Fighters Archives

Aerospace & Defense

Sweden’s Saab JAS-39 Gripen E Costs About $4,700 to $9,900 per Flight Hour Against $38,000 to $42,000 for an F-35A and Up to $68,000 for an F-22 Raptor. It Has No Stealth Airframe, and a Handful of Conscripts With 1 Technician Can Rearm It on a Public Road in Under 20 Minutes.

Saab's JAS 39 Gripen answer to low observability is not shape. It is the Arexis suite — spherical electronic warfare coverage built on gallium...

Steve BalestrieriSeptember 12, 2026

Aerospace & Defense

Sorry, F-35: Saab Is Offering Canada 6,000 Jobs to Buy the JAS 39 Gripen. The Number Is Now as High as 10,000, and Ottawa Still Has Not Decided.

Roughly 10 major industrial partners and 250 suppliers would build the aircraft. Saab estimates 50 percent of the JAS 39 Gripen and GlobalEye work...

Jack BuckbySeptember 11, 2026

A U.S. Air Force F-35A Lightning II aircraft assigned to the 115th Fighter Wing, Wisconsin Air National Guard is parked on the ramp at sunrise during the 115th FW 2026 Combat Readiness Exercise, Operation Iron Orchid, at Volk Field Air National Guard Base, Camp Douglas, Wisconsin, June 26, 2026. Operation Iron Orchid is designed to assess and reinforce the wing’s ability to generate combat capability, sustain operations, protect personnel and resources, respond to evolving conditions, and execute mission-essential tasks in a realistic and challenging environment. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Master Sgt. Mary Greenwood)

Aerospace & Defense

Canada Finalized an Agreement to Buy 88 Lockheed Martin F-35A Fighter Jets Back in January 2023. Almost 18 Months Into a Review Ordered by Prime Minister Mark Carney, Ottawa Is Committed to Only 16 of Them — and the First Ones Still Arrive This Year.

The F-35 has competition. Saab is pitching a mixed fleet. But the Gripen E flies on General Electric's F414, an American engine under U.S....

Jack BuckbySeptember 11, 2026

U.S. Air Force Capt. Nick “Laz” Le Tourneau, pilot and commander of the F-22 Raptor Aerial Demonstration Team, performs for the 2026 Cleveland National Air Show in Cleveland, Ohio, Sept. 6, 2026. Le Tourneau showcased the aircraft’s performance capabilities through a series of planned maneuvers designed to highlight its speed, agility and operational employment. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Lauren Diaz)

Aerospace & Defense

The US Air Force F-22 Raptor Has a Combat Range of About 590 Nautical Miles. China’s J-20 Is Estimated at Around 1,100. New Stealth Fuel Tanks Take the Raptor to 850.

New photographs show the Raptor carrying shaped external fuel tanks and two sensor pods — one apparently housing infrared search and track, the capability...

Isaac SeitzSeptember 11, 2026

Aerospace & Defense

F-117 Nighthawks Flew 2 Percent of Desert Storm’s Sorties and Hit 40 Percent of the Targets — More Than 1,500 of Them in 43 Nights, Without a Single Loss. 8 Years Later a 1961 Soviet Missile Shot 1 Down.

Colonel Zoltán Dani did not get lucky. He moved his missile battery constantly through the 78-day campaign, used couriers and landlines instead of radios,...

Steve BalestrieriSeptember 10, 2026

Aerospace & Defense

A UK Ministry of Defence Official Says GCAP Fighter Will Carry Twice the Internal Weapons Payload of an F-35 and Control Uncrewed Aircraft Alongside It. Almost Nothing Else About the Aircraft Is Public.

The Global Combat Air Programme is meant to give Britain, Japan and Italy a sixth-generation stealth fighter by 2035. Japan allocated $1,270,000,000 to it...

Isaac SeitzSeptember 10, 2026

U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptors, E-3 Sentrys, C-17 Globemaster IIIs, C-130J Herculeses and C-12F Hurons participate in a close formation taxi known as an elephant walk at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, May 5, 2020. This event displayed the ability of the 3rd Wing, 176th Wing and the 477th Fighter Group to maintain constant readiness throughout COVID-19 by Total Force Integration between active-duty, Guard and Reserve units to continue defending the U.S. homeland and ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Jonathan Valdes Montijo)

Aerospace & Defense

The US Air Force Capped F-22 Raptor Production at 187 Aircraft at About $143,000,000 Each. In November 2009 a French Rafale Costing About 64,000,000 Euros Got Behind 1 and Took the Shot.

