On 23AUG2022, the U.S. Army released a video begging soldiers to voluntarily transfer to Republic of Korea (South Korea). The request coincides with the 72nd Anniversary of the U.S. Army’s deployment to Korea, but back then U.S. citizens were forced into the military (drafted, ask your grand parents or great grand parents), or sent to prison for refusing (ask Cassius Clay-Muhammad Ali about that).
U.S. 8th Army video, produced by Specialist Diana Rose Faulve, written by Sergeant Major Andrew Kosterman, presenting reasons why you should move to Korea:
During the first week of August 2022, a haggard looking Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, spent time in Korea, as part of a her Indo-Pacific tour. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sergeant Dwane R. Young.
“The Novavax vaccine is not a mRNA vaccine. This means no fetal stem cells were used to test it. Instead, insect cells were used and it has been proven safe and effective.”-Lieutenant Colonel Jamie Rojas, 86th Medical Group, U.S. Air Force Ramstein Air Base, Germany
The U.S. Air Force (USAF) is now forcing Airmen to take an “authorized for emergency use” (hence not approved, hence not proven safe and effective) vaccine that involved the use of insects in its development. USAF medical officials admitted that earlier mRNA vaccines do indeed involve the use of human stem cells.
USAF, 86th Medical Group non-commissioned officer prepares a new vaccine at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, 18AUG2022. USAF photo by Senior Airman Thomas Karol.
The first look for NATO of a Ka-27, aboard Soviet destroyer Udaloy, somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean, September 1982.
The first Kamov 27 flew in 1973, beginning naval service by 1982, today at least a dozen countries still use it. NATO calls it the Ka-27 Helix. China and India use the export version known as Ka-28. It is primarily used as an anti-ship weapons platform, but is also used for things like transport and fire fighting. The silly-vilian (civilian) version is Ka-32.
A Soviet Kamov 27 flying alongside a USN SH-3 Sea King. Location, date and photographer unknown.
Video of Cold War era film of Ka-27 action:
Somewhere in the Mediterranean Sea, Ka-27 Helix helicopters aboard Soviet aircraft carrier Baku (CVHG 103). USN photo by Lieutenant P.J. Azzolina, June 1988.
A Soviet Ka-32 Helix during Airshow Canada ’89 (Abbotsford Air Show), in British Columbia. Photo by Pat Nugent, August 1989.
Helix hangers on a Soviet Udaloy class guided missile destroyer. U.S. Navy photo dated October 1990.
Three Russian Ka-32 Helix-C in Bahrain, 16MAY1993. U.S. Navy photo by Lieutenant Junior Grade John Bouvia.
In June 1994, U.S. military personnel took part in a disaster response exercise on Vladivostok, Russia. USN photo by Photographer’s Mate First Class Charles W. Alley.
U.S. ally Republic of Korea (South Korea) uses the Ka-32C for Maritime Police actions. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Corporal Grenda, 19JUL1999.
Ka-27 on the fantail of the Russian Frigate Neustrashimy (712). U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate Second Class George Sisting, 07JUN2004.
Kamov 27 Helix landing on the Ticonderoga Class Cruiser USS San Jacinto (CG 56), somewhere in the Baltic Sea, 07JUN2004. USN photo by Photographer’s Mate Second Class George Sisting.
A Russian Ka-27 Helix takes part in a USN disaster response exercise on Santa Rita Naval Base, Guam, 31MAR2006. USN photo by Photographer’s Mate Second Class Edward N. Vasquez.
A Russian Navy Ka-27 during anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden, 09FEB2009. USN photo by Petty Officer Second Class Jason Zalasky.
Kamov on the fantail of destroyer Admiral Vinogradov, Gulf of Aden. USN photo by Petty Officer Second Class Jason Zalasky, 09FEB2009.
USN photo by Petty Officer Second Class Jason Zalasky, 09FEB2009.
Ukrainian Ka-27 Helix aboard USS Taylor during NATO wargame Sea Breeze, 20JUL2010. USN photo by Petty Officer First Class Edward Kessler.
A NATO Portugal Ka-32A11BC fighting a wildfire.
