Mitsubishi F-15J

The F-15J was introduced into the Air Self-Defense Force in Japan, manufactured and licensed with the MHI as the primary contractor. Originally designed as the U.S Air Force Fighter strictly for air-to-air use, the F-15 Eagle aircraft has become a family with multiple mission variants, upgrades and export versions. It was developed by McDonell Douglas with it's first flight in 1972. Beginning in 1981 there has been a total of 199 units, including the F-15DJ's manufactured and delivered to the Air Self-Defense Force in Japan.

The Mitsubishi F-15J or DJ Eagle is a twin-engine, all weather interceptor fighter that was produced under license with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. Other than combat, the F-15DJ is also used for training while the F-15 Kai is the mordernized version of the F-15J.

The F-15J is identical to the F-15C/Ds aside from EMC, radar warning system and nuclear equipment. The engine is Pratt and Whitney F100 turbofan which IHI Corporation produced under license.The F-15J have been equipped with the Japanese built AAM-3 missile. Improvements included an up-rated central computer, engines, armament control set and added J/APQ-1 countermeasure set.

Variants

• F-15J  - single seat fighter version of JASDF. 139 built under license in Japan by Mitsubishi 1981-1997, two built-in St.Louis.
• F-15DJ - two seat training version of the JASDF. 12 built-in St.Louis, and 25 built under license in Japan by Mitsubishi during 1981-1997
• F-15J Kai - the F-15Js that have been modernized for the JASDF. There is no official name for this particular variant but it has been referred to as the F-15 Kai (Kai means 'modified') by the Japanese media. 

SPECIFICATIONS:  
General characteristics

• Crew: 1: pilot
• Length: 63 ft 9 in (19.43 m)
• Wingspan: 42 ft 10 in (13.05 m)
• Height: 18 ft 6 in (5.63 m)
• Wing area: 608 ft² (56.5 m²)
• Empty weight: 28,000 lb (12,700 kg)
• Loaded weight: 44,500 lb (20,200 kg)
• Max. takeoff weight: 68,000 lb (30,845 kg)
• Engine: 2 × Pratt & Whitney F100-100 or -220 after-burning turbofans 
• Dry thrust: 17,450 lbf (77.62 kN) each
• Thrust with afterburner: 25,000 lbf for −220 (111.2 kN for −220) each
• Fuel capacity: 13,455 lb (6,100 kg) internal

Performance

• Maximum speed: High altitude: Mach 2.5+ (1,650+ mph, 2,660+ km/h) | Low altitude : Mach 1.2 (900 mph, 1,450 km/h)
• Service ceiling: 65,000 ft (20,000 m)
• Rate of climb: >50,000 ft/min (254 m/s)
• Wing loading: 73.1 lb/ft² (358 kg/m²)
• Thrust/weight: 1.12 (−220)

Armament

• Guns: 1× 20 mm M61 Vulcan
• Hard-points: provisions to carry combinations of: | Missiles : 1) Mitsubishi AAM-3 2) Mitsubishi AAM-4 3) Mitsubishi AAM-5 4) AIM-9 Sidewinder 5) AIM-7 Sparrow | Other : Mk 82 General Purpose Bomb, CBU-87 Cluster bomb

Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II

The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II consists of a family of single seats, single engine and it’s main role as a stealth multi-role fighters under development to undergo ground attack, reconnaissance and air defense missions.

The Lockheed Martin F-35 was designed to be the ultimate answer to the future multi-role fighter requirements. Built in 3 variants, the manufacturer could build over 3,000 of these aircraft, with a high production rate designed to minimize costs. But, as the testing continues on the aircraft, questions mount as to whether the Lightning II will give a promising delivery.

The F-35 redefines fighter aircraft, surpasses all expectations and is getting progressively cheaper. Though some experts say that the F-35 is fundamentally flawed on several levels, over budget, performing poorly and already proving that it cannot meet all promises that have been made.

The F-35 offers a wide range of advanced technologies to meet a number of mission roles. Multiply this by 3 variants and a range of requirements, the result would be a very complex aeroplane. The Lightning II's cockpit on the other hand is nothing short of revolutionary. A large liquid-crystal color display dominates the cockpit. This aircraft has been designed to be extremely simple and user-friendly.

'Finger on glass' brings the pilot everything from navigation and threat warnings to target designation and ordnance display. The most amazing feature is the 80 x 20 in-touch-screen. Lockheed Martin preferring this approach for a quick decision-making compared to voice-control.

