The Aviationist Blog

The new airframe is a TAV-8B Harrier II of the Spanish Navy (Spanish: Armada Española) that still wears the U.S. Marine Corps paint scheme. An interesting TAV-8B Harrier II aircraft of the Spanish Navy was [...]

The post Ex-USMC TAV-8B Harrier Sporting Spanish Navy Markings And Marine Corps Paint Scheme Flies For The First Time appeared first on The Aviationist.

The new digitally engineered Boeing Loyal Wingman UAV went from design to the first flight in just three years. Boeing and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) announced on March 1, 2021, that the Loyal [...]

The post Let’s Talk About Boeing Loyal Wingman Unmanned Aerial Vehicle’s First Flight appeared first on The Aviationist.

The Italian Navy has just released the first shots of the VX-23 F-35B aircraft taking part in the certification of the compatibility between the 5th generation fighter aircraft and Italy’s aircraft carrier ITS Cavour. At [...]

The post Here Are The First Photos Of The US F-35B (With Special Tail Marking) Operating Aboard Italy’s Aircraft Carrier Cavour appeared first on The Aviationist.

Two U.S. F-35Bs from VX-23 have landed aboard the Italian Navy ITS Cavour aircraft carrier: the “Ready For Operations” campaign has gone live. Two specially instrumented U.S. F-35Bs from Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 23 [...]

The post Two U.S. F-35Bs Have Landed Aboard Italian Navy Aircraft Carrier ITS Cavour To Begin Sea Trials appeared first on The Aviationist.

The Frecce Tricolori is the Italian Air Force aerobatic display team. It’s the world’s largest military display team. On Mar. 1, 2021 the Frecce Tricolori, the display team of the Aeronautica Militare (Italian Air Force), [...]

The post The Italian Frecce Tricolori Display Team Celebrate Their 60th Anniversary appeared first on The Aviationist.

For the first time the Sukhoi S-70 Okhotnik UCAV’s Chief Designer and the ground control station were introduced to journalists after years of strict secrecy. Russia’s state-owned Channel One television aired a report about the [...]

The post TV Report About Russian UAVs Provides New Insights Into The Sukhoi S-70 Okhotnik UCAV Program appeared first on The Aviationist.

Walkaround videos are great. This one, featuring a Legacy F/A-18C Hornet of the Blue Angels, is simply amazing. Lcdr Jerry “JD” Deren is a former U.S. Navy pilot. He spent 13 years in the service, [...]

The post This Is The Most Detailed Walkaround Tour Of A Blue Angels F/A-18C Hornet We’ve Ever Seen appeared first on The Aviationist.

The first B-1 “BONE” bomber has flown to the Boneyard. The U.S. Air Force has kicked off the divestment of the B-1 Lancer fleet on Feb. 17, 2021. The first “BONE” (from “B-One”, as the [...]

The post The U.S. Air Force Has Started To Divest the B-1 Bomber Fleet With First BONE Retired At The Boneyard appeared first on The Aviationist.

How to shame a wannabe test pilot. 41°39’31.9068”N 12°26’31.8372”E: these are the geographic coordinates of the infamous “Pad of Shame”. If you plot them on Google Map, they will take you right smack in the [...]

The post Tales From The Cockpit: The “Pad of Shame” appeared first on The Aviationist.

Russian MOD is developing the manned-unmanned teaming concept integrating Su-57 Felons and S-70 Okhotnik UCAVs. The Russian MOD Is working on the idea of integrating the S-70 Okhotnik-B (or “Hunter-B”) UCAV (Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle) [...]

The post Russia Working To Integrate S-70 Okhotnik UCAVs In Su-57 Felon Squadrons appeared first on The Aviationist.

The United States Air Force held its first Red Flag of 2021 at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, readying forces to confront potential near-peer opponents like China and Russia. The first Red Flag exercise of [...]

The post Red Flag 21-1 Kicked Off This Year’s Training Exercises Focusing On “Great Power Competition” appeared first on The Aviationist.

The re-activated 495th Fighter Squadron, part of the 48th Fighter Wing at RAF Lakenheath, will be called the “Valkyries” and operate the F-35A. The 48th Fighter Wing, based at RAF Lakeheath, UK, has made it [...]

The post The 495th Fighter Squadron, The First Overseas-Based F-35A Squadron, Will Be Called The “Valkyries” appeared first on The Aviationist.

Never Before Seen Video Showcases Development of New “Air Force One”: Boeing 747-8 as VC-25B. It is hidden behind what may be the tightest security screen on earth. It is the most visible mobile projection [...]

The post Nat Geo Provides Unprecedented View of New Air Force VC-25B “Air Force One”. appeared first on The Aviationist.

The quite unlikely Typhoon’s “Beast Mode” configuration might hint at a possible “missile/bomb truck” role in support of 5th and 6th gen. fighter aircraft. Last week the Eurofighter website published the latest edition of its [...]

The post Eurofighter Shows Typhoon In “Beast Mode” With 14 Meteor Beyond Visual Range Air-To-Air Missiles appeared first on The Aviationist.

Poland designated the airbase that will host its F-35 Lightning II jets. According to an interview that the Polish Press Agency (PAP) conducted with the head of the MoD, Minister Mariusz Błaszczak, the Polish F-35 [...]

The post Polish F-35 Jets to Be Stationed At Lask Air Base in Central Poland appeared first on The Aviationist.

With the new aircraft the USAF will triple the E-11A fleet, one year after a fatal crash in Afghanistan left the service with only three airframes. The U.S. Air Force announced that on January 21, [...]

The post The U.S. Air Force Is Planning To Get Six New E-11A With The Battlefield Airborne Communication Node Payload appeared first on The Aviationist.

The 2021 air show schedule for the Air Force’s F-35A Lightning II Demonstration Team was cut by about one-third because of engine issue. The F-35 Demo Team will not display the capabilities of the F-35A [...]

The post F-35 Demo Team Forced To Cut Airshow Appearances Due To Fleet-Wide Engine Issues appeared first on The Aviationist.

Some interesting details can be found in the first photos of the F-15EX, which are useful also for a comparison with the F-15C that will be replaced by the new fighter. The first F-15EX built [...]

The post Here Are All The Details We Noticed In The Photos Of The New F-15EX During Its First Flight appeared first on The Aviationist.

Two Tu-160 Blackjack strategic missile carriers performed a mission over the neutral waters of the Barents, Greenland and Norwegian seas, a region where U.S. B-1 Lancer bombers are going to operate in a couple of [...]

The post Russian Tu-160 Bombers Fly Over Barents And Norwegian Seas As U.S. B-1Bs Prepare For Norwegian Deployment appeared first on The Aviationist.

The B-2 Spirit was part of the first-of-its-kind trifecta flyover during the National Anthem performance at the LV Super Bowl. As you already know by now, the Super Bowl LV, in Tampa, Florida, saw a [...]

The post Check Out These Jaw-Dropping Shots Of The B-2 Spirit Refueling From a KC-135 After The Super Bowl Flyover appeared first on The Aviationist.