PrairiePundit

 Streiff: Drone Swarms Over Sensitive US Bases and Nuclear Facilities Is Met by Apathy and Indifference ...  Just for context, the  Shahed 131/136  drone used by the Russians in Ukraine to attack Ukrainian cities and infrastructure is 11 feet long and has a maximum speed of 115mph. It carried a 110-pound warhead. The drones spotted at Langley are roughly twice as long. Every  $350 million  F-22 you see parked there could be hit by a rather cheap drone before the airbase had time to decide they were an "imminent threat" and react. As with so many other problems in the military coming out of Obama's third term, the course of action chosen by the USAF has been to  literally hide . This past week, Langley Air Force Base  posted a notice  looking for information on counter-drone netting that could keep the fighter jets at the base essentially shielded by spying outside UAVs. Drone swarms have been a concern for the U.S. military, given the low cos...

 Reuters: Russia has no designs on any NATO country and will not attack Poland, the Baltic states or the Czech Republic but if the West supplies F-16 fighters to Ukraine then they will be shot down by Russian forces, President Vladimir Putin said late on Wednesday. Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has triggered the deepest crisis in Russia's relations with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Speaking to Russian air force pilots, Putin said the U.S.-led military alliance had expanded eastwards towards Russia since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union but that Moscow had no plans to attack a NATO state. "We have no aggressive intentions towards these states," Putin said, according to a Kremlin transcript released on Thursday. "The idea that we will attack some other country - Poland, the Baltic States, and the Czechs are also being scared - is complete nonsense. It's just drivel." The Kremlin, which accuses the U.S. of fighting against...

Washington Times: 10 percent of Air Force's $339 million F-22 fighter jets damaged in Hurricane Michael Keeping the high tech planes airborne has become a challenge and in this case, has made the planes more vulnerable to mother nature than to the enemy. ... The decision to leave roughly $7.5 billion in aircraft in the path of a hurricane raised eyebrows, including among defense analysts who say the Pentagon’s entire high-tech strategy continues to make its fighter jets vulnerable to weather and other mishaps when they are grounded for repairs. “This becomes sort of a self-defeating cycle where we have $400 million aircraft that can’t fly precisely because they are $400 million aircraft,” said Dan Grazier, a defense fellow at Project on Government Oversight. “If we were buying simpler aircraft then it would be a whole lot easier for the base commander to get these aircraft up and in working order, at least more of them.” ...

Washington Post: U.S. jets intercept pair of Russian bombers off Alaskan coast Friday’s incident was described as routine, but more aggressive maneuvers have worried defense officials and diplomats who say the encounters may eventually cause collisions or miscalculations. If these old Russian plains were a real threat, they never would have seen the F-22s before being knocked out of the sky.  It looks like Russia is trolling to gage a response that is quite different from the real once should hostilities break out.

Victor Abramowicz: During his presidential address on 1 March, Vladimir Putin revealed additional information on six major new Russian weapons systems, some unveiled for the first time. Four of the weapons, discussed below, are principally relevant in a strategic nuclear sense; that is, they carry atomic warheads and would most likely be used in a full-scale war, fired at the homeland of an adversary. While claiming that the systems were not aimed at anyone, Putin made clear they had been developed to defeat the threat of the U.S. Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) program. Putin said the U.S. system might eventually be able to intercept of all Russia’s missiles, resulting “in the complete devaluation of Russia’s nuclear potential” and leaving the country open to attack. What the Kremlin really fears is the potential for a BMD breakout, whereby the U.S. secretly deploys huge numbers of defensive interceptor missiles without Russia having a chance to prepare countermeasures. Most Wes...

CNN: Russian military aircraft were spotted flying off the coast of Alaska for the fourth time in as many days, a US defense official told CNN on Friday. The two most recent sightings occurred late Wednesday and on Thursday, with the first involving two IL-38 maritime patrol aircraft and the second involving two Tu-95 nuclear-capable Bear bombers. ... The picture is an interesting example of the technological edge the US has over Russia.  The F-22 air superiority fighter hovering over a 1950's Soviet era bomber.  In a real confrontation, the Bear bomber would probably never see the F-22 before Russian plane would be turned into smoking ruins.  The Bear should be spending its time in a flight museum.

