The 24 Coolest Military Birds In Flight Right Now

[longknife]

Geoffrey Ingersoll Aug. 15, 2013, 4:52 PM

Every now and then it's necessary to put a quick list of cool things together.

Today, it's military birds from around the globe.

And they could be cool for whatever reason: stealth, long range, armaments, maneuverability or ... Rule #1: Looking Cool.

By far, my favorite:

Read more: The 23 Coolest Military Birds In Flight Right Now - Business Insider

 

[daveman]

Got a soft spot in my heart for the Warthog and the F-16, informally named the Viper. Was stationed at a couple Viper bases, and my first duty station had a few A-10s.

Was wicked watching the Warthogs strafe the bombing range practice target. If they fired far enough away, you'd hear the sound of the rounds ripping through the air before you heard the sound of the cannon firing.

 

[Mr. H.]

F-16 hands down the baddest, most versatile, upgradable, multi-mission warbird.

 

[daveman]

F-16 hands down the baddest, most versatile, upgradable, multi-mission warbird.

And it's a damn pretty airplane.

 

[Mr. H.]

F-16 hands down the baddest, most versatile, upgradable, multi-mission warbird.

And it's a damn pretty airplane.

Evil stepson was awarded a ride in an F-16 a few years ago. He said it was a trip.

 

[daveman]

F-16 hands down the baddest, most versatile, upgradable, multi-mission warbird.

And it's a damn pretty airplane.

Evil stepson was awarded a ride in an F-16 a few years ago. He said it was a trip.

Schweeeet! I'm envious.

Although incentive rides aren't always so much fun. My neighbor at Eielson AFB in Alaska was an F-16 crew chief and earned an incentive flight. Him and the pilot are up over Alaska tooling around, and the pilot puts the throttle in afterburner. There's a loud bang and the jet starts losing altitude. Pilot pulls back the throttle and they limp back to base.

Turns out the afterburner section of the engine blew off. Everything after the final turbine stage is completely missing. Pilot said if he'd known that was what happened, they'd have punched out.

 

[SteadyMercury]

F-16 hands down the baddest, most versatile, upgradable, multi-mission warbird.

I'd give this to the F-15E, easily.

Sure it is a newer and a lot more expensive but I'm not sure there is a single thing an F-16 does better than an F-15E, plus the F-15E can carry more of the very latest armament like JSOW, JASSM, etc.

 

[Zona]

Since this is my old squadron, I am partial to F-14's. Piece of crap broke all the damn time but we kicked everyone's ass and I wouldn't have traded that squadron or that bird for anything!

 

[asterism]

The A-10 sounds like a giant fart when firing.