14AUG2012 video of NATO Portuguese Ka-32A11BC fighting fires:
Indian Navy Ka-28 Helix lands on the flight deck of USS McCampbell (DDG 85), 07NOV2013. USN photo by Mass Communication Specialist Third Class Paul Kelly.
Ukrainian Helix aboard USS Ross (DDG 71) during a wargame, 02JUN2015. USN photo by Mass Communication Specialist Third Class Robert S. Price.
Ukrainian Ka-27 Helix during NATO’s Sea Breeze wargame, 22JUL2016. USN photo by Mass Communication Specialist First Class Justin Stumberg.
USN photo by Mass Communication Specialist First Class Justin Stumberg, 22JUL2016.
Ka-28’s forward landing gear. PLA-Navy photo by Li Hengjiang, 24FEB2018.
PLA-Navy photo by Li Hengjiang, 24FEB2018.
PLA-Navy photo by Li Hengjiang, 24FEB2018.
NATO wargame Sea Breeze, in The Black Sea, July 2018. A Ukrainian Kamov aboard the USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20). USN photo by Mass Communication Specialist First Class Justin Stumberg.
In September 2018, Russian Helicopters (which now includes Kamov) announced it had received more orders to build its latest version of the Helix, the Ka-32A11BC Heavy Utility Helicopter.
In December 2018, a Korean Ka-32T crashed into the Han River while fighting a wildfire. Two of the three crewmembers survived. The photo purports to show the same Ka-32T before the crash. Photo via Yonhap News Agency.
The Ka-32A11BC not only uses a bucket for fighting fires, it also uses a giant spray gun:
Russian Ministry of Defense video of the Ka-27 dropping bombs from its internal bomb bay, February 2020:
SWISSPOWERJET video of Ka-32 in action, April 2021:
Russian Navy Ka-27 during joint China-Russia wargames in the Peter The Great Gulf, Sea of Japan, 15OCT2021. PLA-Navy photo by Sun Jingang.
China uses the new Ka-32A11BC for fire fighting.
PLA Eastern Command Ka-28, photographed by Xu Ziyang, 21JAN2022.
HeliSwiss Ka-32. Since March 2022, and because of the Ukraine Crisis, the European Union has suspended certificate approval for Kamov helicopters operated by EU members.
In this People’s Liberation Army (PLA)-Navy video, about bad weather helicopter training, you can see a Ka-28 Helix, 31MAY2022:
Photo via Russian Helicopters.
Photo via Russian Helicopters.
Photo via Russian Helicopters.
In November 2021, Rostec (aka State Corporation for Assistance to Development, Production and Export of Advanced Technology), revealed that flight testing for the latest fire-fighting version began. It is called the Ka-32A11M.
Photo via Russia Helicopters/Rostec, November 2021.
Eagles like to nest at the top of trees. 14AUG1986.
Rome Air Development Center-Newport Measurement Facility (New York), aka USAF Super Lab, aka Newport Research Site-Griffiss Institute, aka Griffiss Air Force Base.
A pole dancing F-15 Eagle? Researching the tail number I came across info that says it is an F-15A (72-0113). It is mounted upside down on a pedestal at the Rome Air Development Center’s (aka USAF Super Lab) Newport, New York, test site. A radar warning system pod mounted on the fuselage is being compared to the onboard radar warning system, 06OCT1988.
I’ve read the official 1991“in-house report”on Super Lab activities and it made no mention of the pole dancing F-15A, it talks about the late 1970s pole dancing F-111, and middle 1980s F-16 (which took place at about the same time as the F-15 testing).
Information that was issued with the publicly released photos incorrectly says this Eagle is a F-15C!
Photo via Rome Air Development Center.
F-15A 72-0113 was one of the first production Eagles. Interestingly it was quickly retired, after only a few years of testing over Edwards Air Force Base in California, to The Bone Yard (Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona) in 1977. Then, in 2005 it was reported as being “preserved on a pole” in Newport, New York!
Photo via ‘USAF Super Lab’.
