Instruct: Given a question, retrieve passages that answer the question.
Query: What was the first fighter plane in the U.S. Air Force?
The Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star was the first jet fighter used operationally by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF).[2] Designed and built by Lockheed in 1943 and delivered just 143 days from the start of the design process, production models were flying, and two pre-production models did see very limited service in Italy just before the end of World War II. Designed with straight wings, the type saw extensive combat in Korea with the United States Air Force (USAF) as the F-80.
On 21 September 1980, three F-14s from the "Kennedy" challenged eight Libyan fighters attempting to intercept a U.S. Air Force RC-135 reconnaissance plane two hundred miles from the Libyan coast. The Libyans disengaged once confronted by the U.S. fighters.
Initially, the hijackers were granted safe passage to Tunisia, but U.S. President Ronald Reagan ordered a U.S. fighter plane to force the getaway plane to land at Naval Air Station Sigonella in Italy. After an extradition dispute, Italian authorities arrested and tried the Palestinian terrorists but let Abu Abbas fly to Yugoslavia before a U.S. warrant could be served.
Early in the morning of 24 August, Turkish forces directed intense artillery fire against ISIL positions in Jarabulus while the Turkish Air Force bombed 11 targets from the air. Later that day, Turkish main battle tanks followed by pick-up trucks, believed to be carrying Turkish-backed Syrian rebels, and the Turkish Special Forces crossed the border and were joined by hundreds of Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters as the ground forces attacked the town. U.S.-led coalition planes helped the Turkish forces. This was their first co-ordinated offensive into Syria. The FSA said progress was slow because of mines planted by ISIL fighters.
The MiG-25's arrival in Japan was a windfall for western military planners. The Japanese government originally only allowed the United States to examine the plane and do ground tests of the radar and engines, but subsequently invited the U.S. to examine the plane extensively. It was dismantled for this purpose in Japan. The plane was moved by a US Air Force C-5 Galaxy cargo aircraft from Hakodate to Hyakuri Air Base on 25 September, and by this time experts had determined that the plane was an interceptor, not a fighter-bomber, which was a welcome reassurance for Japanese defence.
Brown has commanded a fighter squadron, the U.S. Air Force Weapons School, and two fighter wings. Prior to his current assignment, he served as director, operations, strategic deterrence, and nuclear integration, Headquarters U.S. Air Forces in Europe—Air Forces Africa, Ramstein Air Base, Germany. He is a command pilot with more than 2,900 flying hours, including 130 combat hours.1. May 1985 – April 1986, student, undergraduate pilot training, 82nd Student Squadron, Williams AFB, Ariz.
2. May 1986 – July 1986, student, lead-in fighter training, 434th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron, Holloman, AFB, N.M.
3. August 1986 – March 1987, student, F-16 training, 62nd Tactical Fighter Training Squadron, MacDill AFB, Fla.
4. April 1987 – October 1988, F-16 pilot, 35th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Kunsan Air Base, South Korea
5. November 1988 – April 1991, F-16 instructor pilot, wing electronic combat officer, and wing standardization and evaluation flight examiner, 307th and 308th Tactical Fighter Squadrons, Homestead AFB, Fla.
6. April 1991 – August 1991, student, U.S. Air Force Fighter Weapons Instructor Course, Nellis AFB, Nev.
7. August 1991 – August 1992, F-16 squadron weapons officer and flight commander, 307th Fighter Squadron, Homestead AFB, Fla.
8. September 1992 – October 1994, weapons school instructor, and standardization and evaluation flight examiner, F-16 Division, U.S. Air Force Weapons School, Nellis AFB, Nev.
9. October 1994 – July 1996, aide-de-camp to the Chief of Staff, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Arlington, Va.
10. August 1996 – June 1997, student, Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
11. June 1997 – September 1997, student, Armed Forces Staff College, National Defense University, Norfolk, Va.
12. September 1997 – November 1999, air operations officer, Current Operations Division, Operations Directorate, U.S. Central Command, MacDill AFB, Fla.
13. November 1999 – June 2003, F-16CJ instructor pilot and assistant operations officer, 79th Fighter Squadron; weapons and training flight commander, 20th Operations Support Squadron; operations officer, 55th Fighter Squadron; and Commander, 78th Fighter Squadron, Shaw AFB, S.C.