SPECIFICATIONS: 
General characteristics

• Crew : 1
• Length : 51.4 ft (15.67 m)
• Wingspan : 35 ft (10.7 m)
• Height : 14.2 ft (4.33 m)
• Wing area : 460 ft² (42.7 m²)
• Empty weight : 29,300 lb (13,300 kg)
• Loaded weight : 49,540 lb (22,470 kg)
• Max takeoff weight : 70,000 lb (31,800 kg)
• Power plant : 1 × Pratt & Whitney F135 afterburning turbofan
• Dry thrust : 28,000 lbf (125 kN)
• Thrust with afterburner : 43,000 lbf (191 kN)
• Internal fuel capacity : 18,480 lb (8,382 kg)

Performance

• Max speed : Mach 1.6+ (1,200 mph, 1,930 km/h) (tested to Mach 1.61)
• Range : 1,200 nmi (2,220 km) on internal fuel
• Max G-limits : 9 g (4.6 g in a sustained turn)
• Service ceiling : 60,000 ft (18,288 m) (tested to 43,000 ft)
• Rate of climb : classified (not publicly available)
• Wing loading : 107.7 lb/ft² (446 kg/m²; 526 kg/m² loaded)
• Thrust/weight : With full fuel: 0.87 | With 50% fuel: 1.07
• Combat radius : 401 kg/m²

Armament

• Guns : 1 × General Dynamics GAU-22/A Equalizer 25 mm (0.984 in) 4-barreled gatling cannon, internally mounted with 180 rounds
• Hard-points : 6 × external pylons on wings with a capacity of 15,000 lb (6,800 kg) and two internal bays with two pylons each for a total weapons payload of 18,000 lb (8,100 kg) | Missiles: Air-to-air missiles : 1) AIM-120 AMRAAM 2) AIM-9X Sidewinder 3) IRIS-T 4) MBDA Meteor (pending further funding) | Air-to-surface missiles : 1) AGM-88 AARGM 2) AGM-158 JASSM 3) Brimstone missile / MBDA SPEAR 4) Joint Air-to-Ground Missile 5) Storm Shadow missile 6) SOM | Anti-ship missiles : 1) JSM 2) LRASM  | Bombs: 1) Mark 84, Mark 83 and Mark 82 GP bombs 2) Mk.20 Rockeye II cluster bomb 3) Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser capable 4) Paveway series laser-guided bombs 5) Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) 6) JDAM series 7) B61 nuclear bomb 8) AGM-154 JSOW

Avionics

• Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems AN/APG-81 AESA radar
• Lockheed Martin AAQ-40 E/O Targeting System (EOTS)
• Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems AN/AAQ-37 Distributed Aperture System (DAS) missile warning system
• BAE Systems AN/ASQ-239 (Barracuda) electronic warfare system
• Harris Corporation Multifunction Advanced Data Link (MADL) communication system

Lockheed U-2 (Dragon Lady)

"Dragon Lady" also known as the Lockheed U-2, was built and designed in complete secrecy at Lockheed's "Skunk Works" by a team directed by Clarence L. "Kelly" Johnson in Burbank, Calif. This aircraft which is operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) and previously flown by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is a single-engine, high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft. Dragon Lady provides all-weather intelligence gathering during the day and night at a very high-altitude. Other than that, it has also been used for electronic sensor research, satellite calibration, and communications purposes.

SPECIFICATIONS:  

Armament: None 

Engines: General Electric F118-GE-101 turbofan engine 

Maximum speed: 500 mph 

Range: 6,405 miles 

Service ceiling: Plus 70,000 ft. 

Span: 103 ft.

Length: 63 ft. 

Height: 16 ft. 

Weight: 40,000 lbs. loaded 

Crew: One

During the Cold War, the U-2 Dragon Lady has prominently featured in several events, at stages of which U-2's frequently overflew the Soviet Union, North Vietnam, the People's Republic of China, and Cuba. It has remained in service since the end of the Cold War. The U-2 Dragon Lady is also one of several aircraft types that the USAF operated in excess of 50 years. It has took part in conflicts such as Afghanistan and Iraq, and supported various multinational NATO operations. The alternative platforms  increasingly performed the role of the U-2, such as surveillance satellites, unmanned reconnaissance drones such as the Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk, and conventional aircraft.

