With the box office record of the sequel to “Defender”, the U.S. Navy and Air Force set up recruitment offices in movie theaters 36 years ago, but it also made many viewers wonder which military service the movie pilots belong to, and why do naval ships have air force fighter jets? This article will introduce the protagonist unit, the United States Naval Air Force.
The Naval Air Force is older than the Air Force
The earliest Naval Air Force was first founded by the British Royal Navy and the French Navy in 1910. Britain and France successively set up their own naval flight schools and began to train pilots to take off and land on ship decks. The Naval Air Force was formally established in 1912, and the Marine Corps Air Force was established in 1913.
Although it was established a little later than the United States Army Air Forces in 1907, the United States Air Force did not become an independent service until 1947 after the end of World War II, so the Naval Air Force was formed 35 years earlier than the Air Force.
The Naval Air Force is the fourth largest air force in the world
The United Kingdom’s International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) estimates that the U.S. Naval Air Force will have a total of 2,626 aircraft by 2021, behind the U.S. Air Force at 5,217, the Russian Air Force at nearly 4,000 and the Chinese Air Force at 3,010. In addition to various training aircraft in Nevada and Florida, Divided into nine carrier air wings (Carrier Air Wing), rotated among 11 aircraft carriers.
At present, the main air force of the Naval Air Force is the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighter attack aircraft. Fighter F8U Crusader, the third-generation F-4 Phantom II, and the first retired fourth-generation F-14 Tomcat after the sixth main fighter, and the fifth The generation F-35B/C fighters have entered service, and will be paired with the F/A-18E/F as the dual main force of Hainan Airlines in the future.
Also because of the strong strength of the Naval Air Force, many netizens joked that the biggest opponent of the US Air Force is neither the Russian Air Force nor the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, but the US Navy.
Aviation History Classics: The F-14 Tomcat
▲ The previous generation of the main F-14D fighter of the U.S. Naval Air Force. (Source:U.S. Navy photoPublic domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
“Defender” released in 1986, the main fighter of the Naval Air Force is the F-14A Tomcat that many aviation fans will never forget. Flying, the fourth-generation fighter that was commissioned in 1974, adopts a unique variable swept wing design, which can be swept back at high speed and unfolded at low speed.
However, the F-14A’s variable swept wing design keeps maintenance costs high, and the Pratt & Whitney TF30 engine is not in good condition, especially in the low-altitude and low-speed range, which is prone to the problem of poor air intake and flameout. Quite dangerous, so the Navy replaced the exotic F110 engine in the 1990s and launched the F-14B and an improved version of the F-14D with digital cockpit and avionics.
After the Cold War, the Pentagon believed that the F/A-18C/D Hornet fighters with high availability and low cost could save more money, and decided to replace the F-14D with an improved version of the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. painting.
The F-14 retired in 2006, nine years earlier than the Navy estimated in 2015, to the dismay of many aviation fans.
All-rounder: F/A-18 Hornet Family
▲ The protagonist of this movie is the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighter. (Source:Service Depicted: NavyCamera Operator: TSGT ROB TABOR, USAF, derivative work LämpelPublic domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
The F/A-18’s predecessor, the YF-17, was developed by McDonnell Douglas and Northrop Grumman to compete with General Dynamics’ YF-16 in the U.S. Air Force’s LightWeight Fighter program (LWF), and the F-15 heavy duty Combination of fighter jets, after the Air Force chose the YF-16, the US Navy also looked for a twin-engine version of a light fighter to match with the F-14, so the YF-17 was improved to become the F/A-18 Hornet fighter.
According to the Navy’s plan, McDonnell Douglas and Northrop Grumman will develop two versions of the F-18 for air superiority and the A-18 for ground attack, but the development process found that the two functions can coexist. After the successful test flight, the Navy changed the number to F. The /A-18 also integrates the original aircraft squadron number VF (Fighting Squardon) and the attack aircraft VA (Attack Squardon) into the Strike Fighter Squardon (VFA), reflecting the multi-functional characteristics of the Hornet.
