“The development was funded by Lockheed Martin IRAD (internal research and development) dollars,” says Lockheed. The RQ-7, operated by the Army and US Marine Corps (USMC), is by far the most numerous UAV in the US fleet. While the 28 March demonstration was funded by a branch of the US Army, other military branches and corporations have been examining the weaponisation of the aircraft. In December, 2011, RQ-7 manufacturer AAI was awarded a US Marine Corps contract to integrate and evaluate a separate small precision gravity bomb, a weapon which has apparently already been developed and fielded. “Lockheed Martin will continue to work towards additional testing to demonstrate additional capabilities of the system,” says the company. “This includes ground testing of the warhead and preparation for additional flight tests.”

This unvariably leads to the next questions : are UAVs better than jet fighters ? They are smaller, can be stealthier, prevent the loss of life (the pilot’s at least) and can provide the same and sometimes better results on the ground. To be honest, we do not have the answer. Suffice it to say that fighter pilots will remain necessary, for the human input and reflex, but will they be just a support for the UAV or will they keep a lead role ? Recent events with the F-22 jet fighter and the lack of oxygen in the cockpit demonstrate that manufacturers could do without the pilots. But taking split second decision can be very hard to do when the “pilot” is effectively thousands of miles away and does not have the feel or atmosphere of what is actually happening on the ground or in the air. So what the future will hold for fighter pilots ?

Lee offers an introduction to Unusual Attitude Training (UAT) using the L-39 Turbojet. It is an educational and exhilarating flying experience at the controls of this dual-cockpit, dual-control jet trainer that includes base-line UAT maneuvers including aerobatics. The experience is an introduction to the basic principles and techniques of unusual attitude prevention and recovery. It takes approximately three hours and includes a thorough Pre-flight Briefing and customized Flight Profile based on individual expectations and experience. The experience teaches the participant basic handling, slow speed maneuvering, and high performance aerobatics that reinforce various dynamics associated with unusual attitudes and advanced flight maneuvering. It also includes a Post-flight Debrief by the instructor detailing all maneuvers performed utilizing the high-resolution, 3-camera video recording.

And if the L39 is not your kinda ride, you can enjoy a pure joy ride in the P-51 Mustang or the T-6 Texan. For more information check out Stallion 51.

“The threat environment is continuing to grow, so as we look at how we’re going to maintain those competencies in the future, that’s where fifth generation fighters come in,” he said in mid-March. “It’s not just about stealth.” The general said the Air Force can continue to maintain the most elite fourth generation aircraft in the world, but that won’t prepare the U.S. to handle threats in the future. “Our Air Force has got to keep evolving to meet these new challenges as we move forward into the future,” said Carlisle. To illustrate this evolution and fifth generation fighter jet technology, the general shared a scenario in which an F-22 data-links coordinates to a Navy submarine-launched tomahawk missile onto a target. ”Now you have two stealth platforms, a submarine and an F-22, communicating with naval ordnance,” he said.

That level of interoperability is a large part of what makes the fifth generation Aircraft so vital to the Air Force and U.S. military in general, he added. Aircraft must not only be stealth, but also be highly maneuverable, be able to conduct multiple roles, and these aircraft must also be able to handle sensor and avionics information in a network integrated way not only for the pilot, but for the entire joint force. ”We have to have a fused system capability and have them networked and integrated across the force,” he said. “To me, that’s as important on a fifth-generation fighter as anything.”

To tell the truth Russia has not found itself far behind the States/ more than two years ago- on December, 2010, a prototype Sukhoi T-50 fifth-generation fighter took off on its maiden flight in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Russia’s Far East. This is the first warplane completely designed and built in Russia since the break-up of the Soviet Union. Only the United States currently operates Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor Stealth air-superiority fighters.

In 1981, the Mikoyan Design Bureau started developing the I-90 aircraft, better known as the Multifunctional Fighter (MFI). The project was launched soon after the MiG-29 Fulcrum, MiG-31 Foxhound and Su-27 Flanker fourth-generation fighters performed their first flights.
The I-90 which was to have been mass-produced in the 1990s overtook the U.S. Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) program which later gave rise to the F-22 Raptor.

