ISAF - AIR COMMAND

AIR COMMAND, THE AIR SERVICE BRANCH OF NATO. ONE OF THE THREE UNIFORMED SERVICES OF THE UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL. AIR COMMAND ARTICULATES ITS CORE MISSIONS AS AIR SUPREMACY, GLOBAL INTEGRATED INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE AND RECONNAISSANCE, RAPID GLOBAL MOBILITY, GLOBAL STRIKE, AND COMMAND AND CONTROL. CONSISTING OF FIGHTERS, ATTACK, BOMBERS, ROTARY, TRANSPORT, INFORMATION, SURVEILLANCE, RECONNAISSANCE AND UNMANNED AIRCRAFT. SOAR, ITS SPECIAL AVIATION UNIT, WHICH STANDS FOR SPECIAL OPERATIONS AVIATION REGIMENT.

FIGHTER AIRCRAFT

F/A-37 RAPTOR

RAPTOR, A SINGLE-SEAT, TWIN-ENGINE SCRAM JET, ALL-WEATHER TACTICAL STEALTH FIGHTER AIRCRAFT. THE AIRCRAFT WAS DESIGNED AS AN AIR SUPERIORITY FIGHTER, BUT ALSO INCORPORATES GROUND ATTACK, ELECTRONIC WARFARE, AND SIGNALS INTELLIGENCE CAPABILITIES.

F-35 EAGLE

EAGLE, AN AERIAL SUPREMACY FIGHTER. THE DEGREE TO WHICH A SIDE IN A CONFLICT HOLDS CONTROL OF AIR POWER OVER OPPOSING FORCES. THERE ARE LEVELS OF CONTROL OF THE AIR IN AERIAL WARFARE. CONTROL OF THE AIR IS THE AERIAL EQUIVALENT OF COMMAND OF THE SEA.

E/A-33 HAWK

HAWK, A CARRIER-BASED ELECTRONIC WARFARE AIRCRAFT. THE HAWKS ELECTRONIC WARFARE CAPABILITY IS ITS PRIMARILY OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE WEAPONRY.

F/A-31 TALON

TALON, THE SHORT TAKE-OFF AND VERTICAL LANDING (STOVL) FIGHTER VARIANT. THE TALON SACRIFICES ABOUT A THIRD OF THE A VARIANT'S FUEL VOLUME TO ACCOMMODATE THIS CAPABILITY. UNLIKE OTHER VARIANTS, THE HAWK HAS NO LANDING HOOK. THE "STOVL/HOOK" CONTROL INSTEAD ENGAGES CONVERSION BETWEEN NORMAL AND VERTICAL FLIGHT. THE F-35B IS CAPABLE OF PERFORMING VERTICAL AND/OR SHORT TAKE-OFF AND LANDING.

A-15 VIPER

VIPER, A SINGLE-SEAT, TWIN-TURBOFAN, STRAIGHT-WING, SUBSONIC ATTACK AIRCRAFT. DESIGNED TO PROVIDE CLOSE AIR SUPPORT (CAS) TO FRIENDLY GROUND TROOPS BY ATTACKING ARMORED VEHICLES, TANKS, AND OTHER ENEMY GROUND FORCES; IT IS THE ONLY PRODUCTION-BUILT AIRCRAFT DESIGNED SOLELY FOR CAS. ITS SECONDARY MISSION IS TO DIRECT OTHER AIRCRAFT IN ATTACKS ON GROUND TARGETS, A ROLE CALLED FORWARD AIR CONTROLLER-AIRBORNE.

BOMBER AIRCRAFT

B-1 RAIDER

RAIDER, ALSO KNOWN AS THE STEALTH BOMBER, IS A HEAVY STRATEGIC BOMBER, FEATURING LOW-OBSERVABLE STEALTH TECHNOLOGY DESIGNED TO PENETRATE DENSE ANTI-AIRCRAFT DEFENSES. A SUBSONIC FLYING WING WITH A CREW OF TWO. THE BOMBER CAN DROP CONVENTIONAL AND ELECTRONIC ATTACK WEAPONRY. THE B-1 IS THE ONLY ACKNOWLEDGED IN-SERVICE AIRCRAFT THAT CAN CARRY LARGE AIR-TO-SURFACE STANDOFF WEAPONS IN A STEALTH CONFIGURATION.

B-3 STRIKER

STRYKER, A STEALTH, SUPERSONIC VARIABLE-SWEEP WING, HEAVY BOMBER. ONE OF THREE STRATEGIC BOMBERS SERVING IN AIR COMMAND ALONG WITH THE B-1 RAIDER AND THE B-5 PIERCER.

B-5 PIERCER

PIERCER, A MEDIUM- TO LONG-RANGE PENETRATION BOMBER AIRCRAFT DESIGNED TO DROP LARGE AMOUNTS OF AIR-TO-GROUND WEAPONRY ONTO A DISTANT TARGET FOR THE PURPOSES OF DEBILITATING THE ENEMY'S CAPACITY TO WAGE WAR.

B-7 DARKSTAR

DARKSTAR, A LONG-RANGE, HIGH-ALTITUDE, MACH 3+ STRATEGIC SRIKE AIRCRAFT.

TRANSPORT AIRCRAFT

T-55 VULTURE

VULTURE, A LARGE MILITARY TRANSPORT AIRCRAFT. PROVIDES NATO WITH A HEAVY INTERCONTINENTAL-RANGE STRATEGIC AIRLIFT CAPABILITY, ONE THAT CAN CARRY OUTSIZED AND OVERSIZED LOADS, INCLUDING ALL AIR-CERTIFIABLE CARGO. THE VULTURE HAS MANY SIMILARITIES TO THE SMALLER T-51 PEGASUS AND THE T-50 PELICAN. THE VULTURE IS AMONG THE LARGEST MILITARY AIRCRAFT IN THE WORLD.

