Category Archives: USAF

SOCOM’s Black Arrow in the Quiver

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From yesterday’s DOD/DOW contract announcements, emphasis mine:

Leidos Inc., Reston, Virginia, is being awarded a $27,202,497 fixed-price incentive (firm-target) contract modification (H9240826CE001P0001), for the procurement of All Up Rounds for the AGM-190A Small Cruise Missile program, in support of U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM). Fiscal 2025 procurement funds in the amount of $548,665; and fiscal 2026 procurement funds in the amount of $23,653,832, will be obligated at time of award. The total award amount is $24,202,497. The work will be performed in Huntsville, Alabama, and is expected to be completed by Feb. 26, 2029. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. USSOCOM, MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, is the contracting activity.

Meet the AGM-190A Small Cruise Missile

In the interest of “quantity has a quality all its own,” the AGM-190 Black Arrow SCM is almost as basic as it gets.

It weighs right at or under 200 pounds.

The above means the warhead is probably around 50 pounds, but you have to add all the kinetic energy behind it as a bonus factor. That’s more than enough to flatten a medium-sized building, sink or at least disable a patrol boat, obliterate a small bunker, destroy a SAM or radar installation in the open, get a ground kill on any size aircraft not in a hardened shelter, end any armored vehicle, et al.

It has a published 400nm range when air-launched at altitude (which means it probably goes further) using Pratt & Whitney’s proven 150-pound-thrust TJ150-7 one-stage turbojet, which is used in several target decoys (the MALD) and UAVs. 

It can be used as either pylon ordnance dropped from things such as an MQ-9 Reaper UAV, used in a roll-on/roll-off palletized Dragon Cart-style system from the back of a C/KC/AC/MC-130, and so on. It can reportedly also be launched from HIMARS, though with a shorter range.

While the actual cost-per-unit is not advertised, it is believed the Black Arrow runs somewhere in the $150-$300K (still pennies on the dollar compared to a $3M TLAM or $1M JASSM), a figure that can be whittled down through large buys.

It is known the Pentagon wants somewhere around 10,000 of these little gems, with 3,000 to start, but if you even try to apply those quantities to the $27 million award, you are looking at more like $2,500-$9,000 a pop, which is too insane to be true especally when you see P&W selling commercial TJ-150 powerpacks for $79,999 apiece, so this week’s buy is probably for a lot fewer missiles. Like for maybe the first block of 100 or 200.

AFSOC debuted the Black Arrow as Havoc Spear quietly last month during SOF Week, describing it as “a low-cost, mission adaptable, modular-design cruise missile that can be rapidly produced.”

Could prove very interesting.

A model AGM-190A small cruise missile stands on display inside Air Force Special Operations Command headquarters at Hurlburt Field, Florida, May 14, 2026.(U.S. Air Force photo by Capt. Brandon DeBlanc)

Hunter’s Fountain

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Some 85 years ago this week, the 10,000-ton Dutch Java-Pacific Lijn/VNS passenger steamer SS Jaegersfontaine pulled out of San Francisco on 10 July and, steaming West across a wide and nervous ocean, arrived a little over 8,000 miles away at Rangoon in British Burma on the 28th, making it in a handy 18-knot average.

Built in 1934 at Nederlandsche Scheepsbouw Mij NV, Amsterdam, Jagersfontein means “Hunter’s fountain.” She was a lucky ship, but it was a quirky kind of luck.

Among the accumulated cargo and passengers aboard Jagersfontein on her July 1941 trip to Rangoon were 300 young American men, most slim with sharp eyes and short hair, all civilian employees of the Central Aircraft Manufacturing Company, or CAMCO. Among them were 99 pilots and 201 assorted ground crewmen and support personnel. Nine of the latter were Chinese-American mechanics specifically recruited from New York and San Francisco’s Chinatowns and rushed through a quick school at Allison Engine Works in Indianapolis on one particular powerplant: Allison’s liquid-cooled V-1710-33 twelve-cylinder V-type 1,040 hp piston engine.

You know, the one in the P-40B Warhawk/Tomahawk IIA

Soon after making Burma, Claire Chennault’s 1st American Volunteer Group, better known as the Flying Tigers, was becoming the stuff of legend.