Curtailed defense spending in the late 1980s and the subsequent break-up of the Soviet Union stopped the MFI program in its tracks. Flight tests planned for 1991 -1992 did not take place. Consequently, the MFI first took to the skies in 2000.
A prototype Sukhoi S-37/Su-47 Berkut fifth-generation fighter had been developed by then.

In 1998, the Russian Air Force issued a new request for proposal (RFP) for a fifth-generation fighter. As a concept it had remained unchanged since the MFI program got underway. The new fighter’s basic specifications included: greater agility, sustained supersonic-flight capability in non-afterburning mode, low radar visibility, low heat signature, as well as enhanced take-off and landing performance.The old designs were scrapped, and it was decided to develop an entirely new warplane fully taking into account the F-22′s capabilities, merits and drawbacks.

In 2002, the Sukhoi Design Bureau won the pilot-project contest, after proposing a full-size and twin-engined fighter with a take-off weight of up to 35 metric tons under its Prospective/Promising Frontline Aviation System program (PAK FA program). Although the new aircraft was expected to take off in 2007, the maiden flight deadline was delayed until 2008, 2009 and January 2010.

Given this new program’s complexity and the scale of the scientific, engineering, organizational and financial problems that had to be tackled during the new plane’s creation, this delay is quite understandable. All these problems are caused by Russia’s crisis-ridden industry. The new aircraft is designated the T-50, Product 701 or the I-21. The Indian Air Force also displayed an interest in this program soon after it was launched. At first, New Delhi preferred the lighter and simpler Mikoyan-Gurevich MFI fighter. The Russian Aircraft Corporation MiG proposed the twin-engine and bobtailed I-2000, an upgrade of the basic MiG-29 model, and a single-engine aircraft closely resembling the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, a descendant of the F-35, which came out of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program. India wanted to receive this sophisticated aircraft as soon as possible therefore had no choice but to join the PAK FA program. The Indian version will feature a two-seat cockpit, a number of electronic systems and other auxiliary equipment.

These aircraft are expected to replace the Su-30MKI Flanker-H fighters currently serving with the Indian Air Force, in the 2020s and the 2030s. Moreover, it is likely they will be mass-produced in India. The latest test flight reaffirms Russia’s status as a leading aviation power. Only Russia and the United States currently have their own fifth-generation fighters, as well as aircraft industries capable of manufacturing all types of military and civilian aircraft ranging from light-weight aerobatic planes to strategic bombers. All other countries, including France, Sweden, the EU as a whole, China and Japan, lack these capabilities and are forced to implement various cooperation plans in order to develop new-generation aircraft.

Despite their combined efforts the joint EU aircraft industry has failed to create a fifth-generation fighter in place of the Eurofighter Typhoon twin-engine multi-role aircraft. Most of the Eurofighter project participants intend to buy the U.S. F-35 fighter in future. The future for new Swedish and French aircraft remains bleak. Both the Saab JAS 39 Gripen and the Dassault Rafale rank among the generation four-plus-plus warplanes. Neither Stockholm, nor Paris can afford to implement multi-billion-dollar fifth-generation fighter programs. China’s prospects also seem doubtful. Most analysts agree that Beijing can develop a fifth-generation warplane only if it utilizes foreign, notably Russian, experience. Russian aircraft manufacturers must develop at least two competitive prototypes of a fifth-generation fighter jet, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said in mid-March.

“Two variants of the future fighter jet must be developed to encourage competition,” Rogozin said at a meeting with Russian lawmakers. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the future fighter must possess all technical characteristics of a fifth-generation fighter, including elements of stealth technology, supersonic cruising speed, highly-integrated avionics, electronics and fire-control systems. There are currently three fifth-generation T-50 fighters in tests, and a total number of 14 aircraft is planned for test flights by 2015. The T-50 is expected to enter service in 2016 and gradually replace MiG-29 Fulcrum and Su-27 Flanker fighter jets in the Russian Air Force. Russia’s Sukhoi aircraft maker will remain among the top three exporters of fighter jets until at least 2015, the Moscow based Center for Analysis of World Arms Trade (CAWAT) said this Februaryon. ”Sukhoi will export 109 fighters in the next three years, while U.S. Lockheed Martin exports110 aircraft, and China’s Chengdu -112 aircraft,” CAWAT head Igor Korotchenko said. The total amount of Sukhoi fighter contracts with foreign customers until 2015 is estimated at $5.45 billion.

