The Aviationist Blog

TSgt. John Chapman May Have Fought Desperate, Solo Battle to Safeguard Rescuers. Alone, abandoned, outgunned. USAF Tech Sgt. John Chapman wakes up on a freezing mountaintop in Afghanistan to realize a special operator’s worst nightmare: he is trapped by himself behind enemy lines. Now he must fight for his life. He is wounded, exposed and […]

A photograph of an Israeli Air Force F-35 flying (more or less..) “over” Beirut has been made public. Interestingly, the image seems to prove the stealthy aircraft was flying with radar reflectors. As reported yesterday, the Israeli Air Force F-35 stealth aircraft have had their baptism of fire taking part in air strike in the […]

Two Flight Crew Hospitalized. No Ground Casualties in Crash of Advanced Trainer. It’s the second T-38 crash in 6 months, fifth USAF crash (tenth U.S. military) since the beginning of 2018 A USAF T-38C Talon II advanced, twin-engine jet trainer has crashed near Highway 373 and Barton’s Ferry Road north of Columbus AFB, Mississippi approximately […]

F-35, T-346, Typhoon, AV-8B, CAEW among the assets involved Italy’s largest exercise supported (for the first time) by the U.S. Marine Corps too. From May 7 to 19, more than 2,000 military, 25 aircraft and helicopters, dozens of land, naval and amphibious vehicles belonging to the Italian Air Force, Navy, Army were involved in the […]

We attended both Poznan Air Show and NATO Tiger Meet. And here’s a detailed report. NATO Tiger Meet This year’s edition of the NATO Tiger Meet exercise took place in Poland, at the 31st Tactical Air Base in Poznan-Krzesiny, between May 14 and May 25, with the media day being held on May 18. We […]

The Israeli Air Force Has Launched World’s First Air Strikes Using The F-35I Adir, IAF Chief Says. Israel is the first country to have used the F-35 stealth aircraft in combat, the Israeli Air Force Commander, Maj. Gen. Amikam Norkin said on Tuesday, in remarks that were made public through the IDF’s official Twitter account. […]

A Galaxy uses every inch of runway 33 at Ilopango airport, El Salvador. The following footage shows a U.S. Air Force C-5 Galaxy taking off from Ilopango airport, located on the eastern part of the city of San Salvador, El Salvador. The massive cargo aircraft, with a wingspan of 222 ft 9 in (67.89 m), […]

The Russian Air Force has released a video that includes a short clip filmed from inside a Bear bomber escorted by two F-22 stealth aircraft. On May 12, two U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor jets were launched from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, to intercept and visually identify two Russian Tu-95 Bear bombers flying off Alaska, […]

New Carrier Continues Expansion of Chinese Expeditionary Capability. China launched its first domestically produced aircraft carrier earlier for sea trials this week at the northeastern port of Dalian, in the south of Liaoning Province, China. The new ship has not been named yet and carries the temporary designation “Type 001A”. The new Type 001A is a slightly larger […]

Second Milestone in 30 Days as New Light Tiltrotor Progresses to Max Speed Test. Bell’s V-280 Valor light tiltrotor aircraft has flown in level flight with its tiltrotors in the horizontal/cruise mode for the first time this week. The aircraft reached 190 knots (218 MPH) during the flight. The new Bell V-280 Valor is a […]

The reign of the RN Sea King HC4 comes to an end They say that legends aren’t born, but made.The reputation of the Royal Navy’s Commando Helicopter Force (CHF) Sea King HC4 fleet has been forged in the heat of battle, under fire in every theatre of operation undertaken since the dark-olive chariots first entered […]

The Royal Air Force has unveiled a new special-colored Tornado. The RAF has painted a Tornado GR4 fighter-bomber in ‘desert pink’ paint scheme to honour the aircraft type’s almost continuous operational service since the Gulf War 25 years ago. The jet, ZG750 and based at RAF Lossiemouth with XV(R) Squadron, was one of those that took part in […]

Eight Italian Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon are about to attend Exercise Red Flag 16-2. On Feb. 19, seven Italian Air Force Typhoon jets left Grosseto airbase, Italy,  for Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, where they will attend Ex. RF 16-2, their first ever Red Flag. The Aviationist’s photographer Giovanni Maduli was there to take the […]

…an ordinary day for the British Typhoons in QRA (even though the photos show two French interceptors). Social media went abuzz yesterday as two nuclear-capable Russian Air Force Tu-160 Blackjack bombers were intercepted by RAF Typhoons during a long-range sortie from their base in the Kola peninsula. Although some British media reported that the Russian […]

Close encounters in the skies over Syria between Russian and German fighters. As reported by several media outlets on Feb. 16, Russian Air Force (RuAF) fighter jets often shadow German Air Force (GAF) Tornados performing reconnaissance missions in Syrian airspace. Although shadowing a foreign combat plane in Syria’s skies filled with jets and UAVs may […]

Four Raptors have deployed to South Korea. On Feb. 17, four U.S. Air Force F-22 “Raptor” fighter aircraft from Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan, deployed to Osan Air Base, in South Korea. The multi-role stealth fighters were joined by four Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) F-15 Slam Eagles and U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting […]

First simulated deployment for the U.S. Air Force F-35A Lightning IIs. Taken on Feb. 8, 2016 the following pictures feature six F-35A Lightning IIs belonging to the 31st Test and Evaluation Squadron (TES) from Edwards Air Force Base, California, arriving at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, for the fifth generation aircraft’s first simulated deployment […]

A Russian Air Force Tu-214R is about to land at Latakia, Syria. The Tu-214R is a Russian ISR (Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance) aircraft. In other words, a quite advanced spyplane. As we have already explained here in the past, it is a special mission aircraft equipped with all-weather radar systems and electro optical sensors that produce […]

Recce role for the Polish F-16 Fighters in the fight against ISIS in Syria. According to the Polish President and the Polish Minister of Defense, Poland is going deploy a “small number of F-16 fighters” to Syria, in order to “support the observation missions in the region,” local media outlets confirmed on Feb. 15. Antoni […]

The impressive story of the only air-to-air victory achieved by the F-15E Strike Eagle. Developed to replace the General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark, the McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) F-15E is a dedicated multi-role version of the F-15 Eagle air superiority fighter: named “Strike Eagle” to point out its attack capabilities, the F-15E is one of the best fighter […]