Claire Chennault Flying Tiger P-40 Artist Darrell Lum USAF DF-SC-84-04112

However, as it is with every irregular group on the fringes of institutionalized military logic, they soon were disbanded and absorbed by the regulars, and on 4 July 1942 the crumbs that were left became the USAAF’s 14th Air Force’s brand new 23rd Fighter Group, which, all these years later, is still around as part of the now USAF.

Based at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia, they have flown the A-10 Warthog since 1992, and recently painted one of their birds in the livery of White 48, the Panda Squadron P-40B flown by Army Air Corps Brig. Gen. David Lee “Tex” Hill, an original Flying Tiger (originally a Naval Aviator) who rolled over to the 23rd as a major in 1942 and would finish WWII with 18.25 confirmed victories, 12.25 of those carried over from the AVG.

The A-10C includes the iconic shark teeth nose art and a literal flying tiger over olive drab, a big departure from the rest of the 23rd’s gray-on-gray Compass Ghost schemes.

A heritage A-10C Thunderbolt II is positioned on the flight line at Moody Air Force Base, Ga., April 28, 2026. The aircraft now displays the distinctive Flying Tigers-inspired paint scheme applied by airmen assigned to the 23rd Maintenance Squadron. (Air Force Senior Airman Savannah Carpenter)

A heritage A-10C Thunderbolt II is positioned on the flight line at Moody Air Force Base, Ga., April 28, 2026. The aircraft now displays the distinctive Flying Tigers-inspired paint scheme applied by airmen assigned to the 23rd Maintenance Squadron. (Air Force Senior Airman Savannah Carpenter)

Ever heard a for real strafing run from a P-40?

In related news, the Soaring by the Sea Foundation jumped through a year’s worth of FAA and ATF hoops required to re-install six working M2 .50 cal machine guns into a restored Curtiss P-40N Warhawk in Flying Tigers’ Adam & Eve Squadron livery and, well, did the thing with live ammo, expending approximately 7,000 rounds across ground testing and two days of airborne firing while under the control of Lt. Col. Ray “Hollywood” Fowler, an F-16 pilot with combat tours in the sandbox.

You better believe there is video.

NASA’s (Private) F-5 Tiger Team

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In a follow-up to the 250th Color Birds of NASA post on Monday, we would be remiss not to bring up the fact that the agency has a four-plane aerial demonstration team made up of privately owned (not a misprint) F-5 Tigers.

Do what?

Current NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, 45, is a tech billionaire entrepreneur, alum of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical, a noted private pilot with 7,000 hours in over a dozen types, a commercial astronaut (via SpaceX’s Inspiration4 and Polaris Dawn, which he funded), and co-founder of “red air” defense contractor Draken International (which owns 130 jets including A-4Ks, Mirage F1s, and MiG-21s).

He’s also donated over $35 million to the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville and the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola to support youth programs.

Talk about a flight nerd!

Isaacman personally owns at least three 1970s vintage F-5s, which he recently had painted in a red-white-and-blue Freedom 250th anniversary NASA livery (with the classic NASA “worm”) and has been using them for incentive flights for agency employees as well as some remarkable flyovers that will live on in aviation art for sure. While the titles haven’t been transferred, they are under “NASA control.”

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman is seen flying his personal F-5 aircraft, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. If you look close, he is wearing a helmet with an Imperial “cog” in TIE fighter style. Photo Credit: (NASA/John Kraus)

One of NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman’s personal F-5 aircraft is seen during an employee incentive flying event, Wednesday, May 13, 2026, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Rachel Kraft, Artemis communications lead at NASA Headquarters, was flying in the back seat. Photo Credit: (NASA/John Kraus)

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman flies in his personal F-5 aircraft, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Isaacman was joined by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth in the back seat for a flight around Launch Complex 39B, the Vehicle Assembly Building, and surrounding areas at Kennedy. Photo Credit: (NASA/John Kraus)

Isaacman’s personal F-5E (FAA N591EM) is a former USAF aircraft (77-1777) registered to his investment company, JDI Holdings LLC of Easton, Pennsylvania, while two of the other NASA Tigers, N592EM (78-0803) and N593EM (79-1918), are two-seater F-5Fs also owned by JDI.

