Media Galleries : Combat Aircraft

Hover pit testing for the F-35B quantifies propulsion and flight control system performance. One of the major outcomes of pit testing is an accurate measurement of the thrust from the propulsion system and the engine.

Lockheed Martin aerospace engineer and designer Harry James Hillaker died on 8 February at his home in Fort Worth, Texas. He was eighty-nine.

The original F-16 was designed as a lightweight air-to-air day fighter. Air-to-ground missions immediately transformed the first production F-16s into multirole fighters. The F-16s that followed expanded and refined these roles with beyond-visual-range missiles, infrared sensors, precision-guided munitions, and a plethora of other capabilities. Current and planned versions of the F-16 build on these refinements, enhancing capabilities even further.

Standing behind the F-35 test aircraft, 5,000-plus sorties, and 10,000 flight test hours associated with the SDD phase of the Joint Strike Fighter is a large group of dedicated professionals from the Flight Test department. Code One interviewed several of these professionals to get their perspectives on F-35 flight testing.

A side-by-side comparison of the X-35 Joint Strike Fighter prototype with the F-35 Lightning II production aircraft underscores the huge strides the JSF program has made transitioning from demonstration to development.

The F-35B Lightning II rolled off the production line 18 December 2007 in Fort Worth, Texas, to the fanfare of customers from the United States, United Kingdom, and Italy.

The Chilean Block 50 F-16s are the latest additions to Condores Air Base and the most modern fighters in the Chilean Air Force. The first of ten aircraft arrived in January 2006. The last two arrived in March 2007.

In full-power afterburner, the F135-PW-100 emits a blue flame and generates up to 40,000 pounds of thrust.

Gallery contains photos of early F-35 flight testing (AA-1).

F-22 Raptors from the 1st Fighter Wing set new firsts in February 2007 as pilots and personnel took the US Air Force’s fifth-generation fighter from Langley AFB in Virginia to Kadena AB, Japan, and to Nellis AFB, Nevada.