U.S. Air Force Aircraft

This section covers eight aircraft "cards" — one per major airframe — covering the Air Force's primary aircraft families. The cards are entirely visual (photos plus short callouts of role, mission, and key specs).

You'll be expected to recognize and identify these aircraft by silhouette and by the role they fill in air operations. They fall into the categories below.

Aircraft categories

Fighter / Attack

Air-to-air superiority and air-to-ground attack. The fighter fleet pairs multirole stealth platforms with legacy fourth-generation fighters and the dedicated close-air-support (CAS) attacker.

• F-15 Eagle / F-15E Strike Eagle — air superiority and multirole strike.
• F-16 Fighting Falcon — multirole fighter.
• F-22 Raptor — fifth-generation air-superiority stealth fighter.
• F-35 Lightning II — fifth-generation multirole stealth fighter.
• A-10 Thunderbolt II — close air support, "Warthog."

Bomber

Long-range strategic and conventional strike.

• B-1 Lancer — supersonic, long-range conventional bomber.
• B-2 Spirit — stealth strategic bomber.
• B-52 Stratofortress — long-range, heavy bomber (in service since the 1950s).

Mobility (Airlift / Tanker)

Cargo, troop, and air-refueling capability.

• C-5 Galaxy — strategic heavy lifter.
• C-17 Globemaster III — strategic and tactical airlift.
• C-130 Hercules — tactical airlift; the workhorse.
• KC-135 Stratotanker — air refueling.
• KC-46 Pegasus — next-generation tanker.

Special Operations

• CV-22 Osprey — tilt-rotor; special ops infiltration / exfiltration.
• AC-130 Gunship — armed Hercules variants for CAS and interdiction.
• MC-130 — special-ops infiltration / exfiltration / refuel.

Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance (ISR) and C2

• U-2 Dragon Lady — high-altitude reconnaissance.
• RC-135 Rivet Joint / Combat Sent / Cobra Ball — signals intelligence.
• E-3 Sentry (AWACS) — airborne warning and control.
• E-8 Joint STARS — battle management.

Unmanned (Remotely Piloted)

• MQ-9 Reaper — strike / ISR.
• RQ-4 Global Hawk — high-altitude ISR.

Trainer

• T-6 Texan II — primary trainer.
• T-38 Talon — advanced jet trainer.

Helicopter

• HH-60W Jolly Green II — combat search and rescue.
• UH-1N Huey / MH-139A Grey Wolf — utility / security.

Aircraft cards

These are aircraft cards — one per airframe. See the images for the specific photos and callouts.