VMFA-333 Association

Su-57 Could Soon Have a Robot in the Cockpit

Russia’s new Su-57 stealth fighter is reportedly undergoing unmanned testing. The Sukhoi Su-57, codenamed “Felon” by NATO, is a large twin-engine stealth fighter in the same rough class as the U.S. Air Force’s F-22 Raptor. The claim could well be true but should be taken with a grain of salt.

According to RIA Novosti, an arm of the Russian state media services, the Su-57 is flying unmanned at an undisclosed location in Russia. Novosti cites an unmanned source that claims that the fighter is flying with a pilot, but the pilot is merely monitoring the aircraft’s systems.

Top 5 Potential New Clients For The F-35

Entering service from 2014, when the F-35B platform first joined the U.S. Marine Corps, over 3000 of the Lockheed Martin F-35 are expected to be built over a decades-long production run, and while the fighter is still far from ready for medium or high-intensity combat it has the potential to be a highly capable aircraft once current performance issues are solved. The aircraft was designed as a lighter and cheaper counterpart to the F-22 Raptor

Marines Rack Up Kills in the Air

Marines racked up kills in the air as well as on the ground.

The common image of the U.S. Marine Corps in Vietnam is a scene with Leathernecks on the ground, holding off—and beating back—a larger enemy force. But Marines in Southeast Asia who fought their country’s battles did so, as the Corps’ hymn states, not only “on land and sea” but also “in the air.”

Your Marine Corps

The force design plan has led to the Corps eliminating tanks, a future reduction in traditional tube artillery, along with a restructure of Marine Corps infantry to make it smaller, lighter, and more mobile. (Cpl. Brendan Custer/Marine Corps)

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China Shocked : F-15EX Fighter

How Powerful the New F-15EX Fighter jet.

Boeing’s F-15EX is the most cost-effective, ready, advanced solution to meet U.S. Air Force capacity requirements and add the capability to the fleet. Driven by Boeing’s active production line, the next-generation jet enables pilots and mechanics to transition in a matter of days as opposed to years while delivering unmatched total life cycle costs. The U.S. Air Force is buying brand new Eagles to fly alongside the F-22 and

the world-famous fighting shamrocks

3 Wire! Well.... Maybe

Hang on Snoopy ... Snoopy Hang On

Honor, Courage, Commitment

God, Country, Corps

Red crown, Red crown

Shamrock flight of two Fox Four's

On station fangs out

Cubi Point Flight Line

Philippines

Night Traps

Keepin' Current!

SU-30SM Improvements

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Military Watch Magazine

September-14th-2020

SU30SM heavy-weight fighter receives improvements including new engines.

The Russian Air Force is expected to induct an all-new variant of the Su-30 heavyweight fighter into service in 2021, with the aircraft based on the Su-30SM design and currently in production. The fighters are the first Su-30 variants classified as ‘4++ generation’ fighters by Russian sources and will be the first to benefit from three-dimensional thrust vectoring capabilities and to integrate new AL-41 engines - specifically the AL-41F-1S. The AL-41 has been used by the Russian Air Force for over six years, and currently powers the service's Su-35 fighters which are its only ‘4++ generation’ heavyweight fighters that are operational. The Su-30 and Su-35 are notably both based on the Su-27 Flanker airframe and have the same dimensions, although the former is considerably cheaper and has a number of disadvantages including lower use of composite materials, a higher radar cross-section, weaker engines, and a less powerful sensor suite. Equipping the Su-30 with the AL-41 engine is reportedly part of a broader effort to merge the two fighter programs - possibly in preparation for manufacturing under a single production line after 2027 under Russia’s next State Armaments Plan.