Supposedly, F-15A tail number 72-0113 was spotted still hanging around the USAF Super Lab, in 2016. Unfortunately, Newport Research Site-Griffiss Institute’s website doesn’t give any information about the F-15.
U.S. Air Force photo, 24SEP1979.
Photographic evidence shows that #72-0113 was delivered to the Rome Air Development Center in September 1979.
An F-15 Eagle pole dances while a YA-10 waits its turn.
The elaborate ‘antenna test site’ use several different height, 3-axis position, towers. The site tests the effects of radar, electronic jamming and the effectiveness of experimental electronic countermeasures.
A July 1986 photo showing 72-0113 on top of the Irish Hill tower. The info that came with the photo incorrectly states that it is in Rhode Island!
Photo via ‘USAF Super Lab’.
The aircraft that have been tower mounted, so far, are the YA-10, AC-130, F-4, F-16, F-15, F-18, F-22, F-35, MH 60 SEAHAWK and sections of the B-1B, EC-135 Snoopy, and others.
The NATO letter blames it on the main stream U.S. news media, specifically Time magazine, for publishing statements made during a U.S. trial of a spy. But then, there was a journalist working for Time, who was onboard the aircraft carrier USS Independence (CVA-62) during the wargames, who claimed that somebody in NATO tipped-off the Soviets!
Apparently, NATO’s first Exercise Teamwork, off the coast of NATO Norway, was a diversion from an established NATO wargame called FALLEX (Fall [as in Autumn] Exercise). A once secret NATO letter discussing FALLEX 62 suggested making changes for the upcoming FALLEX 64. Apparently, FALLEX 64 became Exercise Teamwork 64, possibly because of what was publicized about the trial of a spy in the United States.
U.S. Navy film, dated 1964 and titled Exercise Teamwork, showing ‘Russian Spy Fishing Trawler’. The smoke stack on this ship is different than the Revell kit’s stack:
But 1969 is the year the U.S. Navy really took an interest in all the Soviet fishing trawlers hanging around NATO navies, and even off the coast of the United States.
USN film, February 1969, showing Soviet ‘spy’ fishing trawlers operating off the coast of the U.S. state of Virginia, at least three different ships according to the USN info:
On 09APR1969, the USN spied on Soviet Mediterranean fleet operations, near the Rock of Gibraltar, and interestingly among all those big Soviet warships was a lone Soviet fishing trawler (you can see it as the camera pans from warship to warship), I edited for just the trawler scenes:
A May 1969 USN film documenting what was believed to be various Soviet surveillance ships, showing a similar ‘spy trawler’, with a different stack, location not indicated:
Now you know where the tech term phishing originated, Cold War era spy fishing boats, fishing for your country’s military info.
In 1970, model kit company Revell issued its Russian Spy Fishing Trawler Volga. Revell’s spy ship kit seems to combine attributes of all the trawlers seen in the USN films.
Is this the trawler the Revell kit is based on? Image taken from USN film dated February 1969.
NATO called this a Okean class intelligence collection ship. USN photo by Photographer’s Mate First Class Jeff Hilton, August 1986.
NATO called this a Moma class intelligence collection ship. USN photo by Photographer’s Mate First Class Jeff Hilton, August 1986.
The kit is continuously re-issued, but in 1998 the name was changed to Northsea Fishing Trawler.
Welcome to borderland hell under U.S. President Joseph Robinette Biden Junior,, incomplete (just the tip of the iceberg) list of videos and reports from the United States Coast Guard, for July 2022:
U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) District 7-Air Station Clearwater video of illegals from Cuba trying to get to United States. They were approximately 18 miles northwest of Elbow Cay, Bahamas, 06JUL2022:
USCG District 7 photo, 25JUL2022.
During the last week of July 2022, in the water around the Bahamas the USCG captured numerous boats packed with illegals from Haiti. On 30JUL2022, 109 Haitians captured off the Bahamas were returned to their country.
FLORIDA:
USCG District 7 photo, 04JUL2022.
On the 4th of July, the crew of U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Isaac Mayo captured illegals from Cuba, about 23 miles south of Marathon.
USCG District 7-Station Key West photo, 05JUL2022.
