Tag: M61 Vulcan
The tail gun of the B-58 boasted many firsts for an aircraft defensive gun including the first fully automatic defensive gun fire control system The U.S. Air Force's first operational supersonic bomber, the B-58 made its initial flight on Nov. 11, 1956. The four engine delta winged aircraft was the world’s...
'Our primary concern during our gunnery passes was the fact that we were now well within the range of MANPADS. Nevertheless, we positioned ourselves for the strafing runs just under the overcast...' Craig Geron, Former F-14 Tomcat RIO Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) was a huge success for the F-14 squadrons committed to the action. Tomcat pilots and radar intercept officers (RIOs)...
The MiG crashed into a green meadow, exploding in a huge orange ball of fire. Brenda 01's quarter-roll and zoom maneuver terminated at an altitude of 15,000 feet with an indicated airspeed still something well over 600 knots indicated On Jun. 2, 1972 at approximately 1330 hours, Brenda 01, a hard-wing F-4E, tail number 68210, flown by Major Phil "Hands"...
The intercept, which took place on Nov. 23, 2017, was initiated because the Russian aircraft did not broadcast the appropriate codes required by air traffic control and had no flight plan on file The U.S. Air Force’s 493rd Expeditionary Fighter Squadron (EFS) will stand down from its NATO Baltic Air Policing mission next week and the service has posted a...
"One white hat laid into me, calling me 'Captain Messerschmitt.' I thought it had to do with my German name. 'Not exactly,' he corrected, maintaining that it was actually my nickname among the 'mechs' because whenever I flew, I brought the A-7E back filthy from shooting the gun," Capt. Ralph Wetterhahn USAF exchange with VA-146 Blue Diamonds The A-7 Corsair...
A friendly fire incident occurred during ODS when a BUFF tail gunner thought an Iraqi plane was closing in. The plane was actually an Air Force F-4G Wild Weasel The iconic B-52 has been serving in America’s nuclear deterrent arsenal since 1952. But a lot has changed on the BUFF and its mission since it was on the front line...
What makes the F-15C Eagle uniquely suited for the Baltic Air Policing mission is its capability to detect, acquire, track and intercept opposing aircraft while operating in friendly or rival-controlled air space With the U.S. Air Force (USAF) assuming the lead of NATO's forty-fifth rotation of air policing operations, and the fifth rotation for the U.S., the instrument of peace...
The contracted specifications directed the GAU-8/A Avenger be capable of destroying not only a wide variety of targets expected to be encountered during a CAS mission such as light, medium and heavy tanks, armored personnel carriers, and fixed or mobile artillery, but also hardened targets like bunkers and equipment within revetments The impressive video in this post is probably the...
During Zulu Alert Scrambles the F-4 Phantoms had to be airborne within 5 minutes of horn going off Taken in a West Germany air base in the 1970s the gorgeous video in this post shows a typical Cold War Era scramble performed by a couple of U.S. Air Force (USAF) F-4E Phantoms on "Zulu Alert." Noteworthy Zulu Alert is the air-sovereignty mission...
