The Aviationist Blog

Joint Strike Fighter is Still a Lightning Rod of Criticism, But Progress Continues. Photos and Video by Lance Riegle unless otherwise stated. Story by Tom Demerly and David Cenciotti. The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program reached several developmental milestones in August 2018 despite ongoing criticism of the program’s costs and reported technical concerns. As the […]

It’s short but worth watching. The video below is a U.S. Navy commercial dating back to the 1981. In the early eighties the F-14 Tomcat was the Navy’s premier fighter: inducted into active service beginning in 1974, the legendary aircraft had already replaced the F-4 Phantom II in most Carrier Air Wings aboard US aircraft […]

The Blue Angels will Receive the F/A-18E/F in 2021. But testing of the Super Hornet is already underway. As already reported, the Blue Angels will take delivery of the Super Hornets to replace their “Legacy” F/A-18C/Ds in late 2021 in time to work-up for the following airshow season. However, the Boeing F/A-18E single seat and […]

Many interesting warbirds have taken part in the Polish airshow. Last year the Polish Aeropact company organized the first edition of a beach air show, known under the name Aerobaltic in Gdynia. The show took place at the main city beach in Gdynia, Poland, and was generally received as a major success, with daytime and […]

The British Typhoons have made an interesting close encounter yesterday: a quite rare Be-12 Chaika. On Aug. 25, two Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon jets in QRA (Quick Reaction Alert) at the Romanian Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base were scrambled to carry out VID (Visual Identification) on two Russian aircraft flying over the Black Sea in […]

The U.S. Air Force says it’s a “standard” B-2, but a pretty detailed analysis and some subtle details seem to suggest it might be something else. The photographs you can find in this post were taken by three of our readers (Sammamishman, Zaphod58 and Fred) who have recently returned from a trip to monitor activities […]

You don’t happen to see combat helicopters and jets operating in the magnificent setting of the Dolomites too often. Cinque Torri (5 Towers) is the name of a mountain complex part of the Dolomites, in northern Italy. Named after the mountain range is also an yearly, large, joint multinational exercise that this year took place […]

A “ground mishap” has just occurred to an F-35A Lightning II at Eglin Air Force Base. Nose gear collapse Just in from 33rd FW: “An F-35A Lightning II, assigned to the 58th Fighter Squadron, experienced a ground mishap at approximately 12:50 p.m. today on the flightline here. The F-35A experienced an in-flight emergency and returned […]

Veteran Helicopter Pilot Killed in Crash Was in Ninth Combat Deployment. Late Tuesday, August 21, 2018, U.S. military officials identified the Army helicopter pilot who died on Monday as a result of wounds received in a crash in Iraq on Sunday, August 19, 2018 during an undisclosed operation. Official news releases report three additional wounded […]

Three Royal Netherlands Air Force helicopters have been involved in an unusual deployment to the Sardinian airbase. In the last years we have documented the deployment of RNlAF helicopters to airbases across Italy. It all started with a MoU (Memorandum Of Understanding) signed in 2003 that foresaw the periodical deployment of Dutch helicopters (AH-64D, CH-47 […]

Iran claims it’s a new aircraft, but it’s just a +40 years old two-seat F-5…. Iranian media says that a new Iranian fighter jet was exhibited during the National Defense Industry show. Images released by various outlets show President Hassan Rouhani sitting in the cockpit of the new “Kowsar” plane, a “fourth-generation fighter”, with “advanced […]

The Iraqi F-16IQ Block 52 aircraft were refueled from a Stratotanker over Iraq for the first time. On Aug. 15, 2018, Iraqi Air Force F-16C and D, were refueled mid-air by a KC-135 Stratotanker assigned to the 28th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron over Iraq: according to the U.S. Air Forces Central Command Public Affairs, this […]

Here are some interesting details about the Advanced Aerial Training exercise that took place at Albacete Air Base, Spain, last week. On Aug. 16, 2018, two U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptors from the 95th Fighter Squadron, 325th Fighter Wing, Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, conducted the Raptor’s first forward deployment to Albacete, Spain. The 5th […]

Accident is Third T-38 Crash in Ten Months for Talon II, Continues Series of U.S. Accidents. A U.S. Air Force Northrop T-38C Talon II crashed on Friday, August 17, 2018 near Vance AFB 90 miles northwest of Oklahoma City in Enid, Oklahoma. One Instructor Pilot (the only crewmember) ejected from the aircraft and is reported […]

The internal 25mm cannon fires up to 50 rounds per second. On Aug. 13, pilots from the 388th Fighter Wing’s 4th Fighter Squadron fired the F-35A’s 25 mm internal cannon in a strafing run on two sets of ground targets on the Utah Test and Training range. It was the first use of the F-35A’s GAU-22/A […]

New, Larger Aircraft Will Change Display Routine, Add Range for Ferry Flights. After several seasons of speculation, official U.S. Navy documents have revealed the U.S. Navy Flight Demonstration Team, The Blue Angels, will receive the larger, upgraded Boeing F/A-18E single seat and F/A-18F two-seat Super Hornet to replace their aging F/A-18C/D Hornets, by the end of […]

Turkey Would Have Operated Both the F-35 and the Russian Engineered S-400 Missile System. On Monday, August 13, 2018, U.S. President Donald Trump signed into law the new John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Named as a tribute to Arizona Senator John McCain, who is afflicted with brain cancer, the bill includes provisions […]

U.S. Air Force F-22 deployed to Poland. Five jets USAF F-22s have arrived at Powidz Airbase, Poland, this week. On Aug. 15, along with a C-130J that acted as a camera-ship, four stealth aircraft celebrated the 100th Anniversary of Polish Independence and Armed Forces Day by participating in a multi-aircraft flyover in Warsaw (most probably, […]

Video shows a C-5 performing a nose gear-up landing at JB San Antonio last March. As you may remember, on Mar. 15, 2018, an Air Force Reserve Command C-5M performed nose gear up landing at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas. A video of the emergency landing has eventually emerged. It show the Super Galaxy with […]

Photographer Chris McGreevy Captures Gold in Photos at Mojave Air & Space Port. Aviation spotter and photographer Christopher McGreevy has been shooting photos of unique and interesting aircraft, “Since I was a kiddo” he told TheAviationist.com last week in an exclusive interview over Facebook messenger. But what he captured on Friday, August 10, 2018 outside […]