This ‘rustic vessel’, nicknamed Liberta, was found approximately 63 miles east of Marathon, 05JUL2022.
USCG Station Key West photo, 06JUL2022.
On 06JUL2022, the USCG capture several illegals from Cuba, they were only three miles south of Key West and were trying to swim to shore. On 08JUL2022, the USCG returned 74 Cubans to their home country.
U.S. Coast Guard District 7 photo by Petty Officer First Class Nicole Groll, 07JUL2022.On 07JUL2022, the USCG captured this ‘rustic vessel’ about 30 miles south of Key West, it was filled with illegals from Cuba.
USCG Station Key West photo, 08JUL2022.
On 08JUL2022, a ‘good Samaritan’ reported a boat full of illegals, about 40 miles southwest of Key West. The U.S. Coast Guard responded and claims that 64 illegals from Cuba were sent back home on 10JUL2022.
USCG District 7 photo, 21JUL2022.
In Biscayne Bay, the USCG captured a boat overloaded with 163 illegals from Haiti, on 21JUL2022. They were sent back to Haiti on 25JUL2022.
USCG District 7 photo, 27JUL2022.
Near Alligator Reef Lighthouse, the USCG captured this raft with illegals from Cuba on it, 27JUL2022.
USCG District 7 photo, 29JUL2022.
On 29JUL2022, the USCG got a report of illegals in a homemade boat, about 63 miles south of Marquesas Key. 58 illegals were captured, and on 03AUG2022 they were sent back to Cuba.
On 30JUL2022, USCG Cutter Charles Sexton took 83 illegals from Cuba back to their country. Many of those illegals were captured by an oil tanker, about 78 miles south of Key West, on 27JUL2022. USCG District 7 video:
PUERTO RICO:
USCG District 7 PADET San Juan photo, 28JUL2022.
On 28JUL2022, the USCG captured a boat filled with 29 illegals from Dominican Republic, off the northwest coast of Puerto Rico. They were sent back to their home country the next day.
Incomplete list of photos, radio reports and videos of the latest U.S. military operations, under the guise of fighting the Pandemic (so called Whole-of-Government Covid Response, run by U.S. Army Northern Command, beginning on August 2021), from February through July2022:
U.S. Army photo by Staff Sergeant Peter Maenner, 23MAR2022.
It was revealed, on 04APR2022, that U.S. taxpayers were forced to give the African country of Nigeria a field hospital worth $1.6-million! This was the result of a May 2021 Pandemic survey of Agadez Regional Hospital, which concluded the hospital needed more bed space to deal with The Pandemic.
At the beginning of May, U.S. Army Southern European Task Force relaxes mask wearing mandates, yet warns CoViD “is not over”, video by Chris House:
In Germany, on 31MAY2022, the city of Wiesbaden extended its Pandemic so-called protection order by an additional four weeks. The order applies to U.S. military personnel.
Also on 31MAY2022, the U.S. Air Force Air University’s radio program reviewed Taiwan’s Orwellian Pandemic digital surveillance system (interesting that the USAF radio program uses an Orwellian computer voice), specifically if it is a good idea:
In June, U.S. taxpayers (through the U.S. military) gave Pandemic PPE to the Kingdom of Jordan, U.S. Army video by Specialist Kevin Butler, 09JUN2022:
In Kuwait, a U.S. Army command surgeon, Lieutenant Colonel Wendra Galfand, goes out of her way to restart a children’s hospice program, that was shutdown by Pandemic panic. U.S. Army video by Specialist Austin Tippit, 10JUN2022:
U.S. Army photo by Jessica Dambruch, 29JUL2022.
On 29JUL2022, the U.S. Army began vaccinating children on the Republic of the Marshall Islands.
ALASKA:
U.S. Air Force photo by Airman First Class Ricardo Sandoval, 23JUN2022.
In June, Eielson Air Force Base continued testing personnel for CoViD.
CALIFORNIA: In May, the Deputy Commanding General of the U.S. Army Reserve gave a speech about the Department of Defense’s ongoing Pandemic panic policies, video by Sergeant Jean-Baptiste Kanangwe:
HAWAII:
U.S. Army photo by Claudia LaMantia.