All three had been sent to the Royal Jordanian Air Force soon after construction, then were among 21 RJAF F-5E/F aircraft brought to the U.S. in 2017 by Reno-based Tactical Air Support Inc, which already had five ex-Canadian CF-5Ds at the time and has acquired more of the type since. A private red air contractor founded in 2005, TacAir uses the F-5s (and other types) to support U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force adversary contracts.

A fourth privately owned F-5 has recently joined the NASA squad in the same livery but is not a JDI-registered airframe.

The FAA currently has 37 privately-owned Tigers (two F-5As, four F-5Bs, 23 F-5Es, seven F-5Fs, and one NF-5B) active with TacAir (TASLO)/United States Aviation Museum owning 23 of those. Comanche (Maverick) Air in Houston, the second largest operator, owns four F-5Es.

The type usually runs around $1M a pop on the commercial market, making them one of the most obtainable “fast movers.” Further, the Navy still operates the type as a MiG-28-style aggressor (supported by TacAir) while some 500 T-38Cs still fly with the USAF, as we have covered recently. 

The NASA F-5 team, flying out of Andrews, made the news in their recent overflight of the National Mall on the 4th for the Freedom 250 events, although the FAA had originally frowned on the plan due to safety concerns.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman leads a flyover featuring his personally owned F-5 Tiger over the Great American State Fair, Saturday, July 4, 2026, on the National Mall in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman leads a flyover featuring his personally owned F-5 Tiger during the Great American State Fair, Saturday, July 4, 2026, on the National Mall in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Keegan Barber)

It wasn’t their first air expo, as they flew in Sun n’ Fun in Florida in April.

NASA Freedom 250 at Sun n Fun 26 over Lakeland, Florida (NASA/John Kraus)

NASA Freedom 250 at Sun n Fun 26 over Lakeland, Florida (NASA/John Kraus)

They also plan to attend four more events.

  • July 23–24: EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
  • August 23: Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C.
  • October 3–4: Pacific Air Show in Huntington Beach, California.
  • October 31–November 1: Commemorative Air Force Wings Over Houston Air Show

NASA’s 250th Color Birds

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While this weekend’s Sail4th 250 event in NYC was amazing (two-hour video here) and included over 100 companion aircraft flyovers, one of my big disappointments was that there were no full-color birds such as the military had in widespread service during the Bicentennial in 1976, when arguably the military was even more cash-strapped.

You know, like these guys:

Bicentennial VX-4 F-4 Phantom II pictured over NAS North Island.

Well, at least the NASA guys reached for the paint.

Among the 16 aircraft at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in the Mojave Desert, next to Edwards AFB, are three surplus old F-15Ds and F-18Bs used as high-altitude testbeds and chase planes for other, more experimental types, such as the X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft, providing photo and video support for the latter.

One of each of the twin-tailed Cold Warriors was recently given very patriotic Bicentennial-worthy schemes to perform the flyover of D.C. during the 250th celebration.

For reference, the two aircraft are N867NA (F/A-18B-12-MC Hornet, Lot 6, BuNo 161947, formerly of VX-23) and N885NA (F-15D-38-MC Eagle, SN 84-0045, formerly of the 433rd WPS), both circa 1984 airframes that have been much modified over the years.

AFRC2026-0146-85

NASA photographer Jim Ross flies above the Washington Monument in Washington on Saturday, July 4, 2026, in an F-18 aircraft, as part of a flyover to celebrate America’s 250th birthday. This aircraft is from NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, and it joined other NASA aircraft for the flyover. NASA Jim Ross AFRC2026-0146-90

It would be great to see these “color birds” continue to carry their schemes for the next few years and then be retired to deserving air museums as-is.

Pour one out for The Jolly J

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Exercise Valiant Shield 2026 (VS26) concluded on 1 July, stretching across the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Japan, and at sea around the Mariana Islands Range Complex.

It was an impressive assemblage of vessels, built around the GW and Kaga carrier groups with support from other Pacific allies.