T-51 PEGASUS

PEGASUS, A STEALTH, VERTICAL TAKEOFF AND LANDING TRANSPORT AIRCRAFT. CAPABLE OF USING UNPREPARED RUNWAYS FOR TAKEOFFS AND LANDINGS. ORIGINALLY DESIGNED AS A TROOP, MEDICAL EVACUATION, AND CARGO TRANSPORT AIRCRAFT. THE VERSATILE AIRFRAME HAS FOUND USES IN OTHER ROLES, INCLUDING AS A GUNSHIP FOR AIRBORNE ASSAULT, SEARCH AND RESCUE, SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH SUPPORT, WEATHER RECONNAISSANCE, AERIAL REFUELING, MARITIME PATROL, AND AERIAL FIREFIGHTING.

T-50 PELICAN

PELICAN, A MEDIUM, MULTI-MISSION, STEALTHY TRANSPORT, WITH BOTH VERTICAL TAKEOFF AND LANDING (VTOL) AND SHORT TAKEOFF AND LANDING (STOL) CAPABILITIES. IT IS DESIGNED TO COMBINE THE FUNCTIONALITY OF A CONVENTIONAL HELICOPTER WITH THE LONG-RANGE, HIGH-SPEED CRUISE PERFORMANCE OF A TURBOPROP AIRCRAFT.

ROTARY WINGED AIRCRAFT

U/H-1 VALOR

VALOR, THE VALOR IS A TILT-ROTOR AIRCRAFT. MEDIUM-LIFT UTILITY MILITARY HELICOPTER. A UTILITY TACTICAL TRANSPORT AIRCRAFT SYSTEM.

M/H-3 VANTAGE

VANTAGE, A TWIN-BLADE, TWIN-ENGINE, HEAVY-LIFT UTILITY MILITARY HELICOPTER. A UTILITY TACTICAL TRANSPORT AIRCRAFT SYSTEM.

S/H-5 VIGILANT

VIGILANT, A TWIN-BLADE, TWIN-ENGINE, LIGHT-LIFT UTILITY MILITARY HELICOPTER. A UTILITY TACTICAL TRANSPORT AIRCRAFT SYSTEM.

A/H-7 VIGOR

VIGOR, A TWIN-TURBOSHAFT ATTACK HELICOPTER WITH A PUSHER PROP TAIL. A TANDEM COCKPIT FOR A CREW OF TWO. IT FEATURES A NOSE-MOUNTED SENSOR SUITE FOR TARGET ACQUISITION AND NIGHT VISION SYSTEMS. IT IS ARMED WITH A 30 MM (1.18 IN) M230 CHAIN GUN CARRIED BETWEEN THE MAIN LANDING GEAR, UNDER THE AIRCRAFT'S FORWARD FUSELAGE, AND FOUR HARD-POINTS MOUNTED ON STUB-WING PYLONS FOR CARRYING ARMAMENT AND STORES, TYPICALLY A MIXTURE OF AGM-114 HELLFIRE MISSILES AND HYDRA 70 ROCKET PODS. THE VIGOR HAS SIGNIFICANT SYSTEMS REDUNDANCY TO IMPROVE COMBAT SURVIVABILITY.

UNMANNED AIRCRAFT

UM-21 STINGRAY

STINGRAY, A HIGH-ALTITUDE LONG ENDURANCE UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE. TOGETHER WITH ITS ASSOCIATED GROUND CONTROL STATION, THE SYSTEM IS INTENDED TO PROVIDE REAL-TIME INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE AND RECONNAISSANCE MISSIONS (ISR) OVER VAST OCEAN AND COASTAL REGIONS, CONTINUOUS MARITIME SURVEILLANCE, CONDUCT SEARCH AND RESCUE MISSIONS.

UM-15 GHOST

GHOST, A HIGH-ALTITUDE, REMOTELY-PILOTED SURVEILLANCE AIRCRAFT. THE GHOST PROVIDES A BROAD OVERVIEW AND SYSTEMATIC SURVEILLANCE USING HIGH-RESOLUTION SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR (SAR) AND ELECTRO-OPTICAL/INFRARED (EO/IR) SENSORS WITH LONG LOITER TIMES OVER TARGET AREAS. IT CAN SURVEY AS MUCH AS 40,000 SQUARE MILES (100,000 KM2) OF TERRAIN PER DAY, AN AREA THE SIZE OF SOUTH KOREA OR ICELAND.

UM-9 REAPER

REAPER, AN UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE (UAV) CAPABLE OF REMOTELY CONTROLLED OR AUTONOMOUS FLIGHT OPERATIONS. PROVIDING CLOSE AIR SUPPORT AND SURVEILLANCE FOR THE TROOPS ON THE GROUND.

SUPPORT AIRCRAFT

AWACS

AWACS, AN AIRBORNE EARLY WARNING AND CONTROL (AEW&C) SYSTEM IS AN AIRBORNE RADAR SYSTEM DESIGNED TO DETECT AIRCRAFT, SHIPS, VEHICLES, MISSILES, AND OTHER INCOMING PROJECTILES AT LONG RANGES AND PERFORM COMMAND AND CONTROL OF THE BATTLE-SPACE IN AN AIR ENGAGEMENT BY DIRECTING FIGHTER AND ATTACK AIRCRAFT STRIKES.