In a non-military role, the Lockheed U-2 has seen servicing with NASA as the ER-2 research aircraft. Despite its advanced age, due to its ability to perform direct flights to reconnaissance targets on short notice, the Lockheed U-2 Dragon Lady remains in service. This aircraft avoided the fate of retiring - some efforts for to retire existed in 2006 - due to the lack of an aircraft with similar capabilities. The USAF announced in 2009, that it intended to retain the U-2 through 2014 while working to develop the unmanned RQ-4 Global Hawk as a replacement. The aircraft on display is the last U-2A built.

Lockheed CP-140 (Aurora)

Originally designed for anti-submarine warfare (ASW), the Lockheed CP-140 or also known as "Aurora", is an aircraft based on the Lockheed P-3 Orion air-frame combined with the avionics of the S-3 Viking. This aircraft is a four-engine turboprop, long-range maritime patrol aircraft built by Lockheed Corporation for the Royal Canadian Air Force. According to the Greek mythology, Aurora is the Greek goddess who restored Orion's eyesight. Aurora also refers to the Aurora Borealis which is the "northern lights" that are prominent over northern Canada and the Arctic Ocean.

SPECIFICATIONS:
Armament: Sonobuoys, Forward-looking Infra-Red Camera (FLIR), magnetic anomaly detector, electronic support measures, fixed 70mm camera, hand-held camera, night vision goggles, gyrostabilized binoculars Mk 46 Mod V torpedoes, signal chargers, smoke makers, illumination flares, and may be fitted with air-to-surface missiles.
Engines: Four Alison T-56-A-14-LFE turboprop engines
Maximum speed: 466 mph
Range: 5,758 miles
Service ceiling: 35,000 ft.
Span: 99 ft. 8 in.
Length: 116 ft. 10 in.
Height: 33 ft. 9 in.
Weight: 142,000 lbs. loaded
Crew: 2 Pilots, 1 Flight Engineer, 4 Navigators, 4 AESOPs
Serial number: 140101-140118

In the early 1980's, in replacing the CP-107 Argus,  the Lockheed CP-140 Aurora was acquired. This is to further support Canada's anti-submarine warfare mission obligations for the northwest Atlantic sector which is under NATO. Since the end of the Cold War, Aurora had been used primarily by providing an all-weather mission surveillance platform in coastal surveillance and sovereignty patrols. Before that, the short deployments to Adak - Alaska, Kaneohe Bay - Hawaii, Keflavik - Iceland, St Mawgan and Kinloss - the United Kingdom and Andoya - Norway were the norm.

The Lockheed CP-140 Aurora is frequently used to search out illegal fishing, immigration, drug trafficking and polluting along the coastline. It is also used to search for violations of Canadian territorial sovereignty above and below the ocean’s surface. With its air-droppable survival pods, it can perform search and rescue duties or also known as SAR. Two Auroras flew missions over flood-ravaged southern Manitoba during the Red River Flood of 1997. The operation is known as Operation Assistance. Auroras were also employed in Operation Apollo in the Persian Gulf from late 2001 to mid-2003. In the international campaign against terrorism, 500 air patrol sorties flew as part of Canada’s role. Patrols of the Canadian Arctic continue to take advantage of the airframe's unique abilities through all this.

Sukhoi Su-30MKM

The Sukhoi Su-30MKM (Modernizirovannyi Kommercheskiy Malaysia – Modernized Export Malaysia) was selected by the Royal Malaysian Air Force and signed a contract in August 2003 when President Vladimir Putin came for an official visit to Malaysia. The Sukhoi Su-30MKM is very much like with the Sukhoi Su-30MKI, with its outer features similar to the Sukhoi Su-30MKI and it is more advance than the Sukhoi Su-35 and Sukhoi Su-37, this aircraft is much likely to be the highlight of all three aircrafts.

   

Sukhoi Su-30MKM was designed based on the Sukhoi Su-30MKI which was developed by the Sukhoi Design Bureau. Its air-frame,engines and advanced digital fly by wire system are the same as the Sukhoi Su-30MKI. The only difference is the composition of the on-board avionics.

SPECIFICATIONS: 
General characteristics

• Crew : 2
• Length : 21.935 m [72.97 ft]
• Wingspan : 14.7 m [48.2 ft]
• Height : 6.36 m [20.85 ft]
• Wing area : 62.0 m² [667 ft²]
• Empty weight : 18,400 kg  [40,565 lb]
• Loaded weight : 24,900 kg [54,895 lb]
• Max takeoff weight : 38,800 kg [85,600 lb]
• Power plant : 2 x Lyulka AL-31FP turbofans with thrust vectoring, 123 kN with afterburner [27,600 lbf] each.