Bloomberg: The F-22 Raptor: Back From the Grave? The world’s most advanced fighter jet was canceled over cost. New threats have Congress asking if that was a mistake. The F-22 is still the premier air superiority weapon, but it is still the most expensive to build and operate.  With the new aggressiveness by Russia and China, it probably makes sense to have the craft available to counter threats.

Bill Gertz: China Hacked F-22, F-35 Stealth Jet Secrets Chinese national pleads guilty in California to hacking Boeing C-17 data The theft was gigantic in magnitude and could give the Chinese secrets that could endanger US military operations for decades.  The hack was also tied to Chinse government operatives.

War is Boring: ... Though gaining operational experience on the Sukhoi Su-30SM and Su-34 is likely an important aspect of the Russian deployment, the Russians might have another objective in deploying their latest jets to the theatre. “It may be a way for them to ‘characterize’ the F-22’s radar emissions on their radar warning receivers (RWR) in a real-world environment,” the senior Air Force intelligence official said. “Not traditional intelligence collection per se, but could be a way to see how their RWRs receive and display an F-22’s radar emissions.” Another senior U.S. Air Force aviator offered a more succinct assessment. “They probably aren’t planning on getting into any air-to-air engagements with ISIS,” the pilot said. “$100 says their air players are there to soak up trons from our fifth-gen stuff.” ... I suspect that the F-22's may be able to spoof the data they emit also.  They really have not been used that much against ISIL, but they could provide air cover f...

Washington Post: Obama administration says it will not be bullied  U.S. officials scrambled to retake diplomatic and military initiatives, saying the U.S. was about to expand its own Syrian air operations. One of the reasons they are in this predicament is their failure to have a more robust air operation against ISIL to begin with.  Now they need the F-22's to provide air cover for the a-10's and F-16's and other attack aircraft.   The F-22's would also send a message to Russia that the US is not to be trifled with in Syria or elsewhere.  Whether Obama has the courage to do so is another question.

War is Boring: China’s Shengyang J-11 unlicensed derivative of the Russian-developed Su-27 Flanker has become the mainstay of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). While the Chinese-built jets are not able to match U.S.-built fighters one-for-one, China is building a lot of them. Down the road, advanced derivatives of the J-11 might become every bit as capable as the most advanced versions of American and allied fourth-generation fighters like the F-15 or F-16. Even fifth-generation Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptors and F-35 Joint Strike Fighters might be overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of Chinese jets and the problems associated with the lack of bases in the Western Pacific. There have been many iterations of the J-11. Those range from the original license-built models to the “indigenously” produced A-model to the upgraded B/BS-model, which uses a host of Chinese upgrades and avionics hardware. China continues to develop other versions of the J-11 including the advanced J-15,...

CNN: The U.S. Air Force could be sending some of its most advanced warplanes to Europe in a show of force against Russian actions in Ukraine and elsewhere around the continent, the service's top civilian said Monday. "The biggest threat on my mind is what's happening with Russia and the activities of Russia," Secretary of the Air Force Deborah James said during a visit to the Paris Air Show. "It's extremely worrisome on what's going on in the Ukraine." James' remarks were reported by Military.com , Breaking Defense and other websites. For months, the Pentagon has been rotating aircraft through Europe for exercises with allies under Operation Atlantic Resolve, which it calls "America's commitment to European security." Participating in those exercises and rotations have been B-2 and B-52 bombers, F-15Cs and A-10 attack planes as well as Army and Navy assets. ... The F-22 is better than anything the Russians currently have operat...

Fox News: Reuters F-22 Raptor impresses in combat debut THE AIR FORCE'S COSTLY AND CONTROVERSIAL new F-22 Raptor made its public debut during bombing runs over Syria earlier this week, and defense experts say they were impressed by the first glimpse of its lethal firepower. The Air Force has a lot riding on the success of the costly plane and the environment was not as challenging as it might have been against an adversary with advanced anti aircraft weapons.  It was still a success story and I am glad to see the military is finally using one of its valuable assets.