The F/A-18 is the first fighter in the world that does not need to replace hardware and software, and can switch the air/ground mode only through avionics operation. The pressure on the ship’s logistics is greatly reduced, and the use flexibility is also higher. The range and load capacity are not as good as the F-14, but the F/A-18’s high angle of attack and low-speed range maneuverability is extremely good, which is quite beneficial in dogfights.
In the late 1990s, funding was cut, the Navy’s new A-12 attack aircraft plan was cancelled, and the F/A-18E/F plan was to enlarge the fuselage to increase the range and payload to make up for the attack aircraft’s energy, but design problems, E/F version Roll rate and air resistance are worse than the C/D version, but the more powerful thrust, avionics and AESA radar still give the E/F a more powerful line-of-sight air combat capability.
At present, the Navy is developing the F/A-XX program of the sixth-generation fighter, and it is expected to replace the F/A-18E/F in the 2030s, and become the two main types of the Navy along with the F-35B/C.
▲ The F-35C will gradually become the main force of the US Naval Air Force. (Source:U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Kelly M. AgeePublic domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
▲ The sixth-generation F/A-XX aircraft currently under development will allow the U.S. Navy to regain the powerful air superiority capabilities of the F-14 era, paired with the versatile F-35. (Source:Wikipedia）
TOP GUN: U.S. Navy Strike Fighter Tactical Guidance Program
The title “Top Gun” of “Defender” comes from the Strike Fighter Tactics Instruction Program (SFTI) established by the US Navy in 1969, and the students are nicknamed Top Gun.
During the Vietnam War, the U.S. military believed that missiles would be the guarantee of victory in air combat, so the new F-4 Ghost II fighters were not equipped with cannons. However, in the 1960s, the accuracy and hit rate of missiles were not ideal, and they were often forced into entanglement by the North Vietnamese MiG-21. In 1969, the Navy established the SFTI program to retrain pilots in close combat combat.
Interestingly, although “Defender” was released in 1986 and influenced many young people to join the Navy or Air Force and want to become pilots, there were many technical inaccuracies in the film. Former SFTI instructor Guy “Bus” Snodgrass (Guy “Bus” Snodgrass) In an interview with the media, he said that in order to maintain the professional image of naval pilots, if anyone mentions the film in the SFTI course, a fine of $5 will be imposed for one time, to ensure that the students can clearly distinguish the gap between the film and reality.
Real-life pilot callsigns aren’t as cool as movies
Movie protagonists Tom Cruise, Fang Kemo, Miles Taylor, Monica Barbaro and others all have cool-sounding callsigns such as “Lone Ranger”, “Iceman”, “Rooster”, “Phoenix”, etc. , but according to the aviation website F-16.net, most of the callsigns come from embarrassing incidents of pilots, just like being nicknamed by classmates when I was a child. The less you like, the more persistent the nickname will be.
For example, a very short Top Gun student called “Atom”, and a student who accidentally lost his engagement ring in a Las Vegas nightclub was nicknamed “Frodo”, and some The Eastern European surname Krestovozdvizhensky ended up calling him “Alphabet” because no one on the team knew how to pronounce his name.
If some students insist on using a cool callsign, they usually fail to get what they hoped for. There was a student who wanted to use the movie “Iceman” as the callsign, and finally got “Snocone”.
Epilogue
“Defender: The Lone Ranger” broke Tom Cruise’s personal box office record. The U.S. Navy and Air Force once again entered the cinema to start a battle for people. It also made many viewers relive the emotion of 36 years ago. The crowd, and even as the film went to Europe to promote, the British and French Air Forces also actively cooperated with film companies, hoping to arouse the willingness of young people in their countries to join the Air Force.
Recently, the recruiters of the Air Force of the Ministry of National Defense also followed the example of the US military and entered the cinema to open a talent recruitment station. It can only be said that although there are countless movies describing pilots, the influence of “Defender Warrior” is still unparalleled.
(Source of the first image:Staff Sgt. Aaron Allmon, U.S. Air ForcePublic domain, via Wikimedia Commons)