Real Fighter Pilot on 5th-Generation Fighters 

Imagine if you went to an air show and the pilot came up and was like "check out this router! communicate with 20 other planes, gigabit speeds! Meshnet in the air! I can video chat with my wingman so I can see his face struggle with the Gs!"

I love how you make the point that technological ideas which appear too soon may fail, but that very failure lays the ground work for success decades later. We often assume that only success breed success. But failure (or learning from our mistakes) can move us forward just as well. I can remember an old adage that said, "If you never fail, you're not trying hard enough." In other words you're playing it too safe.

I like the NFL analogy. If you dive deep into each duty position on the team, and also look at the head coach on the sideline, then relate this to the fighter generations, it makes more sense for the layman. In the 3rd fighter generation, technology limited us to single role, purpose-built fighters, interceptors, nuclear strike fighters, light attack, medium attack, deep interdiction, fleet air defense, reconnaissance, and electronic warfare aircraft where the crew focused on that one mission set. Several of those aircraft were found to be useful in totally unrelated roles, like the F-100 fighter being used for CAS and light attack in Vietnam, or the A-5 Vigilante carrier nuclear strike fighter being used for high speed tactical reconnaissance. As processing power got better in the 1970s, we realized that the possibility of multirole fighters could be realized even in single-seat jets, and the F-16 and F/A-18 embodied this. It would be akin to having a player who could be a tight end or a fullback/running back and do both roles really well. AWACS emerged in Vietnam, which is like the coach on the sidelines with a microphone and the players have ear pieces to hear his perspective of the big picture and how to best position them. That was 4th Gen. With 5th Gen, the platforms can smoke a 4th Gen quarterback, defensive end, tackle, tight end, wide receiver, fullback/running back and have a better picture of the field than the coach on the sideline can. When you have a team that has 2 5th Gen wide receivers, a 5th Gen QB, 5th Gen Fullback/running back, with some leftover 4.5 Gen tackles who have better ear pieces connected to the 5th Gen players, the team is unstoppable. A 4th Gen player talks about what his sprint times are on the track, what he can lift, while not wearing equipment he has to wear on the field. 5th Gen trains in its equipment all the time, even for sprints, the gym, and field exercises, so it’s always configured for game day. On top of that, the 5th Gen players have optical camouflage like Predator, making it next to impossible to see them. Meanwhile, our adversaries are scrambling to develop their own 5th Gen players, but they are decades behind us in training and building them.

My grandfather was the lead engineer on the payway guided bombs that took out the bridge at 2:39!

I am an old Air Force man who knew thenF4 inside out and I have been totally focused on then current aircraft and the different needs required. This is fantastic, thank you!!!

We basically went from flying bricks to flying darts

I'd really like to hear from your perspective about the maneuverability of the F-35 vs say the F-16, the F-22 or what is or has been said about it. I believe the plane is way more capable than the press wants us to believe and I know it's not as maneuverable as the Raptor due it is different mission parameters but I'd really just like to hear about it from a pilots perspective.

I truly love how informative your videos are. I've know many fighter pilots personally over the years ranging for a high school classmate, (my best friend in high school), who flew the F-4G Wild Weasel to another who flew the Hog out of flight training and became an F-16 IP to living next to Langley AFB and knowing several Raptor pilots. I was a very early subscriber for your channel and I thank you.

I’ve been able to put on the F-35 helmet and use it in a demo and that alone is a massssssiiivvvveee jump forward

Another great piece of content Hasard - I was wondering why you made your goal-setting/new year resolution video private ? I thought there was some really good and useful stuff in there that I hadn't heard before.

Thank you for very eloquently summarising the evolution of fighter design and aerial combat philosophy. I’m sure many would agree that this video is one of the best examples of anyone connecting the dots. Much respect.

This was a dream of mine. Unfortunately asthma squashed this real quick.

What a great channel. Rapidly becoming one of my favorites.

I love seeing a RU-vid notification that Hasard has uploaded a new video !!!

Another awesome video Hasard, I love learning about this & you explain it so us regular people can understand.

I quite enjoy your videos. My pappy was a small prop fighter in World War II. His favorite plane was always the P-51. From a time when landing gear used a hand crank, avionics has indeed come a long ways.

