Videos

From The Cockpit: Air Power Demo

Welcome back, FighterSweep Fans! This week we take you into the cockpit of the mighty Boeing F-15E Strike Eagle, courtesy of “Ditch” and “Stealth,” two instructors at the 334th Fighter Squadron, a Strike Eagle Formal Training Unit (FTU) part of the 4th Fighter Wing at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base.

The footage takes us through a combat airpower demonstration held in April of 2012 during the Shaw (AFB) Air Fest, the biannual airshow hosted by the 20 FW. Participating were the two Strike Eagles, a pair of Republic A-10C Warthogs from the 74 FS, and a four-ship of Lockheed-Martin F-16CJs from the 77 FS.

The basic premise was simple: full rage. The Vipers and Strikes blaze through the airspace in full ‘burner, max performing both offensively and defensively, providing cover for the Hawgs rolling in to simulate CAS and defeating simulated ground threats by popping flares and performing gut-wrenching high-G turns out of the target area.

SEW_2184 — A Boeing F-15E Strike Eagle passes through the target area and dispenses flares to defeat a simulated, ground-based IR missile threat.

In this video clip, you’ll get to experience the raw power of the Strike Eagle as it tears through the airspace, propelled by its two Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-229 engines. You’ll see the variable geometry inlet adjusting the airflow into the engine at various power settings and angles of attack, as well as vapor exploding off the wings and fuselage in spectacular fashion as the airspeed and G increase.

So buckle up and hold on. It’s going to be a wild ride!

– Written by Scott Wolff for FighterSweep.com

From The Cockpit: Lake Powell Low Level

In our last video, you saw the gut-wrenching reality of dogfighting in the defensive position from the cockpit of a Lockheed-Martin F-16CM Fighting Falcon. In this video, we illustrate what it’s like to conduct a low-level, visual flight rules (VFR) sortie along a Military Training Route, or MTR.

MTRs are corridors through which military aircraft can operate below 10,000 feet mean sea level (MSL) in excess of 250 knots indicated air speed (KIAS), the speed all other aircraft are restricted to when operating at or below that altitude–per the Federal Aviation Administration‘s regulations.

These training routes are a joint venture between the FAA and the Department of Defense to provide for high-speed, low-level flight operations for tactical platforms. In other words, you won’t see C-5s or KC-10s flying through the canyons. Generally speaking, air combat or special operations assets would utilize a low-level MTR on a consistent basis. Occasionally the heavies will do such a thing, but only under specific circumstances–a C-130 conducting a low-level air drop mission, for example.

“We train low level flying to evade radar detection through direct or indirect terrain masking,” the F-16 pilot in this video explains.

NG-404_SWC_2012-03-13_FSJH-2 — Just prior to converting to Super Hornets, this C-model from VFA-192 the “World Famous Golden Dragons” is descending through Star Wars Canyon on the Sidewinder Route in Death Valley, CA. SSHWFGD!

Tactical aviators must train to this particular skill set and given the right environment and threat, it is a viable tactic in a combat environment. When available, flying below vertical terrain features, or between them, can allow a striker like the F-15E, F-16, or F/A-18 to get into a WEZ without being seen, increasing the chances of destroying a defended ground target before its position is detected and the adversary has an opportunity to repel the attack.

“US and especially British aircrews learned very harsh lessons during Operation Desert Storm of how detrimental it is to our survivability to fly at those low altitudes during combat without having terrain to hide behind,” the Viper Driver went on to say.

This is a perfect visual illustration of how the technique works. Not many get to see Lake Powell and the surrounding canyons from this perspective, so enjoy it!

– Written by Scott Wolff for FighterSweep.com

From The Cockpit: Defensive BFM

FighterSweep Fans, the moment has arrived. This is our very first “organic” From The Cockpit video, featuring two Lockheed-Martin Block 42 F-16CMs dueling over the desert in the Southwest.

So what are we looking at here? The camera is in the cockpit of of the Instructor Pilot’s jet, and as you can see from The Patch on his left shoulder, this IP is a graduate of the United States Air Force Weapons School. This day’s lesson consisted of 9K, 6K, and 3K setups for Defensive BFM, or Basic Fighter Manuevers.

What is Defensive BFM? Simply stated, you are in the WORST position a fighter pilot can ever be in. It’s the proverbial “Knife Fight in a phone booth,” where your bandit has somehow obtained a position of advantage at or near your six o’clock and has entered his gun WEZ (weapons engagement zone).

When you think of Defensive BFM, think of very High-G, difficult maneuvers that are executed while straining your neck to watch what the bandit behind you is doing. There’s no magic move, so to avoid getting yourself killed, you’re going to have to work really, really hard.

Something to keep in mind? If you fly perfect Defensive BFM and your bandit happens to fly perfect Offensive BFM, your family is going to be planting flowers next to your name in a garden of stone. That’s a fact. So your objective is to cause problems for your bad guy and force him to make a mistake. If he doesn’t, all you can do is make him work really hard to kill you, try to force an overshoot, regain a position of advantage, and own his ass.

Sounds simple, right?

It’s neck-straining, gut-wrenching, breath-stealing, rivet-popping brutal. So from the comfort of your easy chair, strap into the Viper and ride along with this experienced IP while he tries to teach his student to kill him–and stay alive at the same time.

Fight’s On!

– Written by Scott Wolff for FighterSweep.com

FighterSweep Teaser: The F-16C

It’s hard to describe the feeling of flying in a high-performance fighter aircraft. I can promise you this: it’s every bit as awesome as you imagine it to be–and then some.

At FighterSweep, we pride ourselves on bringing you the best aviation-related content, from real pilots and industry professionals alike. Our goal is to be your go-to source for aviation news, feature articles, and discussions. We have senior leadership from all branches of the armed forces looking at and even commenting on our posts–from young wingmen in fighter squadrons all the way up to four-star generals overseeing MAJCOMs. We have aides to policy-makers following us now…and our readership continues to grow.

We cannot thank you enough for the love you’ve shown and the support of our efforts and hope that you’ll help us continue to spread the word about what we’re doing, and the places we’re going.

To that effect, we hope you enjoy our very first FighterSweep-specific video trailer, a teaser of some of the video projects that are to come. So strap in and hold on, people! You’re about to go inside the cockpit of the mighty F-16C Fighting Falcon during a low-level flight over Lake Powell and a Basic Fighter Maneuvers engagement.

Enjoy!

-Contributed by Scott Wolff for FighterSweep.com

Aggressor Launch!

Under the callsign of “MIG One-One,” Lieutenant Colonel Cameron “Glover” Dadgar leads a two-ship of Lockheed-Martin F-16C Fighting Falcons from the 64th Aggressor Squadron into the evening sky.

Part of the 57th Adversary Tactics Group, the 64 AGRS participates in “Red Flag” and Canadian Forces “Maple Flag” exercises, provides the U.S. Air Force Weapons School with essential syllabus support, test mission support for the 53rd Test and Evaluation Group, and also conducts Mobile Training Team visits to various Combat Air Forces (CAF) units. They are the subject matter experts for adversary tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs), able to accurately replicate the capabilities of potentially hostile nations.

The 64 AGRS currently fields F-16Cs and Boeing F-15C Eagles, providing accurate threat representation of both the Russian-built MiG-29 Fulcrum and SU-27 Flanker aircraft.

– Contributed by Scott Wolff for FighterSweep.com