The Aviationist Blog

The U.S. Air Force is looking for suppliers of maintenance and logistic support to continue flight operations of the Nighthawk for 10 years. The F-117 Nighthawk, the first operational stealth aircraft, was officially retired in [...]

The post The U.S. Air Force Wants The F-117 To Fly Until 2034 appeared first on The Aviationist.

As part of the largest investment in the Royal Canadian Air Force in 30 years, Canada is purchasing the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lighting II. On Jan. 9, 2023, Canada announced the finalisation of an agreement [...]

The post Canada Finalizes Agreement To Acquire 88 F-35s appeared first on The Aviationist.

The new APG-85 radar will replace the older APG-81 on the upcoming Block 4 fighters. Last year, the U.S. Air Force’s unfunded wish list for Fiscal Year 2023 mentioned the procurement of seven F-35A in [...]

The post The F-35 Lightning II Will Get A New Radar appeared first on The Aviationist.

This new aircraft will relieve the pressure on the fleet after a E-11 crashed in 2020 and will allow to sustain a high mission capable rate. The U.S. Air Force 430th Expeditionary Electronic Communications Squadron [...]

The post New E-11A BACN Is Now Operational With U.S. Air Force appeared first on The Aviationist.

Did you know even C-2 Greyhound aircraft perform the famous “Shit Hot Break”? The “break” is the tight turn performed by aircraft recovering aboard a carrier to enter the downwind leg of the traffic pattern. [...]

The post From The Cockpit: C-2A COD Pilot Performs His First ‘Shit Hot Break’ appeared first on The Aviationist.

Some Israeli and U.S. F-35s among the aircraft affected by a technical directive issued by the F-35 Joint Program Office. Some F-35s, including at least 11 F-35s of the Israeli Air Force, and an unspecified [...]

The post ‘Small Number’ Of U.S. And International F-35s Grounded After F-35B Incident At Fort Worth appeared first on The Aviationist.

The MQ-1C Predator A+ Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) has been retired after 18 years and +30,000 flight hours. On Dec. 19, 2022, with a transfer flight from the 61° Gruppo (Squadron) APR (Aeromobili a [...]

The post The Italian Air Force Has Retired Its MQ-1C Predator A+ RPAS appeared first on The Aviationist.

Extremely interesting footage shows the bow shock wave around an F-104 Starfighter flying supersonic. As already explained in a previous article, Piercarlo “Capone” Ciacchi is the Director of Flight Operations at Starfighters Aerospace. A former Italian [...]

The post Bow Shock Wave Caught On Camera As Starfighter Flies At Mach 1.7 Over Florida appeared first on The Aviationist.

The unmanned spaceplane returned to Earth after spending an impressive 908 days in orbit. The X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle successfully deorbited and landed at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility on Nov. 12, 2022, [...]

The post Reflecting On The X-37B’s Latest Record-Breaking Mission appeared first on The Aviationist.

The IFTS flight school will train up to 80 pilots per year using dedicated infrastructures, training ranges and reserved airspace. The International Flight Training School (IFTS) has become internationally renowned, throughout its four years of [...]

The post IFTS: A Deep Dive Into The Joint Italian Air Force – Leonardo Training Centre appeared first on The Aviationist.

According to the first reports, at least two Russian Tu-95 Bear bombers were damaged in the attack. Engels-2 airbase, located in Saratov Oblast, some 400 km southeast of Moscow and roughly 700 km from the [...]

The post Explosion Hits Engels-2 Airbase, Russia, Reportedly Damaging At Least Two Tu-95 Bombers appeared first on The Aviationist.

Here’s our second analysis of the Northrop Grumman B-21 sixth generation stealth bomber. It was short, sweet and stealthy. The rollout ceremony for the new Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider was a well-produced but succinct event [...]

The post Let’s Have A Closer Look At The B-21 Raider Stealth Bomber appeared first on The Aviationist.

The new 6th generation stealth bomber has been unveiled during a ceremony at the company’s site in Palmdale, California. It finally happened. On Dec. 2, 2022, Northrop Grumman, in partnership with the U.S. Air Force, [...]

The post The New B-21 Raider Stealth Bomber Has Just Been Unveiled appeared first on The Aviationist.

Italian Army’s UH-90A helicopter fleet handover complete. The Esercito Italiano took delivery of the the 60th and final UH-90A (NATO designation for the Italian Army NH90 TTH) multirole helicopter. The aircraft, assembled at Leonardo’s Venice [...]

The post Italian Army Takes Delivery Of Its 60th And Final UH-90A Helicopter appeared first on The Aviationist.

While you prepare for the Raider rollout tomorrow, take a look at its predecessor staging an impressive Elephant Walk. Eight B-2A Spirit aircraft took part in a rare stealth bomber Elephant Walk carried out at [...]

The post Enjoy These Photos Of The Recent B-2 Elephant Walk To Prepare For The B-21 Unveiling appeared first on The Aviationist.

The 5th gen aircraft suffered a nose gear down collapse during towing. An F-35B Lightning II, belonging to the Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 121 ‘Green Knights’, was involved in an incident on the ground [...]

The post U.S. Marine Corps F-35B Nose Gear Collapse Incident At Kadena Air Base appeared first on The Aviationist.

The ALE-70 towed radio frequency countermeasure is stored under a hatch next to the dual infrared countermeasures dispenser doors, that appear to be open too. The images in this post were taken last week at [...]

The post Take A Look At These Photos Of An F-35 Flying With The ALE-70 Towed Decoy Door Open appeared first on The Aviationist.

The Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bomb (GLSDB) combines the GBU-39 SDB with the M26 rocket motor. The Pentagon is considering a Boeing proposal to supply Ukraine with GLSDBs an exclusive Reuters report unveiled on Nov. 28, [...]

The post The U.S. Is Considering The Transfer Of GLSDB Munitions To Ukraine appeared first on The Aviationist.

Designed for 5th gen fighter jets, Falcon Strike 2022 increased interoperability and cooperation to obtain the air dominance, taking also into account the lessons learned from the current situation in Ukraine. Exercise Falcon Strike 2002, [...]

The post Lessons Learned In Ukraine Helped Shape Falcon Strike 22, The 5th Gen-Centric ‘European Red Flag’ appeared first on The Aviationist.

Here’s some background about one of the most famous traditions in the military. While their roots are not completely clear, “deployment mustaches” (i.e. a mustache grown by soldiers during a military deployment) have without any [...]

The post A C-2 Greyhound Pilot On The Tradition Of Growing A Mustache While Underway On Deployment appeared first on The Aviationist.