Pandemic booster vaccines given in Tripler Army Medical Center, 03MAY2022.
MARYLAND:
U.S. Navy phot by Kathy Hieatt, 20JUL2022.
On 20JUL2022, a four years old child is the first to get vaccinated in Naval Health Clinic Patuxent River, as the U.S. Navy begins vaccinating children under five years of age.
NEW JERSEY:
U.S. Air Force photo by Airman First Class Sergio Avalos, 23JUN2022.
The U.S. Air Force admitting that Pandemic lockdown is doing more harm than good. On Joint Base McGuire Dix Lakehurst, on 24JUN2022 the 87th Medical group unveiled a so-called recharge room for Airman returning from lockdown. It is based on a similar operation on MacDill Air Force Base in Florida, except this one included input from the base Community Action Team and the local Red Cross: “Our efforts went one step further than Macdill and became a wing funded initiative instead of a self-help project. We hope that the idea of a recharge room will be implemented in similar squadrons across the installation.”-Rebecca Rhodes, health promotion director
Pennsylvania National Guard photo by Captain Travis Mueller, 23JUN2022.
On 23JUN2022, inside the large Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency complex, Governor Tom Wolf heaped praise upon the state’s National Guard for its Pandemic vaccination operations for school teachers.
PUERTO RICO:
Puerto Rico Army National Guard photo by Sergeant José Ferrer Robles, 12MAY2022.
In May, CoViD testing continued under Puerto Rico’s Operation Continue Safe.
Puerto Rico Army National Guard photo by Sergeant José Ferrer Robles, 01JUN2022.
In June, CoViD drive through testing was conducted under Puerto Rico’s Operation Continue Safe.
VERMONT: On 29JUN2022, the state’s National Guard suddenly issued halt orders for its Pandemic deployments (to go into effect on 01JUL2022), Vermont National Guard video by Sergeant First Class Jason Alvarez:
VIRGINIA:
On 26JUL2022, the U.S. Navy re-issued Pandemic prevention warnings for the entire Mid-Atlantic Region.
On Naval Station Everett, in July the U.S. Navy finally established a drive through pharmacy, due to ongoing Pandemic panic-mode policies implemented back in 2020!
Washington DC: In May, Commander in Chief, U.S. President Joseph Robinette Biden Junior, hosted the Second U.S. led Global CoViD Summit, “commitments….to vaccinate the world.”:
On 16JUN2022, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken gave an update on the CoViD 19 Global Action Plan’s efforts to vaccinate the world, in conjunction with the UN-WHO:
On 17JUL2022, Commander in Chief, U.S. President Joseph Robinette Biden Junior’s White House COVID-19 Response Team claimed they “know how to manage” CoViD Omicron BA.5. Also claims that under President Trump there were limited “tools to manage” the Pandemic, but suddenly under Biden they have everything they need (note that most of the Biden Admin’s tools they mention they had under Trump!), credits vaccinations as the main tool against CoViD (again, a tool made available under the Trump Administration):
National Steel and Shipbuilding Company, San Diego, California, 10SEP1970. Photo via U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command
Tuscaloosa earned a Meritorious Unit Commendation for Operation New Life (aka Operation Frequent Winds/Fleet Wind/Helping Hand/Eagle Pull), when it escorted 26 South Vietnamese navy vessels to the Philippines in 1975.
Near Guam, November 1979, USN photo.
Aboard the floating dry dock Steadfast (AFDM-14), April 1986, USN photo.
Leaving San Diego for PacEx ’89, 18SEP1989. USN photo by Andrew Heuer.
During wargames in South Korea, March 1990. USN photo by Joe Lancaster.
This USN photo purports to show a Newport class LST taking part in Desert Shield/Storm, however, it is dated as April 1992. Desert Storm officially ended in January 1991!
USN photo by Photographer’s Mate First Class Robert S. Shanks, 18FEB1994.
LST 1187 was decommissioned, in San Diego, California, on 18FEB1994.
USN photo by Photographer’s Mate First Class Robert S. Shanks, 18FEB1994.
