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Pterodactyls may have gone extinct millions of years ago, but a newly designed spy plane could bring the flying reptiles to life, albeit replacing blood and guts with carbon fiber and batteries. "The next generation of airborne drones won't just be small and silent," the design team announced recently. "They'll alter their wing shapes using morphing techniques to squeeze through confined spaces, dive between buildings, zoom under overpasses, land on apartment balconies, or sail along the coastline."

Military technology: Advances in camouflage, concealment and deception are revolutionising an age-old art of warfare AS A special-forces agent in the French Navy, Michel Malalo has clandestinely entered several African countries by sea to extract endangered French nationals. Almost all the enemy fighters he encountered carried the AK-47, a widely used assault rifle renowned for its rugged reliability. But the AK-47 has a serious drawback: glint, which gave Mr Malalo an advantage in firefights. Made with steel, the AK-47 reflects light. “It’s flashy—and from afar,” says Mr Malalo, who took advantage of glint giveaways when shooting at the enemy. Mr...

The Air Force says the first crash of a B-2 stealth bomber was caused by moisture in the sensors that forced bad readings. The moisture in 3 of the 24 sensors threw off the preflight data calibrations, which caused the flight control computer to force the aircraft to pitch-up 30 degrees on takeoff. That resulted in a stall and subsequent crash on Feb. 23. The "Spirit of Kansas," plunged to the ground at Andersen Air Force Base on the island of Guam. It was en route to Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, where the 21-plane fleet is based. The...

The Air Force and Lockheed Martin are giving a secret retirement send-off to the world's first radar-evading fighter.They were born shrouded in mystery in a windowless building in Burbank. They flew combat missions over Serbia and Iraq virtually invisible to enemy radar. And today, the black, bat-like F-117A Night Hawks will fly quietly into the night as stealthily as they came. The last four of the world's first stealth fighters will make their final flights from Palmdale to a secret desert base in Nevada, where they will be locked up indefinitely in a secure concrete hangar. But unlike the passing...

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) -- The world's first attack aircraft to employ stealth technology is slipping quietly into history. The inky black, angular, radar-evading F-117, which spent 27 years in the Air Force arsenal secretly patrolling hostile skies from Serbia to Iraq, will be put in mothballs next month in Nevada. Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, which manages the F-117 program, will have an informal, private retirement ceremony Tuesday with military leaders, base employees and representatives from Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico. The last F-117s scheduled to fly will leave Holloman on April 21, stop in Palmdale,...

PALMDALE - The once top-secret Blackbirds on display in Palmdale have a new nest mate: the F-117A Nighthawk, also known as the stealth fighter. The dart-shaped aircraft, the fourth of its kind built and used solely for testing, was moved into display position Monday at Blackbird Airpark, taking its place beside other former "black" aircraft, the SR-71 and U-2. "Look at how many black airplanes you can come see right here," said Fred Johnsen , curator of the Air Force Flight Test Center Museum, of which Blackbird Airpark is a satellite. Escorted by members of the 410th Flight Test Squadron,...

1. Four F-117A Nighthawk stealth fighters fly in formation during a sortie over Antelope Valley, California, USA. Photographer: Bobbi Zapka, Chief of Aerial Photo Department, Edwards AFB. Image ID: 070328-F-9126Z-504Link: http://www.af.mil/shared/media/photodb/photos/070328-F-9126Z-504.jpg 2. During Operation Desert Storm (1991) F-16A Fighting Falcon, F-15E Strike Eagle, and F-15C Eagle fighter jets fly over Kuwait's burning oil fields. Photographer: Tech. Sgt. Fernando Serna, USAF. Image ID: 071009-F-2911S-013. Link: http://ChamorroBible.org/gpw/gpw-20060914.htm (photo 4)

Naval warships might look like all-powerful vessels but they are also highly vulnerable to being spotted by the enemy. That fear of being detected has led the military to develop new stealth technologies that allow ships to be virtually invisible to the human eye, to dodge roaming radars, put heat-seeking missiles off the scent, disguise their own sound vibrations and even reduce the way they distort the Earth’s magnetic field, as senior lecture in remote sensing and sensors technology at Britannia Royal Navy College, Chris Lavers, explains in March’s Physics World. Wars throughout the twentieth century prompted advances in stealth...