“If your primary weapons system is the gun, you’re going to get dominated” *sad A-10 noises. Noises that vaguely resemble a brrrt.*

What a striking presentation. Succinctly compressed all the information we need, drawing from decades of historical and technological lessons, to allow us to better understand modern considerations in formulation of air combat strategy and tactics. Even gives us a window to start thinking properly about the development and procurement of aircraft. This guy will make terrific general, his people will always know the way forward and be able to contribute meaningfully. They'll know which way the unit is headed.

Really enjoy these videos. Always well done and informative.

Great generalisation. So many people don't get the differences. I suspect many won't get the concept of sensor fusion and I understand you talking about it is not possible most likely. Thanks for sharing. The world has changed so much since I worked on Mirage III, F111 and f18a. :)

As always a great and to the point video that is fun to watch! Stay safe everyone!

Regardless of how tactically superior modern fighters are....as an aviator you can't deny the romanticism attached to the high speed and highly manoeuvrable dog fighting machines of the last century.

Hey Hasard, love your content and perspective. Just one item I'd like to bring to you. There's quite a few of us who are eagerly waiting on your perspective/knowledge on real complex aviation/fighter/tech/military topics and even tactics/strategy(whatever you can share). The content you've shared so far is great, but familiar to what your audience likely already knows if they are subscribed. I'm eagerly awaiting your SME perspective.

Great topic, great video. Thanks!

I came across your channel quite by accident... I have learnt more about avionics in 3 of your videos then I think I have in my entire life... Not to mention other interesting stuff you raise... Great Channel. Thank you.

This video was good enough that I subscribed. This is really excellent.

Love your work and this channel, thanks for the service

Very interesting stuff I’m glad I found your channel sir Thankyou for your service and Thankyou for sharing

I've come to view the concept of "generations" as a marketing thing. Lockheed's 5th gen definition originally included supercruise, but they dropped it when the F-35 came along since it would be hard to meet. Generations can be redefined on the fly, but one thing is guaranteed: no capability exists in a vacuum. It is always in response to another capability, and will likely itself be countered in the future.

I love your videos, they are very informative!

Great job, Hasard! I learned an awful lot re this very interesting subject

Love your videos! Greetings from France 🇨🇵

This video got me to look up the Dragon's Maw Bridge, and reading the wikipedia article just makes me more fascinated; I would love to watch a video on why it was so difficult to destroy. I realize that the Viet Minh made it a priority to defend, but it's still mind-boggling for how long they successfully defended it from such overwhelming force.

Yes more of these please!

Great content and thank you for your service! My brother in law is a Major at Langley.

Very nice summary! Thank you.

Hasard... haha! Laser disk growing up? I started with 8 track, I remember thinking cassette tapes, and VCR's were amazing!

Wow, I had no idea about the AT&T Video Phone. That’s amazing. Great video, really interesting to get a big picture of fighter design progression

Thanks for the video!

Great idea to educate us....many thanks.

Great summary ! Really appreciate your concise insights.

SIR you're doing a fantastic job of explaining this subject. Thank you!!

Great video, you explained it very well.

Great video. Thank you

Props for bringing up John “40 second” Boyd. That is a great book for aviation enthusiasts....especially for Viper fans.

Very informative, thanks for the vid!

I really respect Hazard. He does a great job of breaking stuff down in an educational way. On top of that, you see a lot of fighter pilot youtubers and they're always conceited and its off putting. Hazard isn't like that. He's always professional and not cocky at all, and I really admire that.

Great video. It’s worth noting that the F/A-18C has very little interchangeable items with the new Super Hornet. It’s a vastly bigger airplane with great improvements everywhere. Some people think it’s a revitalized F/A-18C. (I know you don’t think that). Maybe a great video topic comparing the old and new Hornet? Keep making the Sierra Hotel videos!

I love how 5th gens look like lawn darts

Hasard, thank you!

Awesome breakdown... Thanks

Thanks learned a lot

Awesome video. God Bless

Good review of technology development influencing the chances, demands and capabilities of fighter-aircraft. Well made for the layman.

You got to talk about that helmet, please please please lol. That helmet looks crazy cool! Stay safe everyone!

Thank you for the content. Sir🇺🇸

Sir, you inspire confidence.

Love the content

Excellent summary.

This is fantastic...

I wonder what the average “combat” speed of 4th vs 5th gen planes are since a lot of people care about numbers. Considering 5th gen planes use internal bays so the extra weight slows them down obviously, but no real drag difference. Meamwhile 4th gen planes have the same extra weight, but an additional increase in drag from external pylons, weapons, pods, etc. Someone probably has a research paper on that.

love your videos

Excelent video! ty

Thank you

Thank you!