Medium: In order to maintain its fighter squadrons, the U.S. Air Force needs the entire planned buy of 1,763 Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighters . That’s in part because the flying branch was allowed to buy fewer than planned F-22 Raptors from Lockheed. The F-35 will have to complement the F-22. But can the smaller, slower, less nimble F-35 hack it as an air-to-air fighter? The Air Force has just 186 F-22s, of which only 123 are “combat-coded” and immediately available for war, according to Air Combat Command. The service had originally wanted 750 of the stealthy air-superiority fighters, but eventually settled on a requirement for 381 Raptors before the program was further truncated by then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in the early 2000s. But even 381 F-22s proved to be an unfulfilled dream. Ultimately, the Raptor program was terminated by Rumsfeld’s successor, Robert Gates. The last F-22 rolled off the assembly line in Georgia in 2011. In the aftermath of the F-22's...

The Hill: A pair of American B-52 bombers flew unannounced into a recently established Chinese no-fly zone in the East China Sea, in a direct rebuke of Beijing's asserted authority over the area. The bombers, based out of Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, entered the contested airspace as part of a training operation dubbed Coal Lightening, according to The Wall Street Journal . The aircraft were unarmed and were not escorted by American fighter jets, a defense official told the Journal. "The planes flew a pattern that included passing through the [Air Defense Identification Zone]," the official said. "The flight was without incident," the official added. A majority of American operations flown in the area consist of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations and large-scale training missions with U.S allies. But during the mission, the U.S. aircraft did not comply with the new air restrictions set by China as part of the no-fly zone. .... It wou...

Bill Whittle describes the importance of a military confrontation over international waters in the Arabian Gulf.

Washington Times: The U.S. Air Force has a message for Iran : Don’t mess with our drones. ...  Gen. Mark A. Welsh III , Air Force chief of staff, describes how F-22 stealth jets scared off Iranian jets from a U.S. drone flying in international airspace. The Aviationist reports that in March a U.S. MQ-1 drone came close to being intercepted by an Iranian F-4 Phantom combat plane, but the Iranian aircraft stopped short after a warning by an American pilot. “He [the Raptor pilot] flew under their aircraft [the F-4s] to check out their weapons load without them knowing that he was there, and then pulled up on their left wing and then called them and said ‘you really ought to go home,’” Gen. Welsh said. ... The US has sent several F-22's to the region to deal with Iran's belligerent behavior and this was just one example.  An F-4 is an antique aircraft from the Vietnam era.  It would not stand a chance against an F-22.

Daily Mail: The Air Force's stealth fighter pilots have been experiencing coughing fits in the cockpits of F-22's, a problem for which officials say they have no clear solution. Newly released congressional records show that the F-22's oxygen system, which has been criticized for causing hypoxia - which causes choking and leads to confusion, memory loss and blackouts - has also been reported to cause a condition called 'acceleration atelectasis.' 'Acceleration atelectasis results from pilots breathing high concentrations of oxygen (above 60 percent) while wearing anti-G trousers, and exposure to G-forces,' Maj. Gen. Gharles Lyon, who headed an investigation into the Air Force's Raptor steal fighters, wrote in response to questions following a September testimony before a House subcommittee. The condition causes chronic coughing, Lyon said. F-22 pilot Maj. Jeremy Gordon has described situations where a group of F-22 pilots will be gathered in single roo...

Jack David and Michael Dunn: Serious talk of America's defense budget was largely absent from the final weeks of the presidential campaign, once President Barack Obama likened Gov. Mitt Romney's concerns to an anachronistic focus on "horses and bayonets." But when Mr. Romney lamented that (among other things) the U.S. Air Force has the fewest airplanes it has ever had, he was correct. At its founding in 1947, it had more than 12,300 planes. Today: approximately 5,200. As the Air Force has been retiring large numbers of older aircraft in recent years, its budgets—drafted by the Pentagon and ultimately enacted by Congress—have prevented it from acquiring enough new aircraft to perform the missions of those retired. From 2008 through 2012, the Air Force retired 700 more aircraft than it bought. Nevertheless, the Obama administration's budget request for fiscal year 2013 sought to retire an additional 300 airplanes while buying only 54 new ones—a proposal that Cong...

NY Times: Oxygen Problems on F-22 Elude the Air Force’s Fixes There seemed to be a step forward on oxygen flow problems last month, but then a pilot told of discomfort from intermittent airflow into his mask during flight. I suspect it is a problem with the system for delivering oxygen rather than the plane itself.  It also could be in the software that monitors how the oxygen is delivered.  It may not be allowing enough oxygen to flow at times when it is needed most. I suspect this is calibrated by the altitude and maneuvers the plane is making. It is a problem that must be fixed or the Air Force may have to convert these planes to drones.