Can the F-22 also go into ‘Beast Mode’? While “beast mode” is a description, not a technical term, it refers to a fighter plane that is carrying more than its usual or standard array of weapons. The F-35 Lightning II does have a weapons-heavy beast mode that has around four times the ordnance of regular stealth mode or 22,000-pounds of…

During more than 34 years of fleet service, the F-14 Tomcat transformed from analog fighter to digital precision attack platform. Originally designed to keep Russian bombers away from the battle group by employing Phoenix missiles at very long range, by the time the Tomcat was retired in 2006 it was capable of missions as far ranging…

The F-15 Eagle is a great aircraft that has thrived even after the F-22 Raptor was introduced. The F-15 Eagle is one of the world’s most-produced air superiority fighter jets. But why? It isn’t the most advanced in the US Air Force, that’s the F-22 Raptor which is a fifth-generation fighter while the Eagle is…

Here’s What You Need to Know: The F-35 continues to attract high praise. Hundreds of U.S. pilots currently have been trained to fly Lockheed Martin’s F-35A Lightning II. A few years back, the Heritage Foundation interviewed 31 of these former F-15C, F-15E, F-16C, and A-10 pilots. Each expressed a high degree of confidence in the…

When it comes to all things military these days, the general public is rightly consumed with the latest Top Gun movie that hit screens on Memorial Day earlier in the year. And that means we have been talking a lot about dogfighting. Here is a fact you may not know: the A-10 Warthog also has some limited skills in this…

The answers are obvious. The F-16 Fighting Falcon bears an unusual distinctions: it is one of the only top jet fighters in the world to also be cost efficient. Fast and extremely agile, the light fighter does have some shortcomings in range and payload compared to larger twin-engine fighters like the F-15 Eagle, but that…

B-2’s aren’t just expensive to build—they cost a fortune to operate. Key Point: The Air Force does not have enough B-2’s. But there could be a more cost-efficient alternative. Since its inception in 1947, the U.S. Air Force has been deeply invested in operating long-range strategic bomber for nuclear deterrence. However, by the 1960s it grew…

Like the F-35, the latest F-22s have radar (Synthetic Aperture Radar) and data-links (F-22 has LINK 16), radar warning receivers and targeting technologies. Being that the F-22 is regarded as the world’s best air-to-air platform, an ability for an F-35 and F-22 to more quickly exchange sensor information such as targeting data would produce a potential battlefield…

Here’s What You Need To Remember: In the air-to-air mode, the Hind can use its nose-mounted cannon and unguided and guided rockets to attack enemy helicopters. It’s arguably easier for a helicopter to attack another helicopter than it is for a supersonic fighter plane to do so, as the plane’s high speed can make it difficult…

Of all the aerospace giants, Sweden’s Saab AB has followed perhaps the least likely path. In an era when modern fighters are typically designed by a consortia of firms from a variety of states, small Sweden has managed to produce a fighter capable of competing with any on the export market. The JAS 39 Gripen now serves…