On death row, LST 1187 about to be towed to the killing field somewhere in the Pacific, near Hawaii, 12JUL2014. USN photo by Mass Communication Specialist First Class Charles E. White.
Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force video, 14JUL2014, P-3C Orion launches AGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missile at LST-1187:
USN video, Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC) 14JUL2014, Sinking Exercise (SinkEx):
The USN reported that LST 1187 sank about 12:15, on 14JUL2014.
F-15A number one rolled out of the Saint Louis, Missouri, factory. Notice it does not yet have the DayGlo orange paint applied. McDonnell-Douglas photo, 26JUN1972.
McDonnell-Douglas F-15A number one gets packed aboard a Lockheed C-5A Galaxy, for its trip to Edwards Air Force Base, California.
McDonnell-Douglas photo of the first flight of F-15 number one, 27JUL1972. DayGlo paint not yet applied. Notice the shape of the wings and stabilators.
The first F-15A, #71-280, unveiled publicly after its first flight, July 1972, it now has the DayGlo paint applied. It was never called the YF-15 as several interweb sites say. From the beginning it was F-15 Eagle.
USAF promotional video, by Airman First Class Moses Taylor:
71-280 F-15A number one is now serving museum duty on Lackland AFB, Texas. However, it is painted to represent a different F-15.
This B-52 is carrying a 3/8th-scale F-15A drone, back then called a Remotely Piloted Research Vehicle (RPRV), 23OCT1973. This was done to test the possibility of stall-spins, before the real F-15A Eagles began their test flights.
The 12 contractor F-15As were used in Category I pre-production T&E, the eight USAF F-15As were used in Category IIpre-production T&E. They were never officially designated as prototypes or even called YF-15 (as some online sites say), they were officially called McAir F-1 (for the F-15A single seaters) and McAir F-2 (for the TF-15 two seaters). The Category I phase was later re-named Contractor Development, Test & Evaluation, the Category II phase was renamed Air Force Development, Test & Evaluation.
Installing a F-15 style intake on a J85 nacelle. NASA photo, 1975.
Photo via Edwards AFB photo shop. NASA’s F-15A 71-287 in 1976, testing the FMD version of Pratt & Whitney’s F-100. 287 would go on to test the HIDEC system, in the early 1990s.
I took this photo with a crappy little fixed focus 110 camera, in 1977.
This photo shows a T&E Eagle (possibly number one) with the straight edged stabilators. McDonnell-Douglas photo.
This photo shows the smaller speed/dive brake of pre-production aircraft F-15A number five (71-284). It was apparently the first F-15 to get the 20mm Vulcan gun, obviously not at the time this photo was made (due to lack of gun port). McDonnell-Douglas photo.
The pre-production T&E Eagles can be distinguished from later production Eagles by the shape of the wing tips, the shape of the elevators (officially called ‘snag stabilators’) and the size of the speed/dive brake. T&E F-15As had squared-off wing tips, stabilators that did not have a ‘dog tooth’, and had a smaller more rectangular speed/dive brake. However, several T&E F-15 Eagles were quickly updated with the snag stabilators, yet retained the original wing tips and small speed brake.
This photo shows one of the T&E Eagles updated with the snaggle toothed stabilators. USAF photo via the Edwards AFB photo shop, I got it in the mid-’70s but exact date it was made is unknown.
One of the T&E F-15s transferred to NASA, with original configuration wing tips and stabilators.
For kit builders, the first issue 1:72 scale Hasegawa, Revell U.S.A. and Monogram kits were based on the Category I McAir F-1 Eagles.
They were quickly revised once the final changes were established for the production F-15s.
The same T&E F-15, with the squared-off wing tips, but it has been updated with the dog-tooth elevators. NASA photo, 24FEB1978.
Development of the F-15A actually started in the late 1960s, it was designed as a pure dog-fighter, intended to replace the F-4 Phantom-2 in that role. The design was based on U.S. air combat experience over Viet Nam, and on incorrect assumptions about Soviet fighter development, especially the MiG-25 Foxbat.
