The Northrop F-20 Tigershark lightweight fighter was one of six American fourth generation fighter designs developed during the Cold War, and was the lightest and cheapest of all of them which was primarily geared towards the export market. Where the F-15 and even larger F-14 occupied the very high
In 1982 the first of many air battle between Cold War era heavyweight fighter/interceptors marked the beginning of a new era in combat aviation, with the clash having been led up to for two decades by ambitious programs in the United States and Soviet Union. The Soviet Union was the
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force’s fast growing fleet of Xi’an Y-20 heavy airlift jets has gained growing attention as its international presence has expanded, most notably since six of the aircraft were used to rapidly deliver HQ-22 surface to air missile systems
President and CEO of the Swedish aerospace and defence firm SAAB AB Micael Johansson had informed reporters of his “extreme frustration” at the years long lack of export successes for the Gripen fighter jet. He told several defence media outlets at the firm’s Stockholm headquarters on August 26 that the fighter was not
On August 27 the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force gave its first public demonstration of the subsonic manoeuvrability of its J-20, with two of the fighters deployed to PLA Air Force open day in Changchun, in Northeast China’s Jilin province. Its performance contrasted to the basic
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force has begun to equip the latest of eight air brigades, the 8th Air Brigade at Changxing, Northeast China, with J-20 fifth generation fighters. The brigade is the second under the Northern Theatre Command to deploy the aircraft, after the 1st Air
On August 26 Belarusian Alexander Lukashenko announced that his country’s combat aircraft had been modified to deploy nuclear weapons, with local media reporting and then retracting a claim that this referred to Soviet-built Su-24 strike fighters. “Some time ago in St. Petersburg, we together with
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko announced on August 26 that his country’s combat jets had been modified to deploy nuclear weapons, with accompanying reports from Reuters and other Western sources indicating that the country’s Su-24M strike fighters may have been recommissioned for this
Amid ongoing revelations regarding the troubled state of the joint Franco-German-Spanish Future Combat Air System (FCAS) sixth generation fighter program, a growing number of European air forces are expected to look to the United States to supply F-35 fifth generation fighters to modernise their
The first test launch of the AGM-158B JASSM-ER cruise missile from the U.S. Air Force’s sole class of stealth bomber the B-2 Spirit was confirmed by manufacturer Northrop Grumman on August 25, marking an important step towards finally providing the aircraft with a standoff strike capability. “The
