General Discussion

I can’t believe I have to post this, but let this serve as a reminder, do not even think about posting anything close to the line on this site. 1. Declaring your operational background, then using sites like FAS.ORG as a reference for classification is outright dumb and won’t be tolerated. 2. Sending me (someone you don’t know, who could be sitting in Beijing or Pyongyang for all you know), a PM declaring that you fly XXX and that you have a Top Secret Clearance is perhaps the most egregious lack of SA I have ever seen. YGBFSM!!! Bottomline, this is great site and none of us is perfect, but when it comes to no-shit OPSEC, don’t even think about posting on thi…

I know you guys are tired of hearing the "which aircraft are at which base" question so I figured I'd try to help out future pilots and pilot-selects. Black=Operational base Orange=Training base Blue=Operational & Training base F-15E - Seymour Johnson (NC), Mountain Home (ID), Lakenheath (UK); Active force inventory: 217 F-15C - Kadena (Japan), Lakenheath (UK); Active force inventory: ? F-16 - Luke (AZ), Spangdahlem (Germany), Aviano (Italy), Osan (Korea), Kunsan (Korea), Misawa (Japan), Hill (UT), Shaw (SC); Active force inventory: 444 A-10 - Davis Monthan (AZ), Spangdalhem (Germany), Osan (Korea), Moody (GA); Active force inventory: 144 F-22 - Tyndall (FL), Langl…

Trump's Foreign Policy is a big departure from President's past. He removed the criminal leading Venezuela, Iran is about to fall and, not getting much press is the full court press on Cuba. Not a fully named embargo but little oil is getting in and they likely have less than 30 days reserve on island. Interesting that Maduro's protection element was all Cuban and it is coming to light that there was a lot of fentanyl coming in through via and enabled by Cuba. Numerous Russian military transports have landed in Cuba the last three weeks...intel indicated Air Defense, attack drones and ECM assets. Would be interesting if he took, Iran, Venezuela and Cuba all off the table …

CBM folks, I caught wind of a recent incident where Ex-Lax was put into the donuts/cookies at the Ops Desk by some pilot... with expected results. YGBSM. What's the rest of the story? Pretty shitty situation!!

So I saw an article about the latest shadow tanker being seized, this time by France in the Med. I did some quick Gemini searching, and that puts the seizure count at 8 in the last month, with European plans to ramp up this type of thing, and the Russian Navy beginning escorting tankers. The fleet size is substantially larger than I realized (estimates vary, but around 1000) so the overall impact is still small on a numbers basis, but military escort of tankers sounds like the portion of this story that matters. Lots of opportunity for a spark here. ReutersFrance intercepts suspected Russian shadow fleet tanker i...The French navy intercepted a Russian tanker on Thursd…

So I read this and it’s only 1 article in a Trump friendly paper but… it seems like Greenland needs some freedom, not necessarily kinetically delivered. https://nypost.com/2026/01/16/world-news/greenlanders-speak-out-against-danish-rule-they-stole-our-future/ Should we force this issue? A new arrangement with a new independent Greenland or no more NATO?

While the news has been covering Venezuela Iran is in the middle of a revolution regime change. Reports indicate Khamenei plans exit to Moscow.

Could be two topics. Things appear to be ramping up on both fronts. First the DOW released video of an engagement that is clearly an AC-130J engaging a Narco Boat. The first round is the 105MM and it functions slightly low and aft. You can see a larger area in the center with most of the frag but it has "tails" off to the side which create the smiley face. You will note the sensor immediately offsets (two-shot) and begins engaging with 30MM from the MK-44 Bushmaster. The first 30MM round appears to hit a gas can or something flammable. Another 105MM prox with offset is a direct towards the end. AC-130-Narco_Boat_Strike.mp4 Next we have an engagement against what I …

Beautifully done by the gents! IMG_9166 2.MOV

The War ZoneThunderbirds F-16C Fighting Falcon Crashes in CaliforniaThe jet's pilot safely ejected and was transported to an area hospital with non life-threatening injuries.

