Ababil (Swallow)
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) were once considered primarily the domains of Israel and the United States Military. Throughout the 1990's, however, every major military power has seen fit to fund their own UAV developments f...

AgustaWestland A 129 Mangusta (Mongoose)
The A 129 Mangusta ("Mongoose") was developed as a variant of the A 109 series of helicopters. The newly design aircraft proved to be larger and so different than its predecessor that the system was designated as the A 129 an...

AIDC F-CK-1 Ching-Kuo
The F-CK-1 "Ching-Kuo" was an ambitious and indigenous multirole fighter design in the vein of the F-16 Fighting Falcon as undertaken by the island-nation of Taiwan in the early 1980's. A US-imposed embargo forced the Taiwane...

Airbus A340
The Airbus A340 series was already in design and development alongside the similar A330 series. In that respect, the two systems share a commonality in design and internal components. The major visual difference between the t...

AMX International AMX (Ghibli)
The AMX International AMX is the result of cooperation between two Italian (Aeritalia - now Alenia - and Aermacchi) and one Brazilian (Embraer) aircraft firms. Development of the system began with just the two Italian compani...

BAe / Boeing T-45 Goshawk
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Beriev Be-42 / A-40 Albatross (Mermaid)
The Be-42 / A-40 Albatross (designated by NATO as "Mermaid") was asuprise discovery for Western intelligence sources when it was first spotted in 1988. It was, and still continues to be, the largest amphibious aircraft ever ...

Boeing C-17 Globemaster III
The Boeing-produced C-17 Globemaster III represents one of the latest additions to the United States Air Force mobile airlift fleet. On the modern battlefield, mobility is key to any advancing effort and systems like the C-17...

Boeing VC-25 (Air Force One)
The VC-25 is used to usher the President of the United States and his staff on various journeys around the globe. The VC-25 is essentially a highly-modified Boeing 747-200B series model featuring state-of-the-art communicatio...

Boeing X-32
The X-32 STOVL (Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing) technology demonstrator was the Boeing Company's response to the Department of Defense's "Joint Strike Fighter Program" beginning in 1994....

Dassault Rafale
The Dassault Rafale, when released into operational service in the late 1990's, was the pinnacle of French aircraft engineering. The system incorporated the latest in fly-by-wire technology, composite materials and aerodynami...

Denel AH-2 Rooivalk (Kestrel)
The Denel (then Atlas) AH-2 Rooivalk (translating to "Kestrel") was an ambitious and indigenous undertaking by the nation of South Africa. At the time of its development, the Rooivalk was heralded as one of the top performing...

General Atomics RS-1 / MQ-1 Predator
At a cost of about $40 million dollars per system, the RQ-1/MQ-1 Predator is a pricey yet integral part of US Air Force operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Operating by remote control, the Predator can cover a section of terr...

IAI / TRW RQ-5 Hunter
The Hunter is a large Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and was first introduced in 1996 in limited numbers with the United States Army. The system performed admirably well in support of Operation Allied Force over Kosovo where i...

Kaman K-1200 K-Max
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Kamov Ka-50 (Black Shark) / (Hokum)
The Kamov Ka-50 Chernaya Akula (or "Black Shark" and Codenamed "Hokum" by NATO) series of attack helicopter was developed in the latter years of the Cold War and did not enter operational service with Russian military forces ...

McDonnell / BAE QF-4 (Phantom II)
The QF-4 represents a full-size unmanned target drone version of the successful Cold War-era F-4 Phantom II aircraft. QF-4's are operated by the 82nd Aerial Targets Squadron (itself under the 53rd Weapons Evaluation Group of ...

Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit (Stealth Bomber)
The B-2 Spirit (generically known as the "Stealth Bomber") was the pinnacle of tail-less flight designs beginning in the mind of Jack Northrop, founder of the Northrop aircraft company. Not only was the B-2 groundbreaking in ...

Northrop Grumman E-8 Joint STARS (JSTARS)
A product of the Northrop Grumman Corporation, the E-8 "Joint Stars" series of aircraft provides the United States Air Force with electronic "eyes" over the battlefield in the way of aerial surveillance. The aircraft is based...

Northrop Grumman YF-23 Black Widow II
The YF-23 Black Widow II was Northrop Grumman's (along with McDonnell Douglas Corporation) answer to the American ATF (Advanced Tactical Fighter challenge as proposed by the US Air Force. The YF-23 faced off directly with the...

Novi Avion
The Novi Avion ("New Aircraft") was a Yugoslavian effort to produce a home-grown supersonic multi-role aircraft on par with the global 4th Generation fighters of the time. It shared many similarities with the French-based Das...

Saab JAS 39 Gripen (Griffin)
As with all of Sweden's locally-produced military hardware, the JAS 39 Gripen is no exception to the attention paid to the needs of the nation's military. Regarded as the first of the Fourth Generation series of fighters anyw...

SATIC A300-600ST (Beluga)
Produced by a consortium consisting of Deustche Aerospace Airbus and Aerospatiale (as SATIC - Special Aircraft Transport International Company) the Beluga appeared on the scene in the middle 1990's as one of the most distinct...

Sikorsky HH-60 Pave Hawk
The HH-60 Pave Hawk series of all-weather day/night transport helicopters is an Air Force version of the successful UH-60 Black Hawk series. The HH-60 in Air Force service is charged - though not limited to - with the rescue ...

Sukhoi Su-30 (Flanker-C)
The Sukhoi Su-30 (NATO codename of "Flanker-C") is an air superiority and strike fighter version of the Su-27 "Flanker" series. The aircraft is essentially a multi-role aircraft based on the Su-27PU two-seat, long range inter...

Sukhoi Su-33 (Flanker-D)
The Su-33 (NATO designation of "Flanker-D") represents the naval equivalent to the land-based Russian-produced Su-27 Flanker series of air superiority aircraft, which in itself was produced to rival the American F-15 during t...