The defected MiG 25P. This is the photo that inspired the artwork on Minicraft/Hasegawa’s black bordered box issue of their MiG 25 kit, in the late-1970s.
Before the defection of a Soviet pilot in a MiG-25P, to Japan in 1976, the ‘experts’ in the U.S. Department of Defense thought the Foxbat was a dog-fighter. The MiG-25 was actually a straight line Mach 3 bomber interceptor, it carried four long range anti-bomber missiles, and had no guns. Fortunately, the incorrect assumptions resulted in a still potent modern day dog-fighter (proven by the Israeli Air Force) that has also proved it excels at other forms of aerial combat.
TF-15A #71-290. Photo via the Edwards AFB photo shop. 290’s final mission would be as the NF-15B ACTIVE in the late 1990s.
I got this photo from the Edwards AFB photo shop in the mid-1970s. It is TF-15A/F-15B 71-291, which would go on to become the ‘demonstrator’ (mock-up) of the F-15E concept.
71-291 all gussied-up for the Bicentennial in July 1976, and flying over its birthplace of Saint Louis, Missouri. McDonnell-Douglas photo by Pat McManus.
Also in 1972, a combat capable trainer version was created called the TF-15A, but it was soon re-designated F-15B. The improved F-15C single seater, and the improved F-15D two seater, were created in 1979. Visually they all look the same as the improvements are internal.
Bare metal Streak Eagle, named because it was naked, not fast. In the 1970s there was a fad called streaking, which meant you got naked and ran as fast as you could through a public gathering. The insignia on the vertical tail was removed for the high speed runs.
Between 16JAN1975 and 01FEB1975, a bare metal F-15A nicknamed Streak Eagle, broke eight time-to-climb world records. It was then donated to the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, in 1980, where it was painted to protect from corrosion:
The F-15 is used by Israel, Japan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea and the United States.
The second F-15A Eagle (71-0281) was turned over to NASA in February 1976. It was used in no less than 25 experiments which not only benefitted the USAF and NASA, but also the civilian airliner industry.
NASA F-15A #281 over the Mojave Desert, California, 03MAR1978.
This NASA F-15A Eagle was used to compare actual in-flight aerodynamic data to data collected from models in wind tunnels, 17MAY1978.
This is a NASA image showing what their proposed F-15-2D/STOL/MTD would look like, using NASA’s F-15B Eagle. The project would morph into the NF-15B ACTIVE program in the late 1990s.
Somewhere over NATO Norway, the Sun is setting on an F-4E Phantom-2, while its replacement, an F-15B Eagle flies in formation. USAF photo by Master Sergeant Edward Condon, 08MAR1982.
Potential satellite killer. An F-15 armed with the ASAT missile, sometime in 1983. USAF photo.
On Bitburg AFB, West Germany, an F-15D Eagle blows off steam, at full throttle in a ‘Baker Sound Suppressor Unit’. USAF photo by Jose Lopez Junior, November 1984.
An F-15A Eagle gets armed with an AIM-9 Sidewinder anti-aircraft missile, while taking part in wargames over Australia, 01OCT1985. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sergeant Marvin D. Lynchard.
An F-15B Eagle taxis past the then new air traffic control tower on Edwards AFB, sometime in the mid 1980s (1987?).
A pole dancing F-15C Eagle? It is mounted upside down on a pedestal at the Rome Air Development Center’s (aka USAF Super Lab) Newport, New York, test site. An external radar warning system pod mounted on the fuselage is being compared to the onboard radar warning system, 06OCT1988.
The ground attack F-15E Strike Eagle began service in 1989, however, the first production F-15E (86-183) came off the assembly line in 1986.
86-183, the first production F-15E.
At first it was just called the F-15E Dual Role Fighter, no Strike Eagle. They stenciled on the nose F-15E No. 1, to be clear that it is the first F-15E.
F-15E Strike Eagles, and a F-15C Eagle, are flanked by F-16s as they fly over burning oil wells, during Desert Storm in early 1991.
Cold War: Approximately 1947 (due to U.S. President Harry Truman’s Truman Doctrine) to 1991 (Operation Desert Storm, collapse of Soviet Union).