Think of it as a warm-up for RIMPAC, which is just warming up.

U.S. Navy aircraft, attached to Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5, and U.S. Air Force F-35A Lightning IIs fly over U.S. Navy George Washington Carrier Strike Group as it sails in formation with Japan Maritime Self- Defense Force as part of Valiant Shield 2026 while underway in the Philippine Sea, June 21, 2026. U.S. Navy participants include Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73), Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Robert Smalls (CG 62), Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Shoup (DDG 86) and USS Benfold (DDG 65), and Virginia-class fast-attack submarine USS Minnesota (SSN 783). Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force participants include JS Kaga (DDH 184), JS Fuyuzuki (DD 118), and JS Jingei (SS 515). (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Tyler Crowley)

The big culmination of VS26 was a SINKEX of a large combatant some 200nm from Guam, in this case the retired Austin-class ‘phib ex-USS Juneau (LPD-10), which had a storied career over nearly 40 years from Vietnam to Desert Storm and has been on red lead row since 2008.

The old girl took one hell of a beating. One that the Navy, probably in some advertising to China, isn’t afraid to share. 

First up was a Guam-deployed B-2 Spirit bomber hitting her with a 2,700-pound LRASM in an ode to Billy Mitchell. While the effect isn’t seen in real time, its half-ton warhead left the 17,000-ton LPD listing and with a flooded well deck.

A U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber, assigned to the 509th Bomb Wing, deploys an AGM-158C Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) to support a live-fire sinking exercise as part of Valiant Shield 2026 over the Philippine Sea, June 27, 2026. This maritime strike in the Pacific showcased the Joint Force’s capacity for simultaneous global operations while underscoring U.S. commitment to regional security and cooperation. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech Sgt. Thomas Barley)

Juneau then caught two Australian-owned AGM-84 Harpoons from an RNZAF P-8A Poseidon of No. 5 Squadron, with the Kiwis assisted by an RAAF Poseidon and two from the U.S. Navy.

This is the first time an RNZAF Poseidon has taken part in Valiant Shield, which started in 2006 and is in its 11th iteration this year, and the first time they have used anti-ship ordnance, which were loaded at Anderson AFB in Guam.

She also suffered from ordnance delivered by Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force SH-60 maritime helicopter and Japan Air Self-Defense Force F-2 multirole fighter aircraft.

Then came the coup de grace delivered by an unnamed Japanese submarine (likely JS Jingei, SS 515). A bit of a tragic twist of fate when you consider the loss of a previous USS Juneau (CL-52), which was lost to a Japanese submarine in 1942 and carried almost all of her crew, including the five Sullivan brothers, to the bottom.

Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force submarine fires a torpedo at the decommissioned USS Juneau in support of a live-fire sinking exercise (SINKEX) as part of Valiant Shield 2026 while underway in the Philippine Sea, June 27, 2026. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Anthony Vilardi)

Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force submarine fires a torpedo at the decommissioned USS Juneau in support of a live-fire sinking exercise (SINKEX) as part of Valiant Shield 2026 while underway in the Philippine Sea, June 27, 2026. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Anthony Vilardi)

Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force submarine fires a torpedo at the decommissioned USS Juneau in support of a live-fire sinking exercise (SINKEX) as part of Valiant Shield 2026 while underway in the Philippine Sea, June 27, 2026. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Anthony Vilardi)

The Jolly J now lies with the fishes. A hard-earned rest.

Can we give it up for the Air Demonstration Teams?

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Sure, the whole thing smacked a bit of “bread and circuses,” but you have to admit the Super Delta last weekend coming over the White House was stirring.

Who doesn’t love seeing the Blues and the Birds in one 12-plane formation?

Plus, it really shows how much larger the F-18E/F is over the F-16C/D.

Via White House.

The Navy’s Blue Angels and Air Force’s Thunderbirds fly in a 12-plane Super Delta formation over the Ellipse in Washington, June 14, 2026, ahead of the UFC Freedom 250 fights at the White House. Army Sgt. 1st Class Brittany Primavera

Similarly, the RAF’s No. 1 Group Red Arrows, tooling around in little Hawk T1As, made their appearance the same weekend over St. James during the Trooping of the Colors in London.