America's entire B-2 stealth bombing fleet, which has played a crucial part in all major conflicts since 1999, has been grounded after one of the jets crashed near a military base in Guam. The crash - the first involving the £610 million plane - was the most expensive single aircraft accident in history. A senior US military source told The Sunday Telegraph that all remaining B-2 stealth bombers were on a "no-fly" order and that there would be no further take-offs until the initial investigation into the crash had been completed. Officials assume the crash was caused by either mechanical...

News just coming out (at least I could not find another report here) http://www.kuam.com/news/26596.aspx

New class of submarine all about mission of stealth The Associated Press 02.17.2008 ABOARD THE USS OHIO — Capt. Andy Hale has just worked out and is still in a sweaty T-shirt and shorts as he stands in the battle command center. He is watching a flat-screen display that shows what's happening outside on the bow and the aft. His billion-dollar submarine — the U.S. Navy's newest twist on underwater warfare — is hovering just below the surface off the Pacific island of Guam as a submersible disappears into the dark waters, carrying a team of commandos. The USS Ohio...

Boeing Plans Sixth Generation Fighter With Block 3 Super Hornet Jan 30, 2008 David A. Fulghum/Aerospace Daily & Defense Report Boeing is touting an even newer version of its F/A-18E/F Super Hornet that, paired with an advanced sixth-generation fighter in the works at the company, would give customers what Boeing deems a better package of capabilities than Lockheed Martin's combination of the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The idea is that customers could buy 4.5 generation Super Hornets (perhaps 4.75 generation with the planned extra forward stealth and extra range of Block 3 aircraft) and then switch to...

Fighter Development Program Faces Crash By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter South Korea is likely to scrap an ambitious project to build its own version of a stealth fighter as it has been assessed as nonviable economically and technically, military sources said Sunday. The fighter development program, codenamed KF-X, aims to produce a multi-role fifth-generation aircraft suited to network-centric warfare after 2020 to replace outdated F-4Es and F-5Es and to market it globally. The Korea Development Institute (KDI) concluded last month that the KF-X program would not be affordable, according to the sources. The KF-X development would cost at least $10...

07:43 pm - Wednesday Putin decided for a stealth bomber development Moscow, Russia - Latest technologies employed for its realization (WAPA) - According to several sources near Russian Kremlin, president Vladimir Putin given some time ago green light to the development of a new stealth bomber aircraft to replace and modernize the Russian air force attack aircraft fleet. Described to be smaller than the U.S. Air Force Northrop B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, this new Russian bomber, named T-60S, is currently being developed by Russian aircraft manufacturer Sukhoi, maker of the famed SU-27 "Flanker" fighter-bomber. This new aircradt will use a...

Written by CJTF-82 Operations    Wednesday, 26 December 2007 The United States Air Force unveiled their F117 Nighthawk over the skies of Iraq in 1991; it has since been joined by the B2 Spirit. Both aircraft use stealth technology intended to aid its penetration role in order to survive extremely dense anti-aircraft defenses otherwise considered impenetrable by combat aircraft. The Taliban unveiled their own “Stealth Bomber� yesterday in Jalalabad, Nangarhar as a 50 year old woman was apprehended at a security checkpoint wearing a suicide vest. Evading radar isn’t an issue for the technology eschewing Taliban, Police and security...

Pentagon Eyes High-Speed Missiles for Stealth Aircraft Dec 23, 2007 By Robert Wall and Douglas Barrie The U.S. military is increasingly interested in developing a new generation of high-speed air-to-surface missiles that could be integrated into stealth aircraft to attack an enemy’s radar sites or fleeting targets. U.S. Air Force planners are anxious about enhancements in air defense technology, worrying that as powerful computer processing becomes more ubiquitous and network cabling becomes cheaper, adversaries can link radar systems of different types to raise their chances of spotting and potentially shooting down even low-observable aircraft. Although the military is putting much...

Two homosexual groups plan to launch a national campaign targeting the most influential megachurches and its leaders in an attempt to change their views on gays and lesbians. Soulforce, which promotes "pro-gay" interpretations of Scripture, and COLAGE (Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere) are currently recruiting LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) parents and their children along with other supporters for "The American Family Outing" in 2008. Selected families will visit six major megachurches to "educate" the public on the issue of homosexuality. "Through our visibility we hope to peacefully challenge the false stereotypes about LGBT people and same-gender families,...

