The Afterburn Podcast

Today we discuss Operation Tidal Wave, the 1 August 1943 low-level B-24 raid on the Ploesti oil refineries, with author Adam Makos, whose new book follows a rookie Liberator crew shot down over Romania.

Operation Tidal Wave: https://link.amazon/B07tn9TK9
Adam Makos, out November 3rd -- Signed and personalized copies: https://valorstudios.com

In the summer of 1943, every B-24 Liberator on the Atlantic side of the war was
gathered at a dirt strip near Benghazi for a 2,000 mile round trip against the
refineries feeding roughly a third of Hitler's oil. The Norden bombsights came
out of the aircraft. Crews trained so low they came home with bomb bay doors
caved in, and one of them hit a camel.

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Today we discuss 300 combat missions in the F-4 Phantom with Ron Cooper, who flew with the 13th Tactical Fighter Squadron out of Udorn in 1971 and 1972, including the flight that launched as a four-ship and recovered as three.

Watch the episode: https://youtu.be/HUzq7kZ6PXk

Ron Cooper: https://thecooperculture.com/speaker/

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Today we discuss the Geran-4, Russia's turbojet version of the Iranian Shahed one-way attack drone, after an overnight raid of 280 drones on Ukraine. Jet drone launches jumped from about 350 in June to about 2,800 in August, and F-16s are filling the gap.

Get the defense stories behind the headlines every week in The Lowdown: https://lowdownnews.us

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Watch on Afterburn Defense: https://youtu.be/VGoBPpVbPNo

Today we discuss the AIM-424 Malice, the US Navy's new long range air-to-air missile revealed in August 2026, credited with reaching targets beyond 250 nautical miles and shown fitting inside the internal weapons bay of the F-35C.

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Watch on Afterburn Defense Youtube: https://youtu.be/GGiXPeV1iJE

The incident occurred while aircraft from the 86th Air Base in Borsia were conducting routine patrols. We break down the details behind the drone interception of these two Russian drones, identified as Nugran-4s, and what this means for current regional stability.

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Watch on Afterburn Defense: https://youtu.be/TT-9woSmEu8

Saudi Arabia fields Patriot batteries and one of the most capable air forces in the Middle East, and a Houthi barrage still reached King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on October 10, killing 13 people and wounding more than 300.

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Boeing won the Navy’s F/A-XX sixth-generation carrier fighter on September 29, which means one company now builds both American sixth-gen fighters, the Navy’s F/A-XX and the Air Force’s F-47.

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Taiwan’s first two F-16 Block 70 fighters have landed at their new home, plus the US Air Force is weighing new-build F-16s for the first time since 2005. Today we discuss the Block 70, the proposed F-16G, Viper Shield, and the fighter shortfall driving it.

Sources:
The War Zone: https://www.twz.com/air/new-build-f-16s-for-the-usaf-is-an-idea-that-wont-go-away-for-good-reason
Air and Space Forces: https://www.airandspaceforces.com/air-force-eyes-new-build-f-16s-to-boost-fighter-force/

The first two of 66 F-16 Block 70s ordered by Taiwan in 2019 touched down at Chihhang Air Base in Taitung on October 2, 2026, after a ferry flight from Lockheed Martin’s Greenville, South Carolina line that stalled in Hawaii for more than a month. Today we discuss what that roughly $8 billion package actually contains, from the APG-83 AESA radar and Link 16 to smart bomb tail kits, towed decoys, and the integrated offensive and defensive electronic warfare suite that L3Harris Viper Shield answers.

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Watch on Afterburn Defense: https://youtu.be/4Er8ciSvT84

KC-135 battle damage repair: Air Mobility Command commander Lt Gen Daniel
Tulley revealed how maintainers saved a Stratotanker loaded with 200,000
pounds of fuel after an enemy attack during Operation Epic Fury.