NASA’s HIDEC (Highly Integrated Digital Electronic Control) F-15A (NASA #835, USAF #71-287), Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards AFB, California, February 1993.
A 53rd Fighter Squadron F-15C Eagle returns to Aviano Air Base, Italy, after a No-Fly-Zone mission over Bosnia-Herzegovina. USAF photo by Technical Sergeant David Mcleod, 12APR1993.
A 10% scale wind tunnel model of the F-15E Strike Eagle, used to test the viability of ‘pneumatic forebody controls’, September 1994.
Size comparison between USAF F-15C Eagle & E Strike Eagle, and a Slovak MiG-29 Fulcrum. According to the USAF, this was the first time F-15 Eagles and MiG-29s flew together. Photo by Technical Sergeant Brad Fallin, 25MAY1996.
USAF video, by Staff Sergeant Esteban Esquivel, of Israeli F-15I Ra’am operations on Uvda Air Base, Israel, May 2017:
A Ukrainian flag behind the windshield of a California Air National Guard (CANG) F-15D Eagle, 26OCT2017. A Ukrainian General is in the front seat while a CANG Lieutenant Colonel is in the back seat, it was a flight promoting the military partnership of California and Ukraine. CANG photo by Senior Master Sergeant Chris Drudge.
Somewhere in the Middle East (South West Asia), September 2017 USAF video report about F-15E Strike Eagle operations against so-called Islamic State:
California Air National Guard (CANG) video, by Staff Sergeant Christian Jadot, of historical moment when for the first time California’s 144th Fighter Wing lands their F-15C & D Eagles on Starokostiantyniv Air Base, Ukraine, 06OCT2018 (it should be noted that it was not the first time for California to send aircraft to Ukraine, in 2011 the CANG sent F-16 Falcons):
On 04MAY2021, U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles, based on the United Kingdom, conducted an “Independence Flyover” of the tiny NATO country of Latvia. Short video of F-15E getting refueled enroute to Latvia by Technical Sergeant Emerson Nuñez:
USAF video, by Staff Sergeant Danielle Sukhlall, of Japanese F-15J Eagles operating from Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, 07JUN2021:
A November 2021 USAF promo video, by Staff Sergeant River Bruce, states the F-15 series of aircraft has a long way to go before retirement:
In January 2022, at least six F-15E Strike Eagles (from Seymour Johnson Air Base, North Carolina) were deployed to NATO Belgium, for so-called air policing missions against Russia. Video via NATO:
February 2022:
Ämari Air Base, Estonia, U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sergeant Megan M. Beatty, 01FEB2022.
At about 18:00, 09AUG2022, I noticed a lot of smoke northeast of where I live in Chubbuck, Idaho.
The fire grew as the sun went down.
It glowed through out the night. The wind was blowing north, northeast. During the night a strong windstorm blew in from the west (it was not forecasted). The next day, local news media reported the fire was located on the east side of the Fort Hall Reservation, homes were evacuated, burning at least 2-thousand-5-hundred acers (more than 1000 hectares). By the afternoon there were conflicting reports about the fire; TV news said it was under control and evacuations canceled, while newspapers reported it had re-ignited, was spreading and forcing more evacuations. I believe the newspapers because there was a sudden non-stop bucket brigade of water bomber flights from the Pocatello Airtanker Base.
Some video I made from my backyard, of Air Tractors and a MD87, flying over Chubbuck, on their way to bomb the Ross Fork Fire:
Some video I made of an Air Tractor and RJ85 being put to bed after a busy day of water bombing (they can only water-bomb during daylight):
As of 23:30, 10AUG2022, the Ross Fork Fire is still burning. The wind changed direction and kicked-up, this time we got teased with a little bit of rain. Thunderstorms are forecasted, but they’ve been bringing us more lightning than needed rain. There was also a wildfire in Power County, west of here, but it is supposedly extinguished.
The same area has a history of catching fire, July 2013:
IDAHO TRAINS KOREAN ANTI-NUCLEAR COMBAT TEAMS!
U.S. taxpayers help Ethiopia invade Korea