The US Navy's new stealth robot carrier plane is now "structurally complete", according to its maker, and is now being fitted out with subsystems while software tests begin. The Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstrator (UCAS-D) is expected to make its first flight the year after next, and its first carrier deck landing in 2011. "Once we get robust flight controls we will begin failure detection and accommodation testing, which is the real key to any unmanned aircraft," said Scott Winship, UCAS-D project chief at Northrop Grumman, talking to Flight International. Although a firm decision by the US Navy to build...

Moscow, New Delhi set to develop a fifth-generation fighter 16:14 | 21/ 11/ 2007 MOSCOW. (Yury Zaitsev for RIA Novosti) - Although the Russian Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-29 Fulcrum air-superiority fighter with a vectored-thrust engine is currently stealing the limelight at the Dubai Air Show 2007, this warplane will become obsolete in the foreseeable future. Fifth-generation fighters featuring entirely new engineering solutions will form the mainstay of national air forces in the 21st century. On November 15, Russia's Sukhoi Military Aviation Complex and the Indian Defense Ministry launched a new round of talks on developing a fifth-generation fighter. On October 18, Russian...

Visiting Sweden, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said that Sweden is one of NATO’s most important partners and is welcome as a member in the rapid reaction force, should Sweden decide to join. On Friday Morning, NATO’s Secretary General met Sweden’s Defence Minister Sten Tolgfors to discuss the situation in Afghanistan, one of the two places where Swedish troops come under NATO command as part of the ISAF force. They also discussed possible participation in NATO’s rapid reaction force (NRF), with Sweden saying a decision may be reached by the spring. Jaap de Hoop Scheffer also promised to...

Defense: Democrats are balking at a White House request to fund the refitting of B-2 bombers so they can carry bunker buster bombs. It seems they're not interested in dealing with a real threat. "The drumbeats of war are beating again, this time against Iran, and we have to step in while there is still time," moaned Rep. Jim McDermott, Democrat of Washington, said through a spokesman. "We are not authorizing Bush to use a 30,000-pound bunker buster." Rep. Jim Moran, Democrat of Virginia, said he assumes the target for the bunker busters is Iran. Expect Moran to use his...

BAE Systems' stealth ship concept to operate unmanned systems at sea By Craig Hoyle BAE Systems has revealed a conceptual design for a future stealthy naval vessel optimised for the launch, operation and recovery of unmanned systems - potentially including operational unmanned combat air vehicles - which it says could enter service in the post-2020 timeframe. Drawing heavily from the design of BAE's new Type 45 destroyer for the UK Royal Navy, the notional UXB Combatant is pictured configured with twin flight decks suitable for helicopter and unmanned air vehicle operations, including one with a variable pitch ski jump to...

/begin my translation Chinese Fighter with Stealth Feature Developed Body of Russian Sukhoi-27 used, indigenously development which took 10 years Lee Myung-jin posted: 2007.09.13 23:52 China developed Jian-10B, a first indigenously developed fighter employing stealth technology(see photo below,) and plans to unveil it in public. According to Chinese media on Sept. 13, it took 10 years to develop Jian-11B, based on Russia-made 'Sukhoi-27' fighter, which China assembles in Shenyang, Liaoning Province, since 1996. Especially, while 15 square meters of Sukhoi-27' surface can be detected by radars, only 3 square meters of Jian-11B are. Jian-11B's radar can track 20 targets...

MOSCOW: Russia unveiled on Thursday the mock-up of a pilotless bomber plane that its constructors say will be even better than the famous US stealth fighter at evading enemy radars and anti-aircraft fire. NTV television showed a full-sized model of the bat-like plane known as Skat, which means “stingray,” at an air show just outside Moscow the first public glimpse of the project run by Russia’s MiG Corporation. The aircraft has a flattened, swept-back profile reminiscent of the US air force’s stealth aircraft, with a bubble-like cockpit area, although the plane will not have a pilot, NTV reported.

The U.S. Air Force's B-2 stealth bomber would be able to attack and destroy an expanded set of hardened, deeply buried military targets using a new 30,000 pound-class penetrator weapon that Northrop Grumman has begun integrating on the aircraft. The company is doing the work under a seven-month, $2.5 million contract awarded June 1 by the Air Force's Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio. Northrop Grumman is the Air Force's prime contractor on the B-2, the flagship of the nation's long-range strike arsenal. The new Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), which is being developed by The Boeing Company, is a...