Ogden Air Logistics Series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUDBQ8fmr8Ek

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Watch on Afterburn Defense YouTube: https://youtu.be/F21BnqlbCow

Today we discuss the Air Force naming its first Collaborative Combat Aircraft, the FQ-42A Vengeance from General Atomics and the FQ-44A Fury from Anduril, plus the plan for 1,000 drones by 2032.

On 14 September 2026, Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink announced a target of roughly 1,000 autonomous combat aircraft by 2032: 500 Collaborative Combat Aircraft and 500 Massed Modular Aircraft. The F in FQ-42 and FQ-44 is deliberate. These are being designated as fighters, not surveillance drones.

Vengeance has been delivered to Creech Air Force Base and has already flown in formation with the F-35 and the F-15E Strike Eagle. Fury fired an AIM-120 AMRAAM at a digital target in July with a human retaining oversight of the shot. Contract award to first flight ran about 18 months, a pace almost unheard of in defense acquisition.

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Today we discuss the SR-71 Blackbird that vanished from NASA Armstrong. Tail 844, the last Blackbird ever built and the last to fly, is gone from its display and NASA will not say where.

Aviation Week: https://aviationweek.com/defense/aircraft-propulsion/nasa-quietly-removed-sr-71-storage-amid-x-plane-push
The Warzone: https://www.twz.com/air/a-sr-71-blackbird-has-vanished

Aviation Week defense editor Steve Trimble broke the story using satellite imagery showing the aircraft missing since at least 17 May 2026. Joseph Trevithick at The War Zone followed up, and NASA's response was that it has no additional information to share, while noting it continues to explore opportunities to build on that legacy.

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Brad Young spent six years in the Air Force as a Korean linguist, including time at the National Security Agency in Hawaii, before an inter-service transfer put him in Army warrant officer flight school. He flew the AH-64D and then the AH-64E for just shy of 17 years across four combat deployments to Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, and retired in 2025 out of 5-17 Air Cavalry in Korea. His unit at Fort Lewis was the first to receive and combat deploy the Echo model.

Brad's book "Full Blooded Apache: An Attack Pilot’s True Story of Family, Faith and the Fight" https://amzn.to/4hOLb1j

0:00 The most feared helicopter in the world
0:48 From Air Force linguist to Apache pilot
4:37 9/11, a schoolteacher, and four recruiters
8:58 The DLAB: learning a made-up language
11:25 Korean linguist at DLI and NSA Hawaii
13:16 How a Google Earth search ended in a kill cam
16:51 Crossing over to Army aviation
22:45 Army aviation paths and flight school
24:38 The dunker and stress inoculation
30:01 TH-67 primary and the airframe selection board
34:09 Please bless daddy to get Apaches
34:47 AH-64D vs AH-64E: what the Echo changed
40:55 APKWS and the counter-drone fight
43:19 Drones hunting helicopters
44:34 The Apache 30mm and its new proximity fuze
48:30 FPV drones vs helicopters
49:40 Staying over the shoulder of ground forces
50:57 Hit twice near Jalalabad
53:18 The round that nearly brought him down
55:02 Counter tech and the 3 to 1 advantage
57:25 Two cockpits that can't see each other
59:52 Flying night combat through one eye
1:03:00 Front seat vs back seat sensors
1:04:48 Why he wrote Full Blooded Apache
1:07:20 Four Hellfires in eight minutes
1:12:55 Wrap-up

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During a close air support mission over Baghdad on 8 April 2003, Maj Gary "Wolfman" Wolf and his A-10 Warthog were struck by an SA-16 MANPADS while supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

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During a close air support mission over Baghdad on 8 April 2003, Maj Gary "Wolfman" Wolf and his A-10 Warthog were struck by an SA-16 MANPADS while supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Battle Creek Bourbon: https://shop.winglorespirits.com/pages/commemorative

0:00 Intro "Lead's Been Hit"
1:29 The Close Air Support Mission
6:10 Hit by an SA-16
12:44 Jettison Everything
15:33 Escort and Rescue Join Up
16:41 Gear Down
18:55 Battle Creek Bourbon with Wing Lore Spirits
23:44 Mitchell Wolf on Tail Number 258

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Col Kevin "Flint" Hicok commanded the 20th Fighter Wing during Operation Midnight Hammer, leading the largest Air Force wing in CENTCOM since Desert Storm.