Performance

• Max speed : 2,120 km/h [1,317 mph] at altitude 1,350 km/h [839 mph] near ground level.
• Range : 3,000 km at altitude 1,270 km near ground level with no external fuel tanks.
• Endurance : 3.75 hours [up to 10 hours with in-flight refueling]
• Service ceiling : 17,300 m
• Rate of climb : >300 m/s
• Wing loading : 401 kg/m²
• Thrust/weight : 1.1      

Armament

• Guns: 1 × 30 mm GSh-30-1 gun (150 rounds)
• Hardpoints: 12 (2 × wing-tip AAM launch rails, 6 × pylons under-wing, 2 × pylon under-engine nacelle, and 2 × pylons in tandem in the "arch" between the engines. It can be increased to 14 using multiple ejector racks. with a capacity of 8 tonnes of external stores.

Air-to-air Missiles:

• • 10 × R-77 (AA-12) active radar homing medium range AAM
    • 6 × R-27ER (AA-10C) semi-active radar guided, long range AAM
    • 6 × R-27ET (AA-10D) Infrared homing extended range version, long range AAM
    • 2 × R-27R (AA-10A) semi-active radar guided, medium range AAM
    • 2 × R-27T (AA-10B) infrared homing seeker, medium range AAM
    • 6 × R-73 (AA-11) short range AAM
    • 3 × Novator KS-172 AAM-L
    • 4 × MBDA MICA (unknown variant) short to medium range AAM

Air-to-surface Missiles:

• • 3 × Kh-59ME TV guided standoff Missile
  • 3 × Kh-59MK active radar homing anti-ship missile
  • 4 × Kh-35 anti-ship missile
  • 6 × Kh-31P/A anti-radar missile
  • 6 × Kh-29T/L laser-guided missile and provisions to carry combinations of:
• Rockets:
  
  • 4 × S-8 rocket pods (80 unguided rockets)
  • 4 × S-13 rocket pods (20 unguided rockets)
• Bombs:
  
• 8 × KAB-500L laser-guided bombs
• 3 × KAB-1500L laser-guided bombs
• 8 × FAB-500T unguided bomb
• 28 × OFAB-250-270 unguided bombs
• 32 × OFAB-100-120

Lockheed SR-71 (Blackbird)

Created by Kelly Johnson, the Lockheed SR-71 also known as the "Blackbird" or "Habu", was developed as a black project from the Lockheed A-12 reconnaissance aircraft in the 1960's by Lockheed and its Skunk Works. It was an advanced, long-range, Mach 3+ strategic reconnaissance aircraft which was designed as a high-speed high altitude aircraft, providing pre-attack and post-attack reconnaissance. During reconnaissance missions the SR-71 operated at high speeds and altitudes to allow it to out race threats. If a surface-to-air missile launch was detected, the standard evasive action was simply to accelerate and out-fly the missile.

SPECIFICATIONS: 
Armament: None
Engines: Two Pratt & Whitney J58s of 32,500 lbs. thrust each with afterburner
Maximum speed: Plus 2,000 mph
Range: Plus 2,900 miles
Service ceiling: Plus 85,000 ft.
Span: 55 ft. 7 in.
Length: 107 ft. 5 in.
Height: 18 ft. 6 in.
Weight: 170,000 lbs. loaded
Crew: Two
Serial number: SR-71A: 61-7950 to 61-7955, 61-7958 to 61-7980 | SR-71B: 61-7956 and 61-7957 | SR-71C: 61-7981

Constructed of 93% titanium alloy and composites, it produces original stealth technology. The application of a special paint giving it a higher thermal emissivity when cruising at high Mach. The paint also contains tiny iron balls that dissipates electromagnetic radiation. The paint alone adds over 60 lbs to the jet.  In order to match the strength of the aircraft's titanium structure; special fuels, hydraulic fluids, electronics, and glass had to be developed. The Blackbird was both a miracle of design and of production. The reasons behind this is due to its performance had to overcome not only the sound barrier, but also the heat barrier. The  skin temperature of the craft exceeded 1,050 °F.

The USAF tried retiring the Blackbird in 1987, since the SR-71 fleet was so expensive to maintain. The SR-71 program was completely shut down with its first official retirement in 1989. The requirement of expedited reconnaissance became clear during the 1993 conflict in Middle East which lead to the re-examination of SR-71 program by congress. The renewal of the Blackbird fleet was the result from the congress.  Due to this, the Blackbird project was finally (and permanently) retired in 1998. Two last flying Blackbirds were given to NASA which flew until 1999. All but two SR-71’s (the ones given to NASA) are now in museums for people to see.