Pictured: His Majesty the King’s Birthday flypast over Buckingham Palace. Nine Hawk jets from the Red Arrows. The King’s Birthday Parade, also known as Trooping the Colour, is a celebration of the monarch’s official birthday in the United Kingdom.  

The Arrows have been active since 1964, making them much newer than the Blues (formed in 1946, flying F6F Hellcats) or the Birds (1953).

Speaking of demonstration teams, the Italian Frecce Tricolori (313° Gruppo Addestramento Acrobatico), which are three years older than the Arrows (they flew F-86 Sabres when formed), were recently in action over Rome with their Aermacchi MB-339-A/PAN trainers to celebrate the Festa della Repubblica.

I had just stayed in an Airbnb at the Argentina ruins, watching cats sunbathe, while in Italy visiting Benelli (more to come on that very soon!), and was sad I missed them.

Meanwhile, the Hawk Mk 132-borne Suryakiran Aerobatic Team of the Indian Air Force’s No. 52 Squadron just celebrated its 30th, and they look great.

Sadly, the RCAF’s Snowbirds, officially known as the 431 Air Demonstration Squadron, are hanging it up after 55 years as they retire their Cold War-vintage CT-114 Tutors in November.

They are supposed to be back in some form, possibly in 2030, with new Pilatus PC21s, but you know how the Labor government is with Defense spending, so don’t hold your breath.

They have like 20 more shows this season, including some in California, New York, and Ohio. After that, it will be the end of an era either way.

Pour one out for the Snows, fellas, and try to catch an airshow near you this summer. Take a kid or grandkid or three. They’ll love it.

Magazine Depth Concerns are Real

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Pushing 15 weeks into Operation Epic Fury, with over 1,000 TLAMs, 1,100 JSSAMs, and 1,400 Patriots burned up (and more launching every day), coming on the heels of firing untold SM-2/3/6s expended during Operation Prosperty Guardian to counter 470 Houthi/Iranian recorded one-way drone events, 70 ballistic missiles, and 155 multi-use drone sorties in the Red Sea, not to mention $61 billion in military aid to Ukraine, you have to worry just how empty is the Arsenal of Democracy.

The Center for Strategic & International Studies has done the open-source math and has the tally sheets.

It is not good, but there should still be a good bit left, and, on the bright side, if nothing else happens in the next four or five years, and expanded production goals on these extremely complex devices that require advanced chips, exceptionally skilled labor, and clean rooms are met, the numbers should return to pre-OEF levels.

Fingers crossed.

Here’s to 2031 without a war.

The full report here. 

The M39 Revolver Cannon, Spoils of War

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Don’t let anyone tell you that a revolver is too slow. Besides blisteringly fast Single-Action shooters like Bob Munden and the iconic Jerry Miculek, there’s the M39 cannon.

We stumbled upon a great static training layout for the gun system of an F-101 Voodoo fighter at the Pima Air & Space Museum in Arizona while visiting the amazing facility.

That gun?

The M39 autocannon.

The system.

M39 cannon
What could go wrong? (All photos unless noted: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

It had a single barrel with a five-chamber cylinder that revolved at the six o’clock position parallel to the bore. Think S&W J-Frame on steroids with rounds that were more the size of a Red Bull can rather than .38 Specials.

M39 cannon
Note the revolving cylinder, about the size of a desk garbage can. 

Gas-operated with a piston that ejected the spent casing from one of the cylinder’s chambers while a spring-loaded rammer slid a new cartridge into an open chamber on each right-hand rotation, the gun was capable of firing 1,500 rounds per minute.

M39 cannon
20mm shells were fed via a link-less hopper system from the magazine down to the loading drum behind the cylinder. 
M39 cannon
Then you have all of the assorted relays, solenoids, gun camera, sight, and spaghetti wiring to link it all together and make it work. Remember, this system first flew in combat in 1952, just five years after the transistor was invented, and back when a big-screen TV had a 17-inch screen. 
M39 cannon
And it is all connected back to the stick in the cockpit. Flip the switch. Press the button. Briefly. Get out of the way of the debris. 