The three-part documentary series is on Afterburn Defense:
Part I: https://youtu.be/MgQ_X3Td8a4
Part II: https://youtu.be/GzdL6NMYDso
Part III: https://youtu.be/Xc22-2RaGSY

Operation Midnight Hammer through the eyes of the people who flew it. This is the full interview with Col. Kevin Hicok, a career F-16 fighter pilot who commanded the F-16 Wild Weasels that flew Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses ahead of the B-2 strike on Iran.

Before Iran, the wing fought over Yemen in Operation Rough Rider, a sustained air campaign against Houthi surface-to-air threats. What they learned there is the reason the F-16 Block 50 and the AGM-88 HARM were part of the strike package on June 21st, 2025.

These interviews were recorded between December 2025 and January 2026 and preserve firsthand accounts from pilots, maintainers, intelligence officers, and logistics airmen who were there.

0:00 Intro
0:56 Commanding the Largest F-16 Wing in the Air Force
3:49 From a Small Town in Iowa to Fighter Pilot
10:02 Deploying the Whole Wing for the First Time Since Desert Storm
15:23 Operation Rough Rider and the Houthi Drone Threat
17:27 Learning About Operation Midnight Hammer
19:22 Surging 100 More Aircraft and 220 Percent More People
20:20 The Logistics Nobody Sees: Fuel, Water, and 115 Degree Heat
23:17 Sending Airmen Across the Line Into Iran
29:18 When the Last Jet Landed

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Operation Midnight Hammer through the eyes of the F-16 Wild Weasel fighter pilots who flew into Iran. Ghost" Trembly and "Cash" Croghan were the wing and squadron weapons officers for the 55th Fighter Squadron, the F-16 Wild Weasels who flew Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses ahead of the B-2 strike on Iran.

Watch the three-part documentary series on Afterburn Defense:
Part I: https://youtu.be/MgQ_X3Td8a4
Part II: https://youtu.be/GzdL6NMYDso
Part III: https://youtu.be/Xc22-2RaGSY

They planned the F-16 portion of the strike package. In this conversation, they explain why a fourth-generation fighter flew into Iran alongside the B-2s and F-35s, how the squadron reconfigured from the Yemen fight in a matter of hours, and why nobody in the squadron believed the mission was real until it was.

Before Iran, the 55th Fighter Squadron fought over Yemen in Operation Rough Rider, a sustained air campaign against Houthi surface-to-air threats. What they learned there is the reason the F-16 Block 50 and the AGM-88 HARM were part of the strike package on June 21st, 2025.

These interviews were recorded between December 2025 and January 2026 and preserve firsthand accounts from pilots, maintainers, intelligence officers, and logistics airmen who were there.

0:00 Preparing the Squadron for Deployment
5:16 New Equipment: AESA Radar and the F-16 Block 50
8:52 Operation Rough Rider: Counter-UAS Over Yemen
15:31 Mission Planning on a Folding Table
21:14 Five Days Out: Nobody Believed It Was Real
28:49 Reconfiguring the Jets From Rockets to HARMs
31:45 The Night "Glitch" Shot a SAM in 8 Seconds and saved "Cash"
41:21 Why the F-16 Was the Only Jet That Could Do It
46:38 The 15-Minute Brief Before Flying Into Iran
49:47 A 300 Mile Ingress Into Iranian Airspace
1:05:50 Is That a Missile Coming Off the Ground
1:12:41 How Tight the Fuel Really Was
1:20:40 Bunker Diving and Life on the Base

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Operation Midnight Hammer through the eyes of the people who flew it. "Smalls" commanded the 55th Fighter Squadron, and "Scar" was one of the F-16 pilots who helped plan and execute the mission. They are the Wild Weasels who flew Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses ahead of the B-2 strike on Iran.

