The Doomsday Plane – TIME

Posted by Matt in February 4th, 2010 | no comment

Published in Military, Air Force Crew, Cold War Relic, Doomsday Plane, Fuel Nozzle, Handful, Launch, Midair, Midst, Missile Silos, Nuclear Attack, Nuclear War, Robert Gates, Secretary Of Defense, Secretary Of Defense Robert Gates, Space Creature, Survivor, Tankers, Time Secretary, War Zones, Windshield

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates flies around the world to war zones and allies, to China and Russia and Suriname, on a Cold War relic called the Doomsday Plane. Forged in the 1970s by Boeing, it was designed to stay aloft even in the midst of nuclear war. It’s an airborne Pentagon. The plane is [...]

Russia could double number of bombers on strategic patrols – general | Top Russian news and analysis online | ‘RIA Novosti’ newswire

Posted by Matt in December 28th, 2009 | no comment

Published in Russia, Anatoly, Bombers, Circumstances, Flights, General Staff, Midas, moscow, News Conference, News Online, Newswire, Ria Novosti, Russia, Russian News, Tankers, Top News

“As a rule, up to four strategic bombers perform patrol flights simultaneously. However, under specific circumstances and on orders from the General Staff, their number could be increased to up to eight aircraft,” Maj. Gen. Anatoly Zhikharev said at a news conference in Moscow.
According to the general, the bombers can continuously patrol the skies for [...]

Air Force Plans for All-Drone Future | Danger Room | Wired.com

Posted by Matt in July 17th, 2009 | no comment

Published in Military, Acronym, Air Force Study, Blogged, Bombers, Cockpit, Danger Room, Drone, Fanfare, Flight Plan, Flock Browser, Manned Aircraft, Robots, Sketches, Speedy, Tankers, Unmanned Aircraft

An Air Force study, released without much fanfare on Wednesday, suggests that tomorrow’s dogfighers might not have pilots in the cockpit. The Unmanned Aircraft System Flight Plan. which sketches out possible drone development through the year 2047, comes with plenty of qualifiers. But it envisions a radical future. In an acronym-dense 82 pages, the Air [...]

Israel’s dry run ‘attack on Iran’ with 100 jet fighters

Posted by Matt in June 21st, 2008 | no comment

Published in Iran, Israel, American Officials, Attack, Eastern Mediterranean, F15, F16, Greece, helicopters, Intelligence Agencies, Iran, Israel, Jet Fighters, Military Air, Nuclear Facilities, Rehearsal, Tankers

Israel has mounted a major long-range military air exercise – involving more than 100 F15 and F16 fighters – as a rehearsal for a potential strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, American officials have indicated.
The fighters, along with refuelling tankers and helicopters able to rescue downed pilots, were mobilised during the first week of June over [...]