14. July 2003 – June 2004, National Defense Fellow, Institute for Defense Analyses, Alexandria, Va.
15. June 2004 – June 2005, Deputy Chief, Program Integration Division, Directorate of Programs, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Arlington, Va.
16. July 2005 – May 2007, Commandant, USAF Weapons School, 57th Wing, Nellis AFB, Nev.
17. May 2007 – May 2008, Commander, 8th Fighter Wing, Kunsan AB, South Korea
18. June 2008 – May 2009, Director, Secretary of the Air Force and Chief of Staff Executive Action Group, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Arlington, Va.
19. June 2009 – April 2011, Commander, 31st Fighter Wing, Aviano AB, Italy
20. May 2011 – May 2013, Deputy Director, Operations Directorate, U.S. Central Command, MacDill AFB, Fla.
21. May 2013 – February 2014, Deputy Commander, U.S. Air Forces Central Command; Deputy, Combined Force Air Component Commander, U.S. Central Command, Southwest Asia
22. March 2014 – June 2015, Director, Operations, Strategic Deterrence, and Nuclear Integration, Headquarters U.S. Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa, Ramstein AB, Germany
23. June 2015 – July 2016 Commander, U.S. Air Forces Central Command; Combined Force Air Component Commander, U.S. Central Command, Southwest Asia
24. July 2016 – July 2018, Deputy Commander, U.S. Central Command, MacDill AFB, Fla.
25. July 2018 – present, Commander, Pacific Air Forces; Air Component Commander for U.S. Indo-Pacific Command; and Executive Director, Pacific Air Combat Operations Staff, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii
The Israeli Air Force (IAF) is the second largest user of the F-16 Fighting Falcon, second only to the U.S. Air Force and its reserve components. The IAF achieved the type's first air-to-air victories when IAF pilots shot down two aircraft, a Mi-8 helicopter and a MiG-21 Fishbed fighter plane, both Syrian, in April and July 1981.
On 21 March 1973, Libyan fighter planes intercepted and fired on a U.S. Air Force C-130 conducting signals intelligence off the Libyan coast. During the encounter, two Libyan Mirage fighters signaled the C-130 to follow them toward Libya and land, prompting the American plane to take evasive action. The C-130 received cannon fire from the Libyan fighters as it fled, but was able to escape by using cloud cover. According to US officials, the American plane was never closer than 120 kilometers from the Libyan coast.
Hampton has a rich and extensive 20th-century military history — home of Langley Air Force Base, the nation's first military installation dedicated solely to airpower and the home of the U.S. Air Force's 633d Air Base Wing and 1st and 192nd Fighter Wings. Hampton has been a center of military aviation training, research and development for nearly a hundred years, from early prop planes and Zeppelins to rocket parts and advanced fighters. Its proximity to Norfolk means that Hampton has long been home to many Navy families. Together, many Air Force and Navy families in the Hampton area experienced significant losses in war and peacetime due to family members in combat and peacetime military accidents.
Upon completing pilot training, Oaks served as a fighter pilot during the Vietnam War, once being shot down over the Mekong Delta. His command positions included the 391st Tactical Fighter Squadron, Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho; 86th Tactical Fighter Wing, at Ramstein Air Base, Germany; Allied Air Forces Southern Europe, in Naples, Italy; Air Training Command, Randolph Air Force Base, Texas; and eventually, United States Air Forces in Europe, Ramstein Air Base, Germany. He also held several key planning and personnel staff positions at headquarters U.S. Air Force, The Pentagon, Washington, D.C., U.S. Air Forces in Europe. He retired as a four-star General and Commander and Chief of U.S. Air Forces Europe and NATO Central Europe in 1994 after serving 34 years.
