The Aviationist Blog

Recurring “Falcon Virgo” Exercise for Washington D.C. Trains Airspace Control and Restriction. Operation “Falcon Virgo”, a planned air defense exercise over the U.S. national capital region, will take place on Jan. 14-15 and again on [...]

The post NORAD Conducts Planned “Falcon Virgo” Air Defense Exercise Over Washington D.C. Area. appeared first on The Aviationist.

In December it was also announced that the S-70 Okhotnik drone was tested in flight with captive air-to-air missiles in the fighter role The Russian next-generation Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle (UCAV) Sukhoi S-70 Okhotnik (Hunter) [...]

The post The Russian S-70 Okhotnik UCAV Struck Ground Targets With Unguided Bombs During Weapons Testing appeared first on The Aviationist.

The three countries agreed to an equal cooperation for research, development and joint concepting of the Tempest FCAS ahead of the Project Arrangement and Full Development phase from 2025. The Italian Minister of Defense Lorenzo [...]

The post Italy, United Kingdom And Sweden Sign Tempest FCAS Cooperation Memorandum Of Understanding appeared first on The Aviationist.

This is the story of the B-2A Spirit AV-3 (Air Vehicle 3) and its emergency landing during a test flight. Today, we have become quite used to the shape of the B-2A Spirit, but more [...]

The post That Time B-2A Spirit AV-3 Made An Emergency Landing On Rogers Dry Lake And Firetrucks Couldn’t Find It appeared first on The Aviationist.

Enjoy an unprecedented walkaround and cockpit tour of the Russian-built Mi-24D “Hind” gunship helicopter used in threat simulation by the U.S. Air Force. The Mi-24D is a variant of the Mi-24 “Hind”, a pretty famous [...]

The post Up Close And Personal With The Mi-24D “Hind” Gunship Helicopter Used As Threat Simulation Aircraft For U.S. Forces appeared first on The Aviationist.

One year ago, Iranian General Qasem Soleimani was killed in Baghdad. A somewhat weird memorial erected in Lebanon shows the moment a missile hit the SUV carrying the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s Quds [...]

The post Memorial for Qassem Soleimani Erected in Lebanon Depicts The Moment His SUV Was Hit By A Drone Missile appeared first on The Aviationist.

Until Dec. 31, 2020, the Swiss Air Force F/A-18s were available for Quick Reaction Alert only on business hours. About 7 years ago, an embarrassing incident highlighted the need for a round-the-clock service. Beginning on [...]

The post Swiss Air Force F/A-18s Finally Started Providing Round-the-Clock Swiss Airspace Protection Last Week appeared first on The Aviationist.

The U.S. Air Force AC-130J Ghostrider gunships are a constant presence in the CENTCOM AOR (Area Of Responsibility). The picture in this post shows an AC-130J Ghostrider being refueled at night by a U.S. Air [...]

The post Check Out This Photo Of A U.S. AC-130J Ghostrider Gunship Refueling At Night In The Persian Gulf Area appeared first on The Aviationist.

The AW169 LUH helicopter, based on the AW169M light intermediate twin-engine helicopter, features a new skid landing gear which replaces the standard retractable gear. The first Leonardo AW169 LUH (Light Utility Helicopter) was recently photographed [...]

The post First AW169 In New Advanced Light Utility Helicopter Configuration Begins Flight Testing appeared first on The Aviationist.

The aircraft, which is the second Su-57 serially built, was delivered a year after the first built crashed during pre-delivery testing. The Russian Aerospace Forces received on Dec. 25, 2020, their first serially built Su-57 [...]

The post First Serial Production Su-57 Felon Delivered To The Russian Aerospace Forces appeared first on The Aviationist.

Leonardo is one of the world’s top ten players in Aerospace, Defense and Security. Let’s have a look at the status of its most important projects in the Aeronautics, Helicopters, Space and Electronics businesses. Named [...]

The post Leonardo: Deep Dive Into The Main Programs Of One Of The Largest Defense Contractors In The World appeared first on The Aviationist.

Air Force Claims Mysterious “Boom” Wasn’t Them. Local News Suggests, “Earthquake or Mine Blast”. Tucson, Arizona residents near Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and across the city of Tucson are reporting a loud “sonic boom” that [...]

The post BOOM! What Was That? Mysterious “Sonic Boom” Shakes Tucson This Morning. appeared first on The Aviationist.

The F-16s of the 93rd Fighter Squadron “Makos” are believed to be deploying to the CENTCOM area of operations. On Dec. 28, 2020, six F-16s belonging to the 93rd FS “Makos” belonging to the 482nd [...]

The post F-16s Of The Florida “Makos” Make Stopover In Spain On Their Way To Deployment appeared first on The Aviationist.

The M-139 Volcano Mine Delivery System, originally built in the 1980s and ’90s, has been in storage for more than 20 years. Recently, the 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade, part of the 82nd Airborne Division, posted [...]

The post The U.S. Army Is Qualifying New Units To Fly The UH-60 With The Controversial M-139 Volcano Mine Delivery System appeared first on The Aviationist.

Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) F-35A fleet has achieved Initial Operational Capability (IOC). Australian Minister for Defence, Senator the Hon. Linda Reynolds, CSC, and Minister for Defence Industry, Melissa Price MP, declared Initial Operational Capability [...]

The post RAAF Declares Initial Operational Capability For Australia’s F-35A Lightning II Jets appeared first on The Aviationist.

Strap in the cockpit of a C-2 Greyhound as it launches from USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier on Christmas Day a few years back. Although Christmas Day is just an ordinary work day for [...]

The post Here’s What A Catapult Shot On Christmas Day In A U.S. Navy C-2 Greyhound Looks Like From The Cockpit appeared first on The Aviationist.

Initially developed only for the Fleet Air Defense, the F-14 eventually evolved into an appreciated strike fighter at the peak of its career. The F-14 Tomcat was primarily designed to defend the U.S. Navy’s fleets [...]

The post How The F-14 Tomcat Evolved And Became The Bombcat appeared first on The Aviationist.

Footage shows the tactical nuclear weapon delivery technique used by the F-104 Starfighter (and many other aircraft). Although some of our readers may already have seen it, I still think the video of a tactical [...]

The post Vintage Video Shows F-104 Using “Tossing” Technique To Drop A Nuclear Bomb And Escape The Blast Effects appeared first on The Aviationist.

Preliminary inquiry documents in the Leonardo hack suggest hackers were targeting nEUROn drone, C-27J and ATR-72 documents. For almost two years, between May 2015 and January 2017, the IT infrastructure of Leonardo, the Italian multinational [...]

The post Leonardo Hack Allegedly Targeted Details Of nEUROn UCAV Program appeared first on The Aviationist.

This video from a U.S. Navy pilot really gives an idea of the amount of mental focus required to perform a trap landing on an aircraft carrier. Rob Roy is an active duty U.S. Navy [...]

The post Watch This: U.S. Navy Pilot Doesn’t Even Blink While Flying The Ball All The Way To Touchdown On Aircraft Carrier appeared first on The Aviationist.