Watch the three-part documentary series on Afterburn Defense:
Part I: https://youtu.be/MgQ_X3Td8a4
Part II: https://youtu.be/GzdL6NMYDso
Part III: https://youtu.be/Xc22-2RaGSY

This is the full interview.

Both of them flew the mission. In this conversation, they talk about what it means to command a squadron and fly in the same formation, the moment a squadron commander has to let his wingmen push ahead of him, the mechanical failure one of them handled over hostile territory, and what they told their families before they left.

Before Iran, the 55th Fighter Squadron fought over Yemen in Operation Rough Rider, a sustained air campaign against Houthi surface-to-air threats. What they learned there is the reason the F-16 Block 50 and the AGM-88 HARM were part of the strike package on June 21st, 2025.

These interviews were recorded between December 2025 and January 2026 and preserve firsthand accounts from pilots, maintainers, intelligence officers, and logistics airmen who were there.

0:00 Taking Command of the 55th Fighter Squadron
3:25 The Deployment That Became Something Else
8:33 Shooting Rockets at Drones From an F-16
12:12 Commanding a Squadron in Combat
23:16 Realizing the Threat Was Real
29:34 The Weight of Sending People Out
40:04 From Rough Rider to Midnight Hammer
43:45 Letting My Wingmen Go In First
49:55 Learning About the Iran Mission
54:51 The Phone Call That Changed Everything
1:09:25 The Helmet Mix-Up on the Ramp
1:18:26 Tanker Frequencies and Marshal Delays
1:26:13 Employing Over Iranian Airspace
1:34:02 Compressor Stall Over Enemy Territory
1:39:19 Crossing the Line Back
1:42:22 What They Told Their Families

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Operation Midnight Hammer through the eyes of the people who flew it. "Glitch" was one of the youngest F-16 pilots in the formation, flying his first combat deployment with the Wild Weasels who flew Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses ahead of the B-2 strike on Iran.

Watch the three-part documentary series on Afterburn Defense:
Part I: https://youtu.be/MgQ_X3Td8a4
Part II: https://youtu.be/GzdL6NMYDso
Part III: https://youtu.be/Xc22-2RaGSY

This is the full interview.

He was woken up at ten at night and told to pack a bag. In this conversation, he talks about the night over Yemen when a surface-to-air missile came off the ground at his formation and he had seconds to respond, why Rough Rider frightened him more than Iran did, the drive out to the jets before the strike, and the call he made to his girlfriend when he could not tell her where he was.

Before Iran, the 55th Fighter Squadron fought over Yemen in Operation Rough Rider, a sustained air campaign against Houthi surface-to-air threats. What they learned there is the reason the F-16 Block 50 and the AGM-88 HARM were part of the strike package on June 21st, 2025.

These interviews were recorded between December 2025 and January 2026 and preserve firsthand accounts from pilots, maintainers, intelligence officers, and logistics airmen who were there.

0:00 Becoming an F-16 Pilot
2:06 Preparing for the Spring Deployment
3:19 A Threat Environment Nobody Trained For
5:18 What the Outgoing Squadron Warned Them About
8:46 Flying the SEAD Mission in Combat
11:01 First Combat Sortie Over Yemen
12:32 A Missile Launch on My Scope
14:09 Watching a SAM Fired at My Formation
17:28 Getting the Call for Operation Midnight Hammer
21:17 Mission Planning for the Iran Strike
24:23 I Can't Tell You Where I Am
26:15 The Drive Out to the Jets
31:41 Why Yemen Scared Me More Than Iran
35:28 Employing Over Iranian Airspace
37:57 How Tight the Fuel Was

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Operation Midnight Hammer through the eyes of the people who flew it. "Cuffs" was the deployed Director of Operations for the 55th Fighter Squadron, the Wild Weasels who flew Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses ahead of the B-2 strike on Iran.

Watch the three-part documentary series on Afterburn Defense:
Part I: https://youtu.be/MgQ_X3Td8a4
Part II: https://youtu.be/GzdL6NMYDso
Part III: https://youtu.be/Xc22-2RaGSY

This is the full interview.