F-22 Raptor
Because it is almost invisible to radar and carries an awesome array of weaponry the F-22 Raptor, America’s fourth-generation fighter, gets superb innovation and fear factor ratings. However, the aircraft’s prowess is compromised by its astronomical production costs and the fact it has some way to go to match the combat records of the F-15 and F-16. Therefore, in the kill ratio, production and service length categories, the Raptor scores zip, placing it firmly in 10th place on our list.

Sea Harrier
With its unrivaled ability to maneuver, hover and pop up from unexpected places, the Sea Harrier earns a solid fear factor rating. Its unique design and simple-to-produce airframe score well. Despite achieving a high kill ratio in the Falklands, the “jump jet’s” slow speed makes it vulnerable to ground fire, which reduces its overall score. Though the aircraft is being phased out of frontline operations it still earns a respectable ninth place in our top 10 league.

Sopwith Camel
Credited with destroying at least 1,200 enemy aircraft, the Sopwith Camel rightly deserves to be called one of the best fighters of all time. Its solid, if unspectacular, scoring across the board ensures its standing in eighth place on the list of the greatest fighters of all time.

Messerschmitt Me 262
For innovation the “Swallow” scores maximum points. As the first of its kind, the Me 262 inspired equal measures of fear and admiration, so it also scores at the top of the scales in the fear factor category.
However, because the aircraft was difficult to build and it had notoriously unreliable engines, the aircraft’s production rating is low - so too is its service record, having only been active for a little over two years. Nevertheless, the Me 262 will forever be in the record books as being the world’s first fully operational jet fighter - a legend of the skies and the seventh greatest fighter of all time.

Supermarine Spitfire
Used in all British theaters of conflict throughout the Second World War the Spitfire remains the unrivaled symbol of victory and Britain’s finest hour. But the Spitfire is also famous for giving Field Marshall Erwin Rommel the scare of his life. On July 17, 1944, in the north of France, a Canadian pilot named Charlie Fox shot at the car carrying the German military mastermind and knocked it off the road, putting Germany’s “Desert Fox” out of commission.

Mig 15 and F-86 Sabre
Compared to today’s fighters both these jets are underpowered and primitive but few aircraft have done so well at the job they were designed to do. Both the F-86 Sabre and MiG 15 were the right aircraft at the right time and each richly deserve a prominent place in aviation history. Both designs relied heavily on captured German swept-wing technology and British engine design, so for innovation the MiG and Sabre are equally matched. Both fighters were produced in large numbers, but the MiG edges in front of the Sabre in the production category because of its renowned simplicity. Both jets have similar service records. The result? They are inseparable in the rankings: the MiG 15 and F-86 Sabre tie for fourth place.

F-4 Phantom
Produced in large numbers the F-4 Phantom has an unrivaled service history. But the aircraft really earns its third place ranking for being fast, durable and deadly. Phantoms were the test bed for missile technology - and the aircraft held five speed records for an impressive 13 years before being beaten by the aircraft featured in the No. 2 spot on our list of the top 10 fighters of all time.

F-15C Eagle
No other fighter in the history of aerial combat has a record that even comes close to the Eagle’s. The F-15 is far superior to most of its brethren - way better than the F-4 - accelerating better, turning better, handling better. In fact, such is the reputation of the F-15 that during the opening phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Saddam Hussein’s air force simply refused to get in the air. They knew the F-15 would just knock them out of the sky.

P-51D Mustang
Fitted with external drop-tanks the Mustang’s range was extended to almost 2,000 miles, making it the only Allied fighter capable of protecting the Allied bombers on long-range, deep-penetration raids. The Mustang performed its job so well that after its introduction in 1944, casualty rates for bomber crews were reduced by 75 percent. In fact, American P51s destroyed almost 5,000 enemy aircraft in Europe - making it the highest scoring U. S. fighter in the European theater of operations.

“If the international partner agreements and commercial service provider contracts do not materialize as NASA plans for the years beyond 2016, this could lead to a potential cargo shortfall,” says GAO. Of the 51 cargo resupply flights scheduled between 2012 and 2020, 40 are to use commercial launch providers. The first two commercial flights by SpaceX and Orbital Sciences are scheduled for 2012. The first, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with a Dragon cargo capsule, is scheduled for launch on 30 April, with ISS docking shortly thereafter. Contracts with the two companies expire in 2016.