I should be leaving the Air Force soon if they process my paperwork right this time. I spent a lot of time stuck in places and airframes I didn't want to be in. It was UPT and AMC. I didn't end up there due to bad performance, it was mostly due to luck and timing. I had a really hard time watching people who failed courses, struggled in UPT, got in trouble, get the assignments I wanted due to missing VMLs, waivers needed for instructor duty, changing rules, or other factors. I feel like my youth was just... wasted and I have little to show for it. I don't have much pride in what I accomplished and I never was truly engaged or challenged. I am angry I spent 15 years of my …

The War ZoneC-17 Will Fly Until 80 Years Old Under New USAF Airlifter...The Air Force does not expect to have fully transitioned to its Next-Generation Airlift aircraft until 2075.Family of systems, new engines for C-17s, etc… lotta ideas in the article. Family of systems is a buzz phrase but probably the best COA. Crewed / Unmanned fleet

I don't think anyone will be surprised by this... Recent Data Shows Significant Spike In US Military Aircraft Accidents The number of major accidents involving military aircraft spiked in 2024, internal Pentagon figures show, and a series of high-profile aviation mishaps with deaths and the loss of aircraft in 2025 suggest the disturbing trend may be continuing. Across the military, the rate of severe accidents per 100,000 flight hours rose 55% in the 2024 budget year compared with four years earlier. The Marine Corps saw the highest increase, nearly tripling its rate over the same period. The statistics cover the full budget years 2020-2023 and then the first 10 months …

C-130.mp4

So in the GA thread a tangent got started and a new thread I think is better Background: Accelerated Copilot Enrichment (ACE) was a program for tanker & bomber copilots to fly and develop Total Flight Time to get guys who sat a lot of Alpha Alert to Aircraft Commander upgrade in a reasonable timeframe, it ended in 91 when Strategic Air Command (SAC) was inactivated. 94/95 when Gen Loh of ACC ended the program It made dollars and sense as the T-37s and 38s were cost effective trainers to develop the aviation skills and airmanship you wanted in your future Aircrew Commanders. The flying was different, no autopilot in a fairly nimble aerobatic aircraft, bu…

For those of you using an Insta360 X5 camera (or similar) in the cockpit, what are you using as a mount? I'm also interested if your mounting setup is good enough for aerobatics.

I am a weather geek and always wondered what it would be like to be a Hurricane Hunter. For those who followed Hurricane Melissa which is the third strongest hurricane on record (892MB and still intensifying at landfall), the NOAA and USAFR Hurricane Hunters had a constant presence as the storm built and hit Jamaica and Cuba. USAFR flies a fleet of 10 WC-130Js and NOAA operates two PC-3's. One of the P-3s (named Kermit), was flying a mission during the rapid intensification. As they departed the eye and flew into the eyewall they encountered what looks to me like extreme turbulence. Ultimately they elected to depart the storm because of the turbulence ..somethi…

US Navy helicopter and fighter jet crash in separate incidents in the South China Sea Blackhawk and Hornet down within 30 minutes. Possibly bad fuel...

OA-1K crash landing, luckily no injuries due in no part to the rugged airframe. https://www.twz.com/air/air-forces-crop-duster-converted-into-attack-plane-crash-lands-in-field

Bothe the War Zone and the Mover and Gronky show report an A-10 sporting two drone kills on its nose. The kills were allegedly performed by APKWS II 2.75” (70mm) laser guided rockets. If true this offers a much more cost effective alternative to shooting down drones.

If anyone was wondering why the U.S. Army plans to cut 6,500 aviation jobs from the active duty ranks over the next two years, here's your answer! UH-60 Black Hawk Cargo Drone With Clamshell Nose Breaks Cover The new U-Hawk can lug thousands of pounds of cargo internally that would never fit in a standard Black Hawk, and launch scores of its own drones and munitions. Sikorsky has unveiled a new, fully uncrewed version of the Black Hawk helicopter with a completely transformed front end that swaps out the cockpit for clamshell doors. Depending on how it is configured, what has been dubbed the U-Hawk can move thousands of pounds of outsized cargo intern…

I have been watching this development over the last few days with many European News outlets calling these drones over airports “attacks” since they are disrupting critical airspace. It’s hard to judge the size but they appear to be much larger than the typical quadcopter size of hobby drones! https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g96gvql99o.amp

Military helicopter crash investigation underway in Washington state | https://www.wisn.com/article/helicopter-crash-near-joint-base-lewis-mcchord/67946788