When Soviet-backed North Korea attacked South Korea on June 25, 1950, their forces quickly routed the South Korean army which lacked tanks, anti-tank and heavy artillery. Its Air Force had 22 planes, none of which were fighters, or jets. During a Soviet boycott of the United Nations, a vote was carried without Soviet veto, to intervene in support of the South.[35] Most readily available were U.S. and British Commonwealth forces occupying Japan and the Pacific fleets. The first arrivals were fighter-bombers, which helped to repulse the Northern attack on the vital port of Pusan, the last small territory held by the South. Some strategists felt that air and battleship strikes alone could halt the invasion.[36]
After World War II the Air Force underwent several developmental stages, the first major air force modernization being performed from 1953 to 1959. Aircraft made in the West are introduced thus broaching the era of jet aviation. With the forming of first helicopter escadrille in 1954 the chopper units were also incorporated within the Air Forces branch. At the beginning of 1960s supersonic fighters were introduced, followed by intensive growth of Serbian aviation industry in that period. A number of jet planes prototypes were constructed, which served as basis for the development of training fighters and fighter aircraft, such as ”Galeb” and “Jastreb”, “G-4” and “Orao” and the most advanced fighter aircraft MiG-29 was introduced in the mid-1980s.
The 34th was activated on 17 July 2015 with plans for it to become the first combat squadron of the 388th Fighter Wing (and the first in the U.S. Air Force) to receive the Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II. The squadron was not equipped with aircraft immediately, but received its first F-35A on 2 September 2015. On 2 August 2016, the U.S. Air Force declared the 34th FS to be the first Air Force squadron to have reached initial operational capability with the F-35A.
In 2013, the USMC introduced Swedish helicopter units to the forward air control airborne mission profile for better air-ground coordination. In the same year, 60 further modified E class Gripens were ordered with the first plane to join the Air force in 2018. In April 2014, the Swedish government proposed another 10 fighters making the total order 70 planes.
On 30 May, the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence confirmed that a VC10 tanker plane, which is used for air-to-air refueling, had been sent to Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan to help support the investigations, led by the U.S. military, to determine the power of the nuclear explosion and the type of material that was used. A Ministry spokesman said: “Following the recent events in North Korea and to support the international community's efforts during this time of increased political tension, we can confirm that the UK is supporting in the associated verification efforts.” On the same day, a U.S. F-22 fighter jet arrived on Kadena Air Base, the first of twelve F-22's and approximately 280 Langley Air Force Base Airmen from the 94th Fighter Squadron, along with members of the Virginia Air National Guard's 192nd Fighter Wing, that are being deployed to Kadena Air Base as part of a theatre security package.
The airfield was used as part of the Bout One project – an emergency program to train Republic of Korea Air Force pilots to fly the F-51 Mustang fighter. The Bout One planes provided close air support to the U.S. 24th Infantry Division throughout July 1950. The Bout One force was redesignated as the 51st Fighter Squadron (Provisional) on 10 July and merged into the 12th Fighter-Bomber Squadron on 4 August.
In 1942, Washington was drafted into the United States Army for the war effort and after basic training, sent overseas as part of a racially segregated unit of the U.S. Army Air Corps unit of Engineers. After the American invasion of the Philippines in 1944, on Leyte Island and later the main Luzon island, Washington was part of a unit building runways for bombers, protective fighter aircraft, refueling planes, and returning damaged aircraft. Eventually, Washington rose to the rank of First Sergeant in the Army Air Corps (later in the war renamed the U.S. Army Air Forces).
Givens was commissioned in the Air Force as a second lieutenant upon graduating from Annapolis in 1952, and received his flight training as a student pilot at the United States Air Force Air Training Command. On August 18, he flew the T-6 Texan — the first fighter he flew with the air force — and continued to fly the plane almost every day. Givens was awarded his wings on February 4, 1953, as one of the top students. As such, he could choose the branch of the air force where he wanted to serve and chose fighter training at Williams Air Force Base in Chandler, AZ. The group commander was known to be tough on his students, and Givens chose this location so he could be formed into a great fighter pilot.
