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485th Air Expeditionary Wing
The 485th Air Expeditionary Wing is a provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to Air Combat Command. As a provisional unit, the 485 AEW may be inactivated or activated at any time by Air Combat Command. The wing was last known to be active during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003 at Tabuk Regional Airport, Saudi Arabia, in 2003. The wing was first activated as the 485th Bombardment Group, a Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bombardment group that served with Fifteenth Air Force during World War II. The group was awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation for its action in a mission to Vienna, Austria in 1944. The 485th returned to the United States in May 1945, where it converted to Boeing B-29 Superfortresss, training with Second Air Force. When the war ended in August 1945, the group remained at its training base and became one of the original ten bombardment groups assigned to Strategic Air Command (SAC). The group was inactivated in 1946 and its aircraft, personnel an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Air Combat Command
Air Combat Command (ACC) is one of nine Major Commands (MAJCOMs) in the United States Air Force, reporting to Headquarters, United States Air Force (HAF) at the Pentagon. It is the primary provider of air combat forces for the Air Force, and it is the direct successor to Tactical Air Command. Air Combat Command is headquartered at Langley Air Force Base, Joint Base Langley–Eustis, Virginia, United States. ACC directly operates 1,110 fighter, attack, reconnaissance, combat search and rescue, airborne command and control and electronic aircraft along with command, control, computing, communications and intelligence (C4I) systems, Air Force ground forces, conducts global information operations, and controls Air Force Intelligence. Air Combat Command consists of approximately 74,240 active duty Airmen and 10,610 Department of the Air Force Civilians. When mobilized, more than 49,000 additional Airmen of the Air Force Reserve and the Air National Guard, along with over ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Strategic Air Command
Strategic Air Command (SAC) was both a United States Department of Defense Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command responsible for command and control of the strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile components of the United States military's strategic nuclear forces from 1946 to 1992. SAC was also responsible for the operation of strategic reconnaissance aircraft and airborne command post aircraft as well as most of the USAF's aerial refueling fleet, including aircraft from the Air Force Reserve (AFRES) and Air National Guard (ANG). SAC primarily consisted of the Second Air Force (2AF), Eighth Air Force (8AF) and the Fifteenth Air Force (15AF), while SAC headquarters (HQ SAC) included Directorates for Operations & Plans, Intelligence, Command & Control, Maintenance, Training, Communications, and Personnel. At a lower echelon, SAC headquarters divisions included Aircraft Engineering, Missile Concept, and Strategic Communicat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Airlift
An airlift is the organized delivery of supplies or personnel primarily via military transport aircraft. Airlifting consists of two distinct types: strategic and tactical. Typically, strategic airlifting involves moving material long distances (such as across or off the continent or theater), whereas a tactical airlift focuses on deploying resources and material into a specific location with high precision. Depending on the situation, airlifted supplies can be delivered by a variety of means. When the destination and surrounding airspace is considered secure, the aircraft will land at an appropriate airport or airbase to have its cargo unloaded on the ground. When landing the craft or distributing the supplies to a certain area from a landing zone by surface transportation is not an option, the cargo aircraft can drop them in mid-flight using parachutes attached to the supply containers in question. When there is a broad area available where the intended receivers have c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lockheed C-130H Hercules
The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally designed as a troop, medevac, and cargo transport aircraft. The versatile airframe has found uses in other roles, including as a gunship (AC-130), for airborne assault, search and rescue, scientific research support, weather reconnaissance, aerial refueling, maritime patrol, and aerial firefighting. It is now the main tactical airlifter for many military forces worldwide. More than 40 variants of the Hercules, including civilian versions marketed as the Lockheed L-100, operate in more than 60 nations. The C-130 entered service with the U.S. in 1956, followed by Australia and many other nations. During its years of service, the Hercules has participated in numerous military, civilian and humanitarian aid operations. In 2007, the C-130 became t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fighter Aircraft
Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield permits bombers and attack aircraft to engage in tactical and strategic bombing of enemy targets. The key performance features of a fighter include not only its firepower but also its high speed and maneuverability relative to the target aircraft. The success or failure of a combatant's efforts to gain air superiority hinges on several factors including the skill of its pilots, the tactical soundness of its doctrine for deploying its fighters, and the numbers and performance of those fighters. Many modern fighter aircraft also have secondary capabilities such as ground attack and some types, such as fighter-bombers, are designed from the outset for dual roles. Other fighter designs are highly specialized while still filling the ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
McDonnell Douglas F-15C Eagle
