The Mirage 2000 has been in service with the French Air Force ( Armee de l’Air ) since 1984 and eight more countries have Mirage 2000 fighters in service. There is no doubt the Mirage 2000 is an elegant airplane, with the delta wing configuration and lack of tail planes. Among other things the Mirage 2000 was the first aerodynamically unstable fighter jet with full fly-by-wire and a couple of years ago reached movie stardom level in the French production ” Les Chevaliers du Ciel” ( Knights of the Sky ) aka ” Skyfighters”. (Read more…)

Dissimilar air combat training ( DACT ) was introduced as a formal US air combat training during the Vietnam war, following the 9 to 1 kill ratio of North Korean MiGs over US air assets. Thus Topgun was introduced. The idea of the DACT is to place pilots in simulated aerial combat using different types of aircraft ( rather then have them using the same type ) in order to understand the value of knowing the enemy’s weak points. Here is a video of Topgun DACT featuring the US Navy F-16 Falcon versus the F-14 Tomcat . The instructors, flying the Vipers, play the role of aggressors while the students fly the Tomcats. Seems the students still have something to learn. (Read more…)

The Denel AH-2 Rooivalk is a modern attack helicopter manufactured in South Africa by Denel Aerospace Systems, a division of Denel Ltd. 12 of these helicopters were ordered by the South African Air Force. The first helicopter entered service with the South African Air Force in 1999 and by April 2005 only six Rooivalk were operational as part of the 16 Squadron, which is based at AFB Bloemspruit near Bloemfontein.

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The Saab JAS 39 Gripen is the first new-generation multi-role/swing-role fighter to enter service worldwide and combines high performance, outstanding maneuverability and fully integrated information and weapons systems for all air combat situations.
Offering an unrivaled mix of simplicity and sophistication to defeat all present and future threats, it is the world’s most capable and cost-effective combat aircraft in operation today. (Read more…)

Metal Storm Limited is an Australian company based in Brisbane that developed the electronically initiated stacked projectile weapons technology. What is most impressive about this new system is the 1 million rounds per minute rate of fire it can achieve without using moving parts, making it more reliable and easy to use.
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Here are two episodes from the History Channel’s Dogfights series: “Dogfights of the Middle East” and “Desert Aces” . Interviews with the pilots are mixed with excellent graphics and analysis that take you closer than ever before to the great air battles of the modern jet age.

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In 2006 the US Navy VAW-116 “Sun Kings” Command and Control Squadron that deploys aboard USS Abraham Lincoln became famous after releasing their version of the “Pump It” music video, by the Black Eyed Peas. The video production started out as a way to fight off boredom on the long patrols but turned out to be quite a hit, with more than a million views on YouTube. The video was also aired on national television. (Read more…)

The Tiger/Tigre is a new attack helicopter manufactured by the Eurocopter Group, the global manufacturing and support company formed in 1992 from the merger of Aerospatiale of France and DaimlerChrysler Aerospace AG or DASA of Germany. The advanced multi-role battlefield helicopter is known as Tiger in Germany and Tigre in France and Spain but it is also designated EC 665 or PAH-2.
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