Against the MiGs in Vietnam

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By John T. Correll

October 1, 2019

In the beginning, the North Vietnamese air force was a rag-tag operation with obsolete, cast-off equipment. The first unit was formed in 1959. The first combat aircraft was a T-28 trainer whose pilot defected from the Laotian air force.The Vietnamese

Peoples’ Air Force—as it was officially called—sent pilots to the Soviet Union and China for training in MiG fighters but had no jet aircraft of its own until February 1964, when the Soviets donated 36 MiG-15s and -17s to the VPAF.

For reasons of security, the MiGs were based across the border in southern China and did not deploy to Phuc Yen Air Base near Hanoi until August 1964, after the buildup of US forces in Southeast Asia following an attack on US ships in the Tonkin Gulf.

The Genius of North Vietnam's War Strategy

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171116 warren vietnam tease wxtryz

The long-awaited airing this past September on PBS of The Vietnam War, directed by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, brought the sights, sounds, and whirlwind of emotions of the most divisive conflict in 20th century American history roaring back into the national conversation after a long hiatus. Reviewers have rightly praised the film for many things, especially its ideological evenhandedness and its careful attention to the experiences of America’s adversaries, both the handful of communists who were the chief architects of North Vietnam’s victory, and the millions of ordinary Vietnamese who served the revolutionary cause as soldiers, spies, or political cadres.

China claims F-22 and Rafale have “No Chance” against the J-20!

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July 30, 2020

Chinese state-run media is challenging the United States and India, claiming that the J-20 “stealth fighter” is more than a match for American F-22 Raptor and India’s newly-acquired Rafale.

Two articles regarding the J-20’s capabilities -posted on the same day- were featured in the South China Morning Post and the Global Times, media outlets that ultimately fall under control of the Chinese Communist Party.

While articles praising military hardware are not uncommon for any nation, the two articles regarding the Chengdu J-20 were rather pointed in their own ways.

Russia's Participation in Peacekeeping Operations

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Peacekeeping operations of the United Nations are carried out in order to prevent or eliminate threats to peace and security through joint enforcement actions when economical and political measures nature are inadequate and inefficient.

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PLA Female snipers in field operation

chinese lady snipers

Female snipers wearing Gillie suits look through rifle sights at mock targets during a tactical operation in the woods in mid-August. Assigned to a brigade under the PLA 80th Group Army, they are participating in risky subjects including long-distance raid, camouflage reconnaissance, wildness survival, and others. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Zhang Deyi)

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The State of the North Korean Military

Kim Min-Seok

The North Korean military has numerical superiority over South Korean forces, but an extended campaign would likely expose the inferior quality of many of its military forces.

by Kim Min-Seok, Published March 18, 2020

Long gone are the days of the late 1950s and 1960s, when North Korea held an economic and technological edge over its neighbor to the south, an edge that was also reflected in the military balance between the two sides.¹ Since then, economic mismanagement, the 1991 collapse of Pyongyang’s Soviet benefactor, and decades of accelerated South Korean economic growth have gradually closed and then reversed this gap. Today, the Republic of Korea (ROK) is far wealthier than the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), and this prosperity divide also has a number of military implications.²

Nguyen Van Bay and the Aces From the North

nguyen 388 The MiG-17 was flown by only a few of the North Vietnamese aces, including Bay. (NASM photo 7A33704)

Many of my trips to Vietnam have run together in my memory, including some of the 180 I made in McDonnell F-4 Phantoms during what the Vietnamese call “the American war.” But once I took in 1997 will always remain distinct. On that trip, I met North Vietnamese ace Nguyen Van Bay (pronounced “win von by”).

North Korea's Air Force: A Threat or a Total Joke?

The North Koreans have only a handful of modern aircraft—the most capable of which are Pyongyang’s fleet of 35 or so Mikoyan MiG-29 Fulcrums. Other relatively modern planes in Pyongyang’s inventory include 56 MiG-23 Floggers and 34 Sukhoi Su-25 Frogfoot close air support aircraft. However, the overwhelming majority of Pyongyang’s arsenal is made up of 1950s and 1960s vintage machines.