The Royal Navy has unveiled its largest and most powerful attack submarine, a month before the over-budget, overdue vessel is due be launched. Military officials say HMS Astute will be able to circumnavigate the planet without surfacing, and its nuclear reactor is designed to last for the vessel's 25-year operational life, meaning it will never need to be refueled. An artist's impression of the Astute class submarineInside the Astute class submarine

Visbys Downgraded (Source: Forecast International; issued April 26, 2007) STOCKHOLM --- The Swedish government has decided to equip its five Visby class corvettes with the South African Umkhonto-IR SAM system at a total cost of about 1 billion SEK ($148.5 million). This system is capable of engaging up to 8 targets and has a range of 12 km. Finland has also bought the system for its Hamina class missile boats and Hämeenmaa minelayers. The deal has yet to be approved by the Swedish parliament. This is about the only good news for the Visbys. Earlier this year, it was decided...

PALMDALE - Northrop Grumman Corp. will begin formal development of a new satellite communications system for the B-2 stealth bomber under Air Force approval, which was announced Wednesday. The new system ultimately will allow the bomber to send and receive battlefield information up to 100 times faster than today. The upgrades will be installed at the company's facility at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, where the bombers were built and where major maintenance and modification work continues. The system will use extremely high frequency, or EHF, satellite communication. The current system uses ultra high frequency, or UHF. "Upgrading the...

Iran said on Saturday it has started mass producing and using a stealth drone with a range of 700 kilometres (420 miles) that it claims is undetectable to radars. "We have built a drone with a more than 700-kilometre range which can collect information and shoot films," the head of the elite Revolutionary Guards, General Yahya Rahim Safavi, told Iran's Arabic-language satellite news channel Al-Alam. "The material and the shape of this drone make it undetectable for radars, so it can not be targeted," he added. "The drone has passed its experimental phase and it is being mass produced, and...

On shopping list: fighter jets with no stealth Tom Allard National Security Editor February 12, 2007 THE Super Hornet fighter jet - earmarked to be bought by the Federal Government - would be highly vulnerable against rival aircraft and air defence systems being obtained in the region, former air force officers and defence analysts say. The concerns about the Super Hornet's lack of stealth are fuelling calls for the Federal Government to reconsider its widely expected decision this month to buy 24 of the jets for up to $4 billion. The retired Air Vice-Marshal Peter Criss, air commander during the...

Iran 'taking control of Basra by stealth' By Thomas Harding in Basra Last Updated: 2:05am GMT 16/01/2007 Iranian intelligence is preparing for complete dominance of southern Iraq when the British withdraw by penetrating Basra's security network and political parties, it can be revealed. Iraqi intelligence sources disclosed to The Daily Telegraph that Iran plans to reap the huge financial rewards presented by the southern oil fields and prevent Western businesses from gaining a foothold inside Basra. British and American political and military leaders are also concerned over Teheran "giving succour" to terrorists who continue to kill troops every week. Commanders...

China’s two major fighter aircraft manufacturers, Shenyang Aircraft Corporation (SAC) and Chengdu Aircraft Industry Co. (CAC), are both working on advanced 4th-generation fighter designs that could enter the PLAAF service as early as 2015. While Shenyang has been engaged in a brand new F/A-22-class stealth fighter design known as J-12, Chengdu has been focusing its development effort on an enlarged twin-engine, stealth version of its J-10 fighter possibly designated J-13. Both development projects are believed to have benefited from Russian aviation and weapon technologies. The Chinese aviation industry began the preliminary research for China’s 4th generation fighter programme in the...

China obtained secret stealth technology used on B-2 bomber engines from a Hawaii-based spy ring in a compromise U.S. officials say will allow Beijing to copy or counter a key weapon in the Pentagon's new strategy against China. Details of the classified defense technology related to the B-2's engine exhaust system and its ability to avoid detection by infrared sensors were sold to Chinese officials by former defense contractor Noshir S. Gowadia, an Indian-born citizen charged with spying in a federal indictment released by prosecutors in Hawaii.

l: 'Camouflage CandidateClaire McCaskil' by Lawrence G. Keane, Esq. Posted Oct 20, 2006 Turning to the current midterm elections, Claire McCaskill, the U.S. Senate candidate from Missouri, is this season’s camouflage candidate stalking hunters’ and gun owners’ votes. McCaskill, who does not believe law-abiding citizens have a right to carry a firearm, is actually on the record as saying, “ It’s startling to realize this concept (right-to-carry) came within three votes of passing in the Missouri Senate. Imagine the carnage that could have been wrought by would-be Dirty Harrys…” This is not surprising coming from a candidate who believes “voters...