Backstory

The M39 had its roots in an experimental German Mauser 20mm MG213C revolving cannon design following World War II. To the victors go the spoils, boys!. A captured gun (No. V6/10) was rebuilt by the U.S. Naval Gun Factory in 1946, and a second, third, and fourth rebuild, all with evolving modifications, became the experimental U.S. T74 cannon.

These images of the MG213 and T74 via Chinn.

Via The Machine Gun History, Evolution, and Development of Manual, Automatic, and Airborne Repeating Weapons by Lt. Col. George M. Chinn, USMC, Prepared for the Bureau of Ordnance, Department of the Navy, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1951, unclassified July 1970 (Public domain)
Via The Machine Gun History, Evolution, and Development of Manual, Automatic, and Airborne Repeating Weapons by Lt. Col. George M. Chinn, USMC, Prepared for the Bureau of Ordnance, Department of the Navy, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1951, unclassified July 1970 (Public domain)
Via The Machine Gun History, Evolution, and Development of Manual, Automatic, and Airborne Repeating Weapons by Lt. Col. George M. Chinn, USMC, Prepared for the Bureau of Ordnance, Department of the Navy, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1951, unclassified July 1970 (Public domain)
Via The Machine Gun History, Evolution, and Development of Manual, Automatic, and Airborne Repeating Weapons by Lt. Col. George M. Chinn, USMC, Prepared for the Bureau of Ordnance, Department of the Navy, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1951, unclassified July 1970 (Public domain)
Via The Machine Gun History, Evolution, and Development of Manual, Automatic, and Airborne Repeating Weapons by Lt. Col. George M. Chinn, USMC, Prepared for the Bureau of Ordnance, Department of the Navy, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1951, unclassified July 1970 (Public domain)

The American M39 first flew in combat during the latter part of the Korean War as the T160 gun system in the “GunVal” program, which saw four such guns installed in modified F-86F Sabres. The guns had 460 rounds of ammunition, enough for about 4.5 seconds of fire. Each gun weighed 162 pounds.

The system, as installed on a Gun Evaluation (GunVal) F-86F-2, in 1952:

M39 cannon
(Graphic: August 1953 USAF Air Proving Ground Command report, declassified in 1979)

Vetted in combat, the guns were then first installed in production fighters starting in 1954 with the improved F-86H, which carried four M39s with 600 rounds of ammunition.

M39 cannon
The circa 1955 F-86H Sabre at Pima. Note the two forward cannon slots by the air intake. Two more are on the other side of the fuselage, leaving the pilot sitting over four 20mm cannons and 600 rounds of ammo. This particular F-86 remained in the New Jersey Air National Guard until 1965, when it was sent to the boneyard.

Ultimately, more than 35,000 M39s would be produced, and it was the standard gun not only for the F-86H but also the F-100 Super Sabre, F-101A/C Voodoo, and F-5/E Freedom Fighter/Tiger fighters, as well as the B-57B bomber.

While made by several companies over the course of two decades, the primary vendor for production was Pontiac. Yes, the car company.

While replaced in U.S. service with the six-barreled M61 Vulcan Gatling Gun, which fires the same ammunition up to four times faster while offering more longevity (M39s had to have their single barrel replaced after just 4,000 rounds), the old cannon is still in use with a few remaining F-5E operators, such as Brazil, South Korea, and Thailand.

Plus, the Philippine Air Force has recycled M39s out of old F-5s for use as towed ground support weapons, which is just awesome.

M39 cannon
Remember, at heart, it is just a big wheel gun! (Photos: Philippine Air Force).​​​

Looking back at Sandy and the 602nd

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Below, we see Sandy at work, just 60 years ago.

U.S. Air Force Douglas A-1G (AD-5N) four-seat night attack Skyraider (ex-Navy BuNo 132619) nicknamed “Carolyn’s Folly” from the 602nd Fighter Squadron (Commando), call sign Firefly, flying out of Bien Hoa AB, South Vietnam, seen escorting an HH-3C Jolly Green Giant rescue helicopter during a Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) mission in 1966.