The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle is an American twin-engine, all-weather tactical fighter aircraft designed by McDonnell Douglas (now part of Boeing). Following reviews of proposals, the United States Air Force selected McDonnell Douglas's design in 1969 to meet the service's need for a dedicated air superiority fighter. The Eagle first flew in July 1972, and entered service in 1976. It is among the most successful modern fighters, with over 100 victories and no losses in aerial combat, with the majority of the kills by the Israeli Air Force.Spick 2000, p. 127. The Eagle has been exported to Israel, Japan, and Saudi Arabia. The F-15 was originally envisioned as a pure air-superiority aircraft. Its design included a secondary ground-attack capability that was largely unused. The aircraft design proved flexible enough that an improved all-weather strike derivative, the F-15E Strike Eagle, was later developed, entered service in 1989 and has been exported to several nations. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty
The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty, formally the Treaty Between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the Elimination of Their Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles; / ДРСМД, ) was an arms control treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union (and its successor state, the Russian Federation). US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev signed the treaty on 8 December 1987. The US Senate approved the treaty on 27 May 1988, and Reagan and Gorbachev ratified it on 1 June 1988. The INF Treaty banned all of the two nations' land-based ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and missile launchers with ranges of (short medium-range) and (intermediate-range). The treaty did not apply to air- or sea-launched missiles. By May 1991, the nations had eliminated 2,692 missiles, followed by 10 years of on-site verification inspections. Amidst continuing growth of China's missile forc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Florennes Air Base
Florennes Air Base is a Belgian Air Component military airfield located east southeast of Florennes, a Walloon municipality of Belgium. It is home to the 2nd Tactical Wing, operating F-16 Fighting Falcons. It also used to be the home to the Tactical Leadership Programme (TLP), a joint training program formed by ten NATO members. On July 31, 2009, TLP moved to Albacete in Spain. Units During World War II, German Luftwaffe fighter units operated from here, including Ju 88 and Bf 110 night fighters, and Focke-Wulf Fw 190 day fighters. It was captured in September 1944, after which Allied units operating from here included the USAAF's 430th Fighter Squadron, flying Lockheed Lockheed P-38 Lightnings in the ground attack role, and the 422nd Night Fighter Squadron, flying Northrop P-61 Black Widows. From 1984 to 1990, the US Air Force 485th Tactical Missile Wing was located at Florennes, deploying the BGM-109G Ground Launched Cruise Missile system, which were removed in 1989 as pa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ground Launched Cruise Missile
The Ground Launched Cruise Missile, or GLCM, (officially designated BGM-109G Gryphon) was a ground-launched cruise missile developed by the United States Air Force in the last decade of the Cold War and disarmed under the INF Treaty. Overview The BGM-109G was developed as a counter to the mobile MRBM and IRBM nuclear missiles ( SS-20 Saber) deployed by the Soviet Union in Eastern Bloc European countries. The GLCM and the U.S. Army's Pershing II may have been the incentives that fostered Soviet willingness to sign the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF treaty), and thus possibly reduced the threat of nuclear wars in Europe. GLCM is also a generic term for any ground-launched cruise missile. Since the U.S. deployed only one modern cruise missile in the tactical role, the GLCM name stuck. The GLCM was built by General Dynamics. History Design and employment A conventionally configured cruise missile, the BGM-109 was essentially a small, pilotless flying machine, powere ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
TM-76 Mace
The Martin Mace was a ground-launched cruise missile developed from the earlier MGM-1 Matador, Martin TM-61 Matador. It used a new self-contained navigation system that eliminated the need to get updates from ground-based radio stations, and thereby allowed it to fly further beyond the front lines. To take advantage of this longer practical range, Mace was larger than Matador and could travel a longer total distance. The original A model used a ground-mapping radar system which required the missile to fly at low to medium altitudes. In 1959 a new inertial navigation system was introduced that offered similar accuracy but had no altitude limitation. By flying at higher altitudes the missile's range almost doubled with no other changes. This led to the B model of 1961, which was limited to fixed launching sites, unlike the A model's mobile trailers. Mace was replaced by the MGM-31 Pershing missile by then Secretary of Defence Robert McNamara, and later in its role as a cruise mis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cruise Missiles
A cruise missile is a guided missile used against terrestrial or naval targets that remains in the atmosphere and flies the major portion of its flight path at approximately constant speed. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhead over long distances with high precision. Modern cruise missiles are capable of travelling at high subsonic, supersonic, or hypersonic speeds, are self-navigating, and are able to fly on a non-ballistic, extremely low-altitude trajectory. History The idea of an "aerial torpedo" was shown in the British 1909 film ''The Airship Destroyer'' in which flying torpedoes controlled wirelessly are used to bring down airships bombing London. In 1916, the American aviator Lawrence Sperry built and patented an "aerial torpedo", the Hewitt-Sperry Automatic Airplane, a small biplane carrying a TNT charge, a Sperry autopilot and a barometric altitude control. Inspired by the experiments, the United States Army developed a similar flying bomb called th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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