Top 7 Badass Planes of the US Military

the top seven badass planes of the US military [Music] there is little in the world that can match this simultaneous awesomeness and mystery of a badass plane these are the Paragon of modern innovation yet largely pass invisibly above us they decide battles and Wars yet only a few lucky soldiers get to see them blah blah blah words let's look at some incredible machinery [Music] seven Lockheed Martin f-35 lightning ii love it or hate it and there are plenty on both sides the f-35 is the biggest and most important military aircraft program in the world today first conceived in the Joint Strike Fighter program in 1992 the f-35 entered service in 2015 those serious technical problems remain including issues with the stealth coating and night-vision cameras the f-35 is a multi-role aircraft to replace the aging fleets of f-16s f-18s a-10s and av-8b s unlike them it has the advantage of stealth and advanced sensors an impressive helmet-mounted display not only replaces the traditional heads-up display projected on the canopy to show speed fuel and other data but provides infrared imagery at all angles so the pilot can see through the aircraft the f-35 can act as a mobile sensor package spotting targets and handing off data to less capable aircraft around it boosting their effectiveness the f-35 successfully conducted its first airstrikes in Iraq bombing Isis tunnels is not a true test of modern aircraft though and whether the world's first trillion dollar program pays off remains to be seen six Lockheed Martin f-22 Raptor the first fifth-generation fighter aircraft the f-22 is a stealthy air superiority aircraft able to cruise at supersonic speeds with a fearsome load of advanced weapons to many it is still the greatest air-to-air combat vehicle ever devised the f-22 was the product of the advanced tactical fighter program to replace the f-15 in the 1980s and eventually entered service in 2005 it was built with two key capabilities in mind one was super cruise being able to travel at high speeds for extended periods not just in short bursts like the f-15 the other was stealth the f-22 is all but invisible to radar so it can spot and engage enemy aircraft long before they ever realize it's their rising production cost meant that numbers of f-22 were strictly limited and plans to acquire 750 f-22s were soon scaled back and only 187 operational aircraft were built while there are some concerns over having such a small elite fighter force nobody doubts the f-22s capability five Boeing b-52 Stratofortress 64 years after it entered service the venerable b-52 is the most numerous aircraft in the US Air Force bomber fleet having outlasted aircraft meant to replace it often called the buff big ugly fat fellow is the polite version the b-52 was designed in the depths of the Cold War as a nuclear bomber it had the range to carry atomic warheads deep into the heartland of the USSR originally intended for high-altitude flight it was modified for low-level operations when flying under the radar it became essential another shift produced the big bellied b-52 for conventional bombing carrying 84 500-pound bombs internally and 24 750 pound bombs on wing pylons formations of b-52s wrought havoc in Vietnam with mass raids the b-52 has a unique arrangement of eight engines and four pods all attempts to replace these with four new engines have been rejected and a forthcoming upgrade will retain the eight engine configuration the b-52 is still going strong with no sign of giving up and some predict it will keep flying for a hundred years for McDonnell Douglas f-15 Eagle introduced in 1976 the f-15 was meant to be an unbeatable air superiority fighter and it delivered its record in combat of over a hundred kills with no losses is unrivaled the twin-engine Eagle combines agility with speed reaching Mach 2.5 at high altitude it's equally capable of losing long-range Amram missiles guided by its powerful a n apg-63 radar or mixing it up in dogfights with short-range Sidewinders the f-15s potential for the ground attack was later exploited in the f-15e Strike Eagle variant this uses the plane size and power to halt an impressive load of precision bombs the basic design has proven so strong that even 40 years on the Eagle continues to be effective with the f-15se silent eagle stealth variant and the f-15 ex advanced eagle threatening to undercut the advantages of more modern aircraft three rockwell b-1 lancer more commonly known as the bone from b1 the b1 has battled through a storm of criticism and program cancellations to become a key element of the US air force's strategic bomber force conceived the 1970 as a mach 2 high-altitude nuclear bomber to replace the b-58 hustler and b-52 the b1 was cancelled in 1977 but resurrected in the 80s due to delays in the more advanced b-2 spirit the new version was optimized for low-level under the radar incursions at subsonic speeds the B one has a combat radius of 3,000 miles without refueling and carries a phenomenal 125,000 pounds of bombs the most of any bomber after the start agreement of 1995 the B one's nuclear capability was removed and it was retasked as a purely conventional bomber equipped with this sniper targeting pod the b1 was able to carry out precision strikes in Iraq and more recently enacted as an aerial cruise missile carrier in strikes against Syria now the agm-158 see long-range anti-ship missile could give the b1 a new maritime strike role sinking vessels from outside the range of air defenses [Music] two lockheed c-130 hercules in service since 1956 the four-engined c30 or Herc is still the definitive rugged tactical transport it is operated from unpaved runways and every theater of operation from Vietnam onwards the ac-130 gunship version aka spooky mounts an array of weapons including a 105 millimeter howitzer the biggest gun on any modern aircraft as well as rapid firing 40 millimeter and 25 millimeter cannons in 2017 the c-130 took on an unlikely new role dropping the outsize Moab massive ordnance air blast or mother of all bombs the largest bomb ever used in action on an Isis tunnel complex in Afghanistan it may be an old plane but the c-130 is still full of surprises one fairchild republic a-10 Thunderbolt - better known as the Warthog for its looks the a-10 is a slow low-tech aircraft weighed down by armor plate and armed with a giant gun it looks more steampunk than 21st century but the a-10 is a battle proven veteran that's won the hearts of the foot soldiers at support if not Air Force generals who have repeatedly tried to retire it the a-10 was introduced in 1977 as a straight forward tank buster to prevent massed Soviet armoured divisions from overrunning Europe it would survive by staying low executing brief pop-up attacks and with built-in protection including a titanium bathtub that encloses the pilot proof against 23 millimeter anti-aircraft cannon fire for armament in addition to a respectable bomb load the a-10 has the mighty 30 millimeter gau-8 avenger a 7 barrel Gatling gun firing 70 armor-piercing rounds a second the cannon takes up one sixth of the a-10s weight credited with destroying 987 Iraqi tanks in the 1991 Gulf War and doing more damage to Iraqi ground forces than all other Allied aircraft combined the a-10 has since been upgraded to deliver smart bombs and remains the close support aircraft par excellence [Music] [Music] you

Channel: undefined

Views: 2,669,169

Rating: 4.8074698 out of 5

Keywords: Badass Plane, Badass Planes, U.S. Military, badass military planes

Id: PU_OxwH1guM

Length: 10min 55sec (655 seconds)

Published: Fri May 01 2020