Note the ‘Raiders” jolly roger. VIRIN: 100426-F-1234S-004

This circa 1952 aircraft began service in the Navy and was noted aboard USS Hancock (CV-19) on 21 August 1958 with VA(AW)-35 Det. D before transfer to the USAF. Struck off charge at NAS Alameda on 29 October 1964 after a 12 year Navy career, 132619 was transferred to the USAF– one of 330 Skyraiders to the Air Force including the A-1E, G, H, and J models. After flying with the 602nd and later the 1st ACS/SOS, 132619 was transferred to the South Vietnamese Air Force’s 516th Squadron in February 1971 when the USAF divested themselves of the type.

She was one of the rare ex-USN Raiders that survived USAF service in Southeast Asia, with more than 200 lost across 90,000 combat sorties in their nine-year (1963-72) stint

The aircraft is available as a Scalemates decal set.

The 602nd (designated a Special Operations Squadron in 1968) alone amazingly had 140 different AH-1E/G/H/J Skyraiders pass through their hands during Vietnam between 1964 and December 1970.

Here are a few.

USAF A-1E Skyraider (s/n 52-133885) of the 602nd Air Commando Squadron flies over a fortified hamlet in Vietnam, in 1964. In 1964-1965, USAF aircraft in Vietnam often flew with Vietnamese markings due to political reasons. This aircraft was shot down over Laos on 15 February 1966. U.S. Air Force photo scanned from Dana Bell: Air War over Vietnam. Volume IV. (Warbirds Illustrated 26). Arms and Armour Press, London 1984, p. 38, ISBN 0853686351.

USAF A-1E Skyraider (s/n 52-132423) of the 602nd Air Commando Squadron escorts a Sikorsky HH-3C Jolly Green Giant, in 1966. 132423 was shot down by small arms fire 40km north-west of Sam Neua, Houaphan Province, Laos on 6 July 1966. The pilot, Capt. J.R. Crane was able to fly about 30km north of Udorn, Thailand, and bailed out. He was rescued by a USAF helicopter. USAF Museum Photo  101117-F-1234S-104

USAF A-1E Skyraider (s/n 52-132425) of the 602nd Air Commando Squadron in South Vietnam, January 1966. Note the Douglas C-47 and the Grumman HU-16 Albatross in the background. 132425 was shot down by ground fire near Na Pho, Khammouan Province, Laos, on 19 April 1966. The pilot, Capt. Richard J. Robbins, was killed. National Museum of the U.S. Air Force photo 051123-F-1234P-016

U.S. Air Force “Tropic Moon I” Douglas A-1E Skyraider (s/n 52-135195) of the 602nd Special Operations Squadron in flight with a Low-Light-Level-Televison (LLLTV) pod on the left wing, 1 June 1968. This aircraft was later shot down on 11 February 1970 while in service with the 22nd SOS. The pilot, Colonel William L. Kieffer, was killed.

A U.S. Air Force Douglas A-1H Skyraider (s/n 52-134555) of the 602nd Special Operations Squadron sits on the ramp at Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base (“NKP”), Thailand, circa in 1968. This was the first USAF A-1H to be named “The Proud American”. 134555 was operated by the U.S. Navy until 9 January 1968. It was then transferred to the USAF, where it operated with the 602nd, 22nd, and 1st SOS before being transferred to the Vietnam Air Force. Here it operated with the 515th and 518th Fighter Squadrons until it was lost on 3 April 1972. 221109-F-IO108-002

U.S. Air Force “Tropic Moon I” officers and airmen of the 602nd Special Operations Squadron at Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base on 1 June 1968, showing the Low-Light-Level-Televison (LLLTV) pod on the wing of one of the four Douglas A-1E Skyraiders that made up the unit (s/n 52-135177, -135187, -135195, -135211).