Scientists Create Cloak of Partial Invisibility Ker ThanLiveScience Staff WriterLiveScience.com Thu Oct 19, 11:15 AM ET Scientists have created a cloaking device that can reroute certain wavelengths of light, forcing them around objects like water flowing around boulders in a stream. To creatures or machines that see only in microwave light, the cloaked object would appear nearly invisible. ADVERTISEMENT "The microwaves come in and are swept around the cloak and reconstructed on the other side while avoiding the interior region," said study team member David Smith at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering. "So it looks as if they just...

MARINETTE, Wis. (NNS) -- Thousands looked on Sept. 24 as the Navy christened and launched the nation's first littoral combat ship, Freedom (LCS-1), at the Marinette Marine shipyard. “Just a little more than three years ago she was just an idea, now Freedom stands before us. And on this morning, we christen her, send her down the ways and get her ready to join the fleet next year,” said Adm. Mike Mullen, Chief of Naval Operations. “It comes none too soon, because there are tough challenges out there that only she can handle.” The 377-foot Freedom is capable of speeds...

Indo-Russia joint stealth fighters programme flies into turbulence Shiv Aroor Posted online: Friday, August 04, 2006 at 0000 hrs NEW DELHI,AUGUST 3: A team from Russia’s Sukhoi Design Bureau and Irkut gave a detailed classified presentation to the Defence Ministry on Thursday on its fifth generation fighter concept, but discrepancies have already begun to surface between New Delhi and Moscow over the proposed multi-billion dollar joint programme to develop and produce advanced stealth fighters for both countries in the next decade. In essence, South Block has communicated to Moscow that the Russian fifth generation fighter programme, designated PAK-FA, is already...

An unmanned aircraft made from "printed" parts rather than traditional machine-tooled components has been unveiled at the Farnborough Air Show, UK. Developed at Lockheed Martin's top-secret "Skunk Works" research facility in Palmdale, California, US, the Polecat unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is a 28-metre flying wing, weighing four tonnes. It was designed in part to test cheaper manufacturing technologies. The Skunk Works is no stranger to advanced technology: its successful designs include the ultra-high-altitude U2 spyplane, the SR71 Blackbird - a spyplane which can travel at more than three times the speed of sound - and the radar-invisible F117 stealth fighter....

Excerpt - A security researcher with expertise in rootkits has created a working prototype of new technology that is capable of creating malware that remains "100 percent undetectable," even on Windows Vista x64 systems. Joanna Rutkowska, a stealth malware researcher at Singapore-based IT security firm COSEINC, says the new Blue Pill concept uses AMD's SVM/Pacifica virtualization technology to create an ultra-thin hypervisor that takes complete control of the underlying operating system. Rutkowska plans to discuss the idea and demonstrate a working prototype for Windows Vista x64 at the end at the SyScan Conference in Singapore on July 21 and at...

Ohio State University engineers have invented a radar system that is virtually undetectable, because its signal resembles random noise. The radar could have applications in law enforcement, the military, and disaster rescue. Eric K. Walton, senior research scientist in Ohio State's ElectroScience Laboratory, said that with further development the technology could even be used for medical imaging. He explained why using random noise makes the radar system invisible. "Almost all radio receivers in the world are designed to eliminate random noise, so that they can clearly receive the signal they're looking for," Walton said. "Radio receivers could search for this...

Seizing the political opportunity created by the death of terror kingpin Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, President George W. Bush flew to Baghdad on Tuesday. Bush's trip surprised Iraqis, coalition troops and the international community. It even surprised members of his staff. Surprise has a tactical and operational virtue -- it enhances the president's security during a visit to a war zone. Surprise also provides drama, in this case media drama building on the drama of Zarqawi's demise. This is smart, strategic politics from an Administration that has all too often failed to use the power of the presidency's bully pulpit. When...

Australian Radar Researchers Seek New Design Wrinkles By David A. Fulghum, Aviation Week & Space Technology 06/01/2006 ADELAIDE, Australia - Slashing power use, eliminating clutter, gleaning more information from targets and convincing radars that they are something else - in size, shape and mission - are long-terms goals for Australian radar researchers. A key facility for developing future capabilities is the Defense Science and Technology Organization's Edinburgh-based microwave radar center of excellence. At the heart of DSTO's effort is the Australian Defense Force's choice of the Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar on its new Wedgetail airborne early warning and...