The organization also notes that funding levels for the related commercial crew development (CCDev) programme, conceived to develop human-rated commercial systems for transferring crew to the ISS, have consistently been lower than requested. A third round of CCDev, dubbed the commercial crew integrated capability (CCiCap), was conceived to partly offset those losses. Commercial crew launches are currently scheduled to begin in 2017. Test flights of human-rated commercial vehicles are not set to begin until 2014, and spacecraft programmes often suffer frequent delays and occasional failures.

The 2011 retirement of the Space Shuttle left NASA without an organic way to launch crew and cargo to the ISS. To fulfill its requirements, NASA has been purchasing cargo and crew flights from Russia.

The Ministry will take delivery of 10 Su-34s in 2012, all of them to be deployed in the Western Military District. Last year six fighter-bombers were delivered to the Air Force. These come under an initial contract for 32 Su-34s. At present the Air Force has 12 Su-34s. Factoring in the new contract, the Air Force will have a total of 124 Su-34s. The ministry previously said a total of 70 Su-34s will be delivered by 2015. Commenting on the deal, Douglas Barrie, air warfare specialist at International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, said “the Su-34 - previously known as the Su-27IB - has been long in the gestation.”

“The program began in the 1980s and has suffered as a result of funding problems. It is entering service well over a decade after it was envisaged originally to be replacing the Su-24 Fencer.” However the Su-34 will - with the appropriate avionic and weapons systems - provide the air force with a capable long range strike platform, with considerably more punch than the Su-24, he said. “Work is continuing to integrate modern air-to-surface weaponry now in development in Russia on the Su-34, with trials being carried out at the air force test center at Akhtubinsk.”

The news of the contract comes a week after Russia partially resumed flights of Su-24 Fencer tactical bombers after one of them crashed in Russia’s Urals. All Su-24s were grounded after the crash, in the woods of the Kurgan region during a routine flight on February 13. Both pilots ejected safely. The crash was the third of a Su-24 in Russia over the last four months. The two previous crashes occurred in October and December 2011. It has been in service with the Russian Air Force since the mid-1970s. However, in recent years Russia has gradually been phasing out the planes, which have a patchy safety record.

The Defense Ministry earlier said the Air Force will procure over 1,500 new aircraft by 2020. Russia started the full-scale production of Su-34s in 2008 at a Novosibirsk-based aircraft-manufacturing plant, a subsidiary of the Sukhoi Aircraft Holding. Designed by Sukhoi, the $36-million Su-34 fighter-bomber is a two-seat strike aircraft fitted with twin AL-31MF afterburner turbojet engines. It is designed to deliver high-precision strikes on heavily-defended targets under any weather conditions, day or night, and is equipped with a 30-mm GSh-301 cannon, up to 12 Alamo or Archer AAMs, ASMs, and bombs.

You get to fly an aircraft, with a real fighter pilot in your backseat, and you have the controls. Another aircraft is flown by your mate and also a fighter pilot. Both aircrafts are equipped with targeting laser and smoke systems. Once in the air, if one shoots the other with the laser and that the shot is right, the smoke systems goes off and the plane starts smoking, just like it would be if it had been really touched.

So last week we tried this. And it was awesome. The entire team is very friendly, all fighter pilots, and they’ll teach you the basic maneuvers, but also how to fly in formation, and how to shoot. The entire experience takes a day and costs about 400 euros. Honestly, it is one of the best experiences we lived recently. You can do the same in San Francisco, but for all Europeans, this one will be closer to home as it is done near Bordeaux. And that does not hurt either as the day after we have been able to visit some great wine properties… This is done by Tematis, the extraordinary experiences providers. Want to know more about this air combat dogfight, check them out.

Since the 1970s, the Eagle has also been exported to Israel, Japan, and Saudi Arabia. Despite originally being envisioned as a pure air superiority aircraft, the design proved flexible enough that an all-weather strike derivative, the F-15E Strike Eagle, was later developed, and entered service in 1989. It is interesting to see that Boeing has announced further developments on the F-15 Silent Eagle as the aircrafts remains a very strong contender to gain exports markets as it fills the gap between new modern jet fighters such as the F-22 and F-35, and the old aircrafts. Further more, The F-15 remains the undisputed king of the skies, having never been shot down in combat.

And here is part two: