Aviation

From the first operational jet fighter, to bombers intended to be able to fly to America in one trip, Germany’s Luftwaffe pushed the boundaries of military aviation to its fullest extent during the Second World War. However, from the war’s beginning, the Luftwaffe's leader, Hermann Göring, had avidly believed in the power of a certain aircraft type for ridding the skies of enemy fighter opposition: the 'Zerstörer' ('Destroyer'). But what actually was this design, and how successful was it in combat?

The appearance of the Me 262 in the skies drew intense attention from military aircraft designers. The first mass-produced jet fighter proved unmistakably that the piston era was ending. Still, the Germans did not catch the Allies completely off guard: Britain and the United States were already working on their own jets. The Soviet Union tried to join the race as well, but found itself trailing. Domestic turbojets were not ready, and Soviet fighter projects existed largely on paper.

Almost all piston aircraft start a match by climbing because whoever looks down on the enemy gets to set the terms. But there are fighters and interceptors that climb so aggressively that we might jokingly call them “helicopters”. And today we’re taking the controls of exactly that kind of machine: the Japanese Ki-44 II Hei.

For a long time, carrier-based VTOL aviation remained just a dream of Soviet aircraft designers and a distant hope for the Soviet Navy. The USSR’s first production VTOL aircraft, the Yak-38 attack jet, turned out to be an overly complex and accident-prone subsonic aircraft without a full-fledged radar. But in the 1970s, naval commanders envisioned the future fleet in formations approaching the capabilities of U.S. carrier strike groups, and the Yak-38 clearly didn’t fit that vision. The Navy needed an aircraft that could secure air superiority, strike ground targets, and support amphibious landings. All of that — in a single impressive package.

In the early Cold War era, the Belgian Air Force (Force Aérienne Belge, FAB) faced the challenge of modernizing its fighter fleet to meet escalating NATO air defence demands. During the 1950s, Belgium operated subsonic fighters such as the Republic F-84F Thunderstreak and the Hunter F.6, which were increasingly seen as inadequate against emerging high-speed threats. In response, NATO initiated a coordinated effort to equip several of its European members with a supersonic multi-role platform capable of both interception and tactical strike duties. Belgium opted to join this programme by selecting the Lockheed F-104G Starfighter, a derivative of the original Lockheed F-104 designed with enhancements tailored for European operations.

The Mirage IIIC is an iconic French single-seat delta-wing jet fighter from the late 1950s. The aircraft is highly maneuverable with excellent flight performance, capable of flying at supersonic speeds at any altitude. Its primary armament consists of two 30mm DEFA cannons and air-to-air missiles, initially carrying only one Matra R530 radar-guided missile while later versions could also carry two AIM-9B or Magic 1 IR-guided missiles. For its time, the Mirage IIIC was equipped with a very modern radar, the Cyrano Ibis. This was the first radar in the world capable of automatically slewing its antenna onto a target, which meant that the pilot simply had to press a button, and the radar would acquire and lock onto the target. This reduced the workload of the pilot drastically, which is always of crucial importance in actual combat engagements.

The British Fairey Swordfish bomber, remembered by history under its ironic nickname “Stringbag,” became one of the most striking paradoxes of World War 2. By 1939, this fabric-covered biplane with an open cockpit and fixed landing gear looked hopelessly obsolete. Yet it was precisely this slow, ungainly machine that went on to write some of the brightest chapters in naval warfare history.

The vast majority of piston aircraft use a pulling propeller layout. Pushers are far less common. But the most exotic configuration of all is the so-called “push-pull” design, with propellers mounted both in the nose and at the tail. Today’s subject is exactly such a machine: the unique Dutch fighter Fokker D.XXIII. Only a single prototype was ever built.

This article examines the history of the MAA-1 Piranha, the first Brazilian domestic air-to-air missile, tracing its conception, development, testings, and the various setbacks and historical contexts that shaped the program. The Piranha was a bold project for its time, that sought to elevate Brazil into the small group of countries that were capable of producing domestic air-to-air missiles, a group which, at the time, consisted of France, the USA, the USSR, Israel, South Africa, the United Kingdom, China, Taiwan, and Japan.

If you’re asked which combat aircraft shows up on camera more often than any other, what’s the first one that comes to mind? For many, it’s the legendary American carrier-based fighter, the F/A-18. Today, we’re taking to the skies in this very aircraft — specifically in its most advanced variant, better known as the Super Hornet.