China’s military claims it has developed technology to detect U.S. F-22 jet fighters. The F-22 is the newest Air Force jetfighter equipped with radar-evading stealth characteristics. The first jets entered service last year. According to a report from a weapons research institute in China, the Chinese military has developed “a number” of technologies that can be used to detect and attack stealth jets. The U.S. military pioneered the use of stealth jets with the F-117 fighter-bomber, the B-2 strategic bomber and the new F-22. The jets use composite material and unique shapes to reduce radar signatures. "Owing to the fact...

WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- Air Force officials announced March 16 that the 131st Fighter Wing at Lambert International Airport in St. Louis will join the elite B-2 mission at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo. The announcement means the 131st Fighter Wing's Airmen will team up with the world's only B-2 long-range stealth bomber mission located at Whiteman AFB. The move will pair the 131st's Guard unit air crew, maintainers and support staff with the current active-duty B-2 unit. The 131st was selected from Air National Guard units nationwide to support the B-2s. "I am pleased that the U.S. Air Force found...

El Segundo CA (SPX) Feb 02, 2006 Northrop Grumman and the U.S. Air Force have successfully demonstrated the integration of a munition on the B-2 stealth bomber that incorporates an improved, penetrating warhead with an upgraded guidance kit. "The demonstration represents another example of our commitment to maintain the B-2's flexibility to employ a variety of advanced weapons," said Mike Galaway, director of B-2 product development and delivery at Northrop Grumman's Integrated Systems sector. "We also want to ensure that the nation's No. 1 long-range strike asset remains the most versatile and lethal bomber in the inventory."

Separation anxiety: The wall between military and commercial technology Seattle Times 01/22/06 author: Dominic Gates Last April in Everett, in a tense meeting with an investigator sent by Boeing headquarters, a small group of 787 engineers dropped a bombshell. The engineers, veterans of Boeing's work on the B-2 stealth bomber two decades ago, told investigator Rick Barreiro that technology and know-how developed for that secretive military program would be used in manufacturing the company's newest commercial jet. The engineers refused to sign forms declaring that the 787 program is free of military data. One said he feared signing would leave...

Covers come off UK spy plane By Paul Rincon BBC News science reporter The Corax, built by BAE Systems, is the UK's first pilotless stealth aircraft Images of the UK's first prototype stealth surveillance aircraft have been unveiled. The unmanned vehicle, which has been built by BAE Systems, is known as the Corax, or as the Raven. The Corax bears some resemblance to a cancelled US military spy plane called DarkStar, analysts have said. Jane's International Defence Review said the unmanned aircraft "indicated a new direction in combat vehicles for the UK's armed forces". Bill Sweetman, the magazine's aerospace and...

MARIETTA, Ga., December 15, 2005 -- Lockheed Martin’s [NYSE: LMT] F-22A Raptor, the world’s only 5th generation fighter aircraft, surpassed a monumental milestone today when the United States Air Force declared that the Raptor has reached initial operational capability. General Ronald E. Keys, Commander of Air Combat Command, made the historic announcement at Langley Air Force Base, Va., from a Raptor hangar near his headquarters. “The F-22A fulfills a long quest to bring 5th generation capabilities of stealth, supercruise, and precision to the warfighter today and for decades to come,” said General Keys in an Air Force news release. “If...

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFPN) -- With the American flag emblazoned on its underbelly, the F-117 Nighthawk with tail number 782 flies past spectators at the 2005 Edwards Open House and Air Show. About 120,000 people attended the event Oct. 22. This stealth fighter, the oldest of five prototypes, was hand made before full production of the aircraft started. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Jet Fabara) Full Story

HONOLULU - An engineer who calls himself the father of the technology that protects the B-2 stealth bomber from heat-seeking missiles has been arrested and accused of selling U.S. military secrets involving the aircraft to a foreign country, the FBI said. Noshir S. Gowadia, 61, of Haiku was arrested Wednesday. According to the FBI, Gowadia in 2002 faxed a document detailing infrared technology classified top secret by the Air Force to a foreign official. He also provided classified information to two other countries, the FBI said. The government would not identify the countries or disclose how much he allegedly received....