From 1986 to 2006, Lt. Col. Dan Hampton was a leading member of the Wild Weasels, the elite Air Force fighter squadrons whose mission is recognized as the most dangerous job in modern air combat. Weasels are the first planes sent into a war zone, flying deep behind enemy lines purposely seeking to draw fire from surface-to-air missiles and artillery. They must skillfully evade being shot down--and then return to destroy the threats, thereby making...

This title explores the development and use of the popular F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter jet. Readers will follow the history of its origins and development. Chapters detail the aircraft's military and performance specifications as well as its features and advantages in the field, such as the shape of its fuselage, its ejection seat, its single turbofan engine, and its many powerful guns, missiles, and bombs. Readers will also learn about the F-16's...

Hand-picked, pressure-tested, and full of astronaut gung ho, the young pilots of Eye of the Viper are poised for the toughest assignment of their career: the exhaustive six-month training course at Arizona's Luke Air Force Base, at a cost of $2 million each. Luke, the world's largest fighter wing, is the only F-16 fighter training base in the United States, and each year it produces one thousand pilots who will fly the F-16 from Korea to Afghanistan...