USAF HC-130P Combat King recovery aircraft refuels a Sikorsky HH-3E Jolly Green Giant of the 40th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron in flight near Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand, between 10 and 23 February 1969. Visible are another HH-3E and two Douglas A-1 Skyraider (A-1H 135314, A-1J 142023) of the 602nd Special Operations Squadron. The A-1H 135314 was later shot down by ground fire near Ban Na, Laos, on 18 June 1971 while in service with the 1st SOS. The pilot was killed. The A-1J 142023 was shot down by ground fire over Laos on 1 March 1969. The pilot was killed. 342-C-KE-60922

USAF A-1H Skyraider (s/n 52-139778, “Bubbles’n Bust”) of the 602nd Special Operations Squadron on final approach before landing at Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand, 15 March 1970. NARA 176246880

The Air Force lost 102 pilots, killed, while flying A-1s in combat with USAF Skyraider drivers earning two Medals of Honor, 14 Air Force Crosses, and many other awards for valor.

The two Skyraiders in the collection the National Museum of the Air Force, Bu Nos. 132649 and 134600 are both former Navy planes that served with the 1st Special Operations Squadron during Vietnam.

Of note, 649 was the aircraft that Major Bernard Fisher earned his MoH in in 1966, having rescued a fellow pilot shot down over South Vietnam by landing in enemy territory under heavy fire and personally flying him to safety.

Douglas A-1E Skyraider Bu No. 132649 at the National Museum of the United States Air Force. A 1952 Navy plane, she was struck off at Alameda in April 1964 and transferred to the USAF, serving with the 1st ACS in Vietnam. (U.S. Air Force photo 071030-F-1234S-020)

The aircraft on display represents Captain Ronald Smith’s A-1H The Proud American (Serial Number 52-139738) as it appeared during his SAR mission in June 1972 as part of the 1st Special Operations Squadron, Nakhon Phanom (NKP) Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand. Captain Smith was awarded the Air Force Cross for the rescue of a downed F-4 Phantom crewman near a North Vietnamese airfield. The Proud American had a long and storied record in Southeast Asia. Although many pilots flew the plane, it is renowned for three separate episodes: Lt Col William Jones’ Medal of Honor mission in 1968, Capt Ronald Smith’s Air Force Cross mission in June 1972, and for being the last US Air Force A-1 lost in combat in Southeast Asia in September 1972. This aircraft (U.S. Navy BuNo 134600) was modified and painted by the Museum’s Restoration Division to represent Capt Smith’s Air Force Cross aircraft and placed on display at the National Museum of the Air Force in 2022. It was part of OPERATION FARM GATE and flown by the South Vietnamese Air Force from 1965 to 1975. (U.S. Air Force photo 221114-F-AU145-1305 by Ty Greenlees)

Spitfire at 90

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Sporting a pale blue-grey commonly called “French Grey” that was arrived at by adding blue pigment to a grey enamel base, Supermarine F.37/34 fighter prototype serial K5054 made its first flight on 5 March 1936 under the controls of test pilot Capt. Joseph “Mutt” Summers, CBE.

Prototype Spitfire K5054 Air Historical Branch-RAF MOD

After several minor tweaks and a new and improved prop, K5054 reached 348 mph in level flight in mid-May, then Summers flew K5054 to RAF Martlesham Heath and handed the aircraft over to Squadron Leader Anderson of the Aeroplane & Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) where it led to the Spitfire with the Air Ministry placing an inital order of 310 aircraft for roughly £9,500 a pop on 3 June 1936– while A&AEE was still working on its final report!

The first production Spitfire, K9787, rolled off the Woolston, Southampton assembly line in mid-1938, and ultimately 20,351 Spitfires were produced over the next 10 years in 24 main “Marks” (variants).

No less than 341 Allied pilots (including 16 Americans) gained “ace” status at the controls of a Spit during WWII.

Flight Lieutenant W.H. Pentland, of No. 417 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force, awaiting start-up in his Supermarine Spitfire Mark VC (s/n BR195 ‘AN-T’) at Goubrine, Tunisia, in May 1943. Other aircraft of the squadron are lined up alongside. Royal Air Force official photographer, Woodbine G (F/O) IWM TR 861

The type remained, impressively, in front-line service until at least 1961, when it was retired by the Irish Air Corps at a time when jet fighters were entering their third generation.

The Imperial War Museum’s painstakingly built “99 percent accurate” circa 1993 flying replica of K5054 has been making rounds on a two-week tour of the country but has recently returned to Duxford, just in time to celebrate the Spitfire’s 90th birthday.

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