Along with conducting independent air operations, the U.S. Air Force provides air support for land and naval forces and aids in the recovery of troops in the field. As of 2017, the service operates more than 5,369 military aircraft and 406 ICBMs. It has a $156.3 billion budget and is the second largest service branch, with 320,812 active duty airmen, 145,789 civilian personnel, 69,200 reserve airmen, and 105,700 Air National Guard airmen.
Aircrafts
Combat aircraft, or “Warplanes”, are divided broadly into multi-role, fighters, bombers, attackers, and electronic warfare support.
183 F-22 Raptor (fighter)
212 F-15C Eagle (fighter)
23 F-15D Eagle (fighter)
219 F-15E Strike Eagle (multirole)
283 F-35 Lightning II (multirole)
1,763 F-35A planned
934 F-16 Fighting Falcon (multirole)
Being replaced by F-35A Lightning II
282 A-10 Thunderbolt II (atack)
59 B-1B Lanzer (bomber)
20 B-2 Spirit (bomber)
Military transport aircraft or military cargo aircraft are used to airlift troops, weapons and other military equipment to support military operations. Transport aircraft can be used for both strategic and tactical missions, and are often diverted to civil emergency relief missions.
52 C-5M Galaxy (strategic transport)
222 C-17A Globemaster III (strategic transport)
192 C-130H Hercules (tactical transport)
132 C-130J Super Hercules (tactical transport)
40 HC-130J (SAR/transport)
An airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) system is an airborne radar picket system designed to detect aircraft, ships and vehicles at long ranges and perform command and control of the battlespace in an air engagement by directing fighter and attack aircraft strikes. AEW&C units are also used to carry out surveillance.
Special Electronic, the purpose of electronic warfare is to deny the opponent an advantage in the EMS and ensure friendly, unimpeded access to the EM spectrum portion of the information environment.
3 EC-37B (SIGINT)
12 EC-130H Compass Call (Radar Jamming)
Being replaced by EC-37B
7 EC-130J Commando Solo III (PSYOP)
Aerial refueling is the process of transferring aviation fuel from one military aircraft (the tanker) to another (the receiver) during flight. The two main refueling systems are probe-and-drogue, which is simpler to adapt to existing aircraft.
398 KC-135 Stratotanker
Being replaced by KC-46 Pegasus
40 KC-46 Pegasus
179 KC-46 Planed
A reconnaissance aircraft (colloquially, a spy plane) is a military aircraft designed or adapted to perform aerial reconnaissance with roles including collection of imagery intelligence (including using photography), signals intelligence, as well as measurement and signature intelligence.
A trainer is a class of aircraft designed specifically to facilitate flight training of pilots and aircrews.
Helicopters
65 UH-1N Twin Huey (Utility)
40 UH-1H Twin Huey (Trainer)
Being replaced by MH-139A
2 MH-139A Grey Wolf (Utility)
83 MH-139A Planed
84 HH-60G/U (CSAR)
22 HH-60W in order
50 CV-22B Osprey (CSAR)
UAV
325 MQ-9 Reaper (multi-mission)
RQ-20 Puma (recon)
30 RQ-170 Sentinel (multi-mission)
37 RQ-4B Global Hawk (recon)
Armament
An air-to-air missile (AAM) is a missile fired from an aircraft for the purpose of destroying another aircraft
An air-to-surface missile (ASM) or air-to-ground missile (AGM) is a missile designed to be launched from military aircraft at targets on land.
A general-purpose bomb is an air-dropped bomb intended as a compromise between blast damage, penetration, and fragmentation in explosive effect. They are designed to be effective against enemy troops, vehicles, and buildings.