He ran the squadron's operations from the main base while the strike launched from somewhere else. In this conversation, he talks about how young the pilots flying this mission actually were, what it took to run a squadron split across two locations, the last handshakes before they stepped, and the wait until he heard they were on their way back.

Before Iran, the 55th Fighter Squadron fought over Yemen in Operation Rough Rider, a sustained air campaign against Houthi surface-to-air threats. What they learned there is the reason the F-16 Block 50 and the AGM-88 HARM were part of the strike package on June 21st, 2025.

These interviews were recorded between December 2025 and January 2026 and preserve firsthand accounts from pilots, maintainers, intelligence officers, and logistics airmen who were there.

0:00 Spinning Up the Squadron for Deployment
1:43 A Threat Environment Unlike the Last 20 Years
4:09 Why the F-16 Still Matters in This Fight
6:28 Getting Out the Door
9:09 Most of These Pilots Were in Their Twenties
12:11 Learning a New Base and New Configurations
16:28 First Combat Sorties Over Yemen
20:24 Thinking About the Risk to Yourself
22:44 Learning About Operation Midnight Hammer
26:27 Trusting the Weapons Officers to Plan It
28:58 Running a Squadron Split Across Two Locations
32:48 The Night It Happened
36:50 The Last Handshakes Before They Stepped
39:38 Watching Them Come Home

Have a story? Program and partnership inquiries: https://theafterburnpodcast.com/contact/

Lowdown Defense Newsletter: https://www.lowdownnews.us/

🛫 Become a Fighter/Bomber/Cargo/Tanker/RPA Pilot 🎯 :http://bogidope.com/?bd=tappodcast 🛫

Air Force Officer Qualifying Test (AFOQT) Prep with AFOQT Wingman https://afoqtwingman.com/Code: AFTERBURN for 10% off

Become a Patron, Support the Show, & Gain Exclusive Benefits: https://www.patreon.com/c/theafterburnpodcast

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Operation Midnight Hammer through the eyes of the people who flew it. "Glib" was the intelligence officer for the 55th Fighter Squadron, the Wild Weasels who flew Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses ahead of the B-2 strike on Iran.

Watch the three-part documentary series on Afterburn Defense:
Part I: https://youtu.be/MgQ_X3Td8a4
Part II: https://youtu.be/GzdL6NMYDso
Part III: https://youtu.be/Xc22-2RaGSY

This is the full interview.

His job was to know the threat better than anyone in the squadron. In this conversation, he talks about the night the reporting was bad enough that he told a pilot to be prepared, what it is like to brief men whose wives and children you know, how a squadron built its own targeting picture when the strategic intelligence was not enough, and what he did on the ground while they were over Iran.

Before Iran, the 55th Fighter Squadron fought over Yemen in Operation Rough Rider, a sustained air campaign against Houthi surface-to-air threats. What they learned there is the reason the F-16 Block 50 and the AGM-88 HARM were part of the strike package on June 21st, 2025.

These interviews were recorded between December 2025 and January 2026 and preserve firsthand accounts from pilots, maintainers, intelligence officers, and logistics airmen who were there.

0:00 Building the Threat Picture Before Deployment
2:38 A Contested Environment Again
7:15 The Night I Thought My Pilots Would Die
8:35 Finding Out About Operation Midnight Hammer
14:26 The Night of the Mission
20:21 What the Squadron Did That Nobody Sees

Have a story? Program and partnership inquiries: https://theafterburnpodcast.com/contact/

Lowdown Defense Newsletter: https://www.lowdownnews.us/

🛫 Become a Fighter/Bomber/Cargo/Tanker/RPA Pilot 🎯 :http://bogidope.com/?bd=tappodcast 🛫

Air Force Officer Qualifying Test (AFOQT) Prep with AFOQT Wingman https://afoqtwingman.com/Code: AFTERBURN for 10% off

Become a Patron, Support the Show, & Gain Exclusive Benefits: https://www.patreon.com/c/theafterburnpodcast

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.