The air portion of the attack began at 7:48a.m. Hawaiian Time[16] (3:18a.m. December 8 Japanese Standard Time, as kept by ships of the Kido Butai),[88][nb 3] with the attack on Kaneohe. A total of 353[17] Japanese planes in two waves reached Oahu. Slow, vulnerable torpedo bombers led the first wave, exploiting the first moments of surprise to attack the most important ships present (the battleships), while dive bombers attacked U.S. air bases across Oahu, starting with Hickam Field, the largest, and Wheeler Field, the main U.S. Army Air Forces fighter base. The 171 planes in the second wave attacked the Army Air Forces' Bellows Field near Kaneohe on the windward side of the island, and Ford Island. The only aerial opposition came from a handful of P-36 Hawks, P-40 Warhawks, and some SBD Dauntless dive bombers from the carrier Enterprise.[nb 12]
The year of 1967 started badly for the Vietnam People's Air Force (VPAF). During the early years of the war, the rules of engagement prevented U.S. fighter-bombers from hitting North Vietnamese air bases, and that allowed North Vietnamese fighter pilots to attack American bomber formations as they were approaching their targets, thereby forcing U.S. pilots to jettison their bomb loads before they even reached their target. Then, instead of dueling with U.S. strike aircraft, North Vietnamese pilots would normally retreat to the safety of their bases. To preempt further attacks on U.S. bomber formations by the North Vietnamese Air Force, the United States Air Force became interested in luring North Vietnamese MiG fighters up against a decoy target, and shoot them down in the air using missile-armed fighter aircraft. By 1967, the North Vietnamese Air Force had become more aggressive towards U.S. strike formations, and it indicated to U.S. commanders that it was the right time to launch a decoy operation.
The Anglo-American landing in North Africa in November 1942 was the starting point for the rebirth of the French Air Force, thanks to the commitment by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, of 1,000 planes, and the French began to receive U.S.-built aircraft to replenish its squadrons. GCII/5 was the first unit organized, at first consisting of a single squadron of P-40 Tomahawk fighters acquired from the United States Army Air Forces, because of its ties to the Lafayette Escadrille in World War I. Operating from a forward base at Thelepte, Tunisia, the two squadrons of GCII/5 fought alongside American units in clearing North Africa of Axis forces in 1943.
The Peace Treaty of Paris of 1947 placed severe restrictions on all of the Italian armed forces, but then the establishment of NATO in 1949 with Italy as a founding member brought about the necessity for the modernization of all of the Italian armed forces, including the Italian Air Force. American military aid sent by the Mutual Defense Assistance Program brought about the introduction of American-made P-47 Thunderbolt and P-51 Mustang propeller-driven fighter planes. Then in 1952, the Italian Air Force was granted jet fighters for the first time, American F-84G Thunderjets and F-86D Sabre jets. Next F-84F jet fighters and C-119 Flying Boxcar transport planes were sent from the United States to the Italian Air Force. The reborn Italian aviation industry also began to develop and produce a few ingenious aircraft designs of its own, such as the Fiat G91, the Aermacchi MB-326, the Piaggio Aero P.166, and the line of Agusta-Bell helicopters.
The Swedish Air Force underwent a rapid modernization from 1945. It was no longer politically acceptable to equip it with second-rate models. Instead, the Air Staff purchased the best it could find from abroad, e.g. P-51D Mustangs, De Havilland Mosquito NF.19 night fighters and de Havilland Vampires, and supported the development of top performance domestic models. When the Saab 29 Tunnan fighter was introduced around 1950, Sweden suddenly had planes that were equal to the best of the Royal Air Force, the Soviet Union's VVS, and the U.S. Air Force.
The Air force In Vlore couldn't happen without the help of the soviet union, they were named Forcat Ushtarake Ajore Shqipetare, known as albanias people army air force. The first plane was the Yak-9 fighters donated by the soviet union. Many pilots had gone through training of the Yak-18 in the ussr and then they were taken to yoguslavia for more training of the Yak-3 planes before they were returned to Albania. The first pilot to fly in the Albanian forces is Petraq Polena born in Korca Albania. In 1955 the soviet union supplied 2 squadrons of jet fighters and with Mig-15UTI trainers. some of the aircraft are still used in today's Albania air force.
The United States military supported the Aquino government during the coup. Operation "Classic Resolve" involved the use of U.S. airpower from the aircraft carriers and , and F-4 Phantom II fighters from Clark Air Base. The U.S. Air force jets retook the skies for Aquino. The U.S. planes had clearance to "...buzz the rebel planes at their base, fire in front of them if any attempted to take off, and shoot them down if they did."