How Serbians shot down a stealth fighter with 1950s technology
In March 1999, NATO air forces intervened in the ongoing war in Yugoslavia. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the country abandoned communism and tried to establish itself as…
This Polish-made PL-01 is the ground equivalent of the F-117 Stealth Fighter
The Polish-made PL-01 concept tank made by Obrum looks like a cousin of the F-117 Nighthawk. Not only does it look like the stealth fighter on tank tread, it also adopts its signature tec…
5 things you didn’t know about the Su-57 fifth-generation fighter
In 2005, the US Air Force formally adopted the F-22 Raptor, a fifth-generation air superiority fighter. Potential adversary nations have been trying to catch up ever since. Russia’s match to…
How a pilot in one of America’s least stealthy aircraft saved a downed pilot from one of the stealthiest
In March 1999, NATO announced that coalition forces would begin a massive air war and bombing campaign against Serbia. Within hours after the first round of strikes, an A-10 squadron received an urgent call that one of America’s stealthiest aircraf…
Norway is the first country in the world to have a pure stealth fighter fleet
On January 6, 2021, the Royal Norwegian Air Force announced the retirement of its 44 F-16 Fighting Falcon fourth generation fighter jets. With the country’s adoption of the F-35A Lightning…
This was what it took to fly the world’s first stealth attack jet
The US Air Force’s flight schools have a reputation for churning out some of the best pilots in the world. But not even with that standing, only 558 in the service’s entire history were ever able to earn the title “Bandit” — the name awarded e…
Move over stealth, America needs faster jets to beat China
As the United States reenters the realm of great power competition, America needs to maintain its technological edge in stealth, but would benefit from a renewed emphasis on speed in combat aviation……
X-44 Manta: How Lockheed nailed the NGAD in the 90s
Way back in 1999, Lockheed Martin had a plan to field a delta-shaped stealth fighter that skipped the need for a conventional tail section, in the F-22-based X-44 Manta. Instead…
The A-12 Avenger II would’ve been America’s first real ‘stealth fighter’
In October of 1983, the world’s first operational stealth aircraft took to the skies under cover of both physical and metaphorical darkness. This new jet, dubbed the F-117 Nighthawk, would…
Comanche: America’s stealth helicopter that could have been
The U.S. has long led the world in stealth technologies, and for a time, it looked as though America’s love for all things low-observable would extend all the way into…