The F-22 Raptor was built to kill an enemy fighter before that fighter knew it was there, at roughly $143,000,000 an aircraft. At the...

Brandon WeichertSeptember 10, 2026

Aerospace & Defense

The F-14 Tomcat’s Engine Was Designed in 1958 for a Short-Haul Airliner. The US Navy Put It in a Dogfighter Anyway, and It Took Until 1988 to Put a Proper Fighter Engine In.

The Pratt & Whitney TF30 began in 1958 as a proposal for a short-haul jet airliner. It ended up in the F-14 Tomcat because...

Steve BalestrieriSeptember 10, 2026

F-16XL fighter. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Aerospace & Defense

F-16XL Fighter Had 27 Hardpoints and Could Carry Twice the Payload of a Standard F-16 But Lost the Competition to the F-15E

General Dynamics took the lightweight F-16, gave it a cranked-arrow delta wing with 120 percent more area, raised the hardpoint count from 9 to...

Harrison KassSeptember 7, 2026

A U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor assigned to the 90th Fighter Squadron, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, flies over clouds during RED FLAG-Alaska 14-3 Aug. 20, 2014, Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska. A combination of sensor capability, integrated avionics, situational awareness and weapons provides first-kill opportunity against threats. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Jim Araos/Released)

Aerospace & Defense

The US Air Force’s F-22 Raptor Stealth Fighter Is Fighting In a World It Was Never Designed to Fly In

The F-22 Raptor entered service in 2005 and the line shut down in 2011, which means every dollar of the $10,900,000,000 modernization contract Lockheed...

Jack BuckbySeptember 7, 2026

19FortyFive

All posts tagged "Fighters"

Aerospace & Defense

Sweden’s Saab JAS-39 Gripen E Costs About $4,700 to $9,900 per Flight Hour Against $38,000 to $42,000 for an F-35A and Up to $68,000 for an F-22 Raptor. It Has No Stealth Airframe, and a Handful of Conscripts With 1 Technician Can Rearm It on a Public Road in Under 20 Minutes.

Aerospace & Defense

Sorry, F-35: Saab Is Offering Canada 6,000 Jobs to Buy the JAS 39 Gripen. The Number Is Now as High as 10,000, and Ottawa Still Has Not Decided.

Aerospace & Defense

Canada Finalized an Agreement to Buy 88 Lockheed Martin F-35A Fighter Jets Back in January 2023. Almost 18 Months Into a Review Ordered by Prime Minister Mark Carney, Ottawa Is Committed to Only 16 of Them — and the First Ones Still Arrive This Year.

Aerospace & Defense

The US Air Force F-22 Raptor Has a Combat Range of About 590 Nautical Miles. China’s J-20 Is Estimated at Around 1,100. New Stealth Fuel Tanks Take the Raptor to 850.

Aerospace & Defense

F-117 Nighthawks Flew 2 Percent of Desert Storm’s Sorties and Hit 40 Percent of the Targets — More Than 1,500 of Them in 43 Nights, Without a Single Loss. 8 Years Later a 1961 Soviet Missile Shot 1 Down.

Aerospace & Defense

A UK Ministry of Defence Official Says GCAP Fighter Will Carry Twice the Internal Weapons Payload of an F-35 and Control Uncrewed Aircraft Alongside It. Almost Nothing Else About the Aircraft Is Public.

Aerospace & Defense

The US Air Force Capped F-22 Raptor Production at 187 Aircraft at About $143,000,000 Each. In November 2009 a French Rafale Costing About 64,000,000 Euros Got Behind 1 and Took the Shot.

Aerospace & Defense

The F-14 Tomcat’s Engine Was Designed in 1958 for a Short-Haul Airliner. The US Navy Put It in a Dogfighter Anyway, and It Took Until 1988 to Put a Proper Fighter Engine In.

Aerospace & Defense

F-16XL Fighter Had 27 Hardpoints and Could Carry Twice the Payload of a Standard F-16 But Lost the Competition to the F-15E

Aerospace & Defense

The US Air Force’s F-22 Raptor Stealth Fighter Is Fighting In a World It Was Never Designed to Fly In

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