Can I ask you Hasard, what airplane from previous generations would you most have liked to have flown?

I’m not sure if you’ve done a video on this but I watched the video on how pilots relieve themselves in air and you had mentioned the 8 hour sorties and that made me think how do pilots stay hydrated during a long mission

Hey Hasard: any possibility of having a fellow fighter pilot alongside you in one of these vids? Cool on top of cool!

Well done.

Hey hasard, are there any Air Force sleep techniques you could share with us?

A video on the F 15EX would be interesting ...

This man is very intelligent and also a great speaker.

Thanks for the info, good stuff. Who is the maker of the F-35 model behind you?

I always wanted to be a pilot when I was a kid. Unfortunately my eyesight was just not good enough. But my love for aircraft has never waned and over the years I worked in aerospace on wide body aircraft, airborne radar, missiles and Data General development telemetry systems for both military aircraft and reentry vehicles from space. But I still love that feeling when the aircraft is banking hard and you look out over the wing and see it flexing 5 to 10 degrees as your heart beats and tries to escape the bounds of its chest cavity.

Hasard Lee rocks

Love what you do thanks. Quick question could you possibly do a video on how a non fighter pilot could experience pulling a decent amount of G’s just to feel what it’s like. Thanks again

I sow video from airshow, so F-35 was making aggressive 180 degrees turn, after turn plane was a lot slower then before turn, so i checked time on the video, turn took about 5 seconds to perform. 180 degrees in 5 seconds with lose of speed, it is instantaneous turn rate about 35 degrees per second - not bad at all, pretty agile aircraft.

Thank you for saying that the M-262 wing was slightly swept for W&B (just like the DC-3). So many are misinformed about that.

One 4th generation design that I thought was underrated was the F-16XL which would be a interesting platform to build off of for a next-generation light fighter-bomber.

That P80 shooting star was introduced on 1944-45 and got its but kicked by the Mig but was quickly Followed by the F86 Saber with Swept wings and a radar guided gun sight. It was still slower than the Migs in the Korean war but was a big leap forward in Gen1 jets. I would have shown the first first gen 1 and the last Gen 1 to show how fast things changed.

Can you speak about the usability of the touch screen on the F-35? In my experience using a touch screen on a car, it's incredibly annoying when dealing with vibrations and I much prefer real buttons. The F-35 doesn't seem to have buttons around the edge like almost every other screen in a modern fighter. Does this impact how easy it is to use?

I have to ask, as you are an F-35 pilot, and I was a former aviation systems tech, how fucking cool is the HUD in the F-35 helmet? I can only imagine what it would feel like the first time you looked around and didn't see air frame/ cockpit, but just the environment! Must feel like Superman for a moment. haha.

Sorta went off topic there for the majority of the video with the lesson on fighter jet generations. Great video, just need to adjust the accuracy of the title a hair to the right.

It use to be that you can look at the airframe, guns, and missiels to get an idea of the aircraft. However, a blackbox with wires coming out of it doesn't tell you much, but it is often one of the most critical component.

Greetings . - What "differences" are there between subsonic and supersonic maneuverability, how useful is it in combat? - Is it preferable to have a vector push or a HUD visor in the helmet? Thanks for your time .

Hi great channel and very informative videos. Could you maybe do a video comparing fighter planes from the US, UK and Russia. Especially with the new 4th and 5th generation aircraft. Have you ever flown a fighter plane developed by another country, and if so which plane.

Quick question: where do you see 6th gen going? What kind of emphasis do you think is going to take the forefront of aircraft design and stratrgy/tactics?

Hasurd, Can you speak on the Sukhoi Su-57 and what your thoughts are comparing the F35?

What was your first choice on the list which plane did you want to fly. Personally when I have finished school and after the Air Force academy I want to fly the f-22 or f-35 or f-16 I know it’s hard really really hard but hard work dose pay out

Good info. Is this video a list of jet (vs prop) fighters? If not, why aren’t the WW I considered 1st generation.?

Have you ever done a vertical take off in the f35 and if so what's it like?

Glad I found this channel. Sad that I also grew up renting laser discs.

I'm surprised you didn't mention MiG-15 and F-86 in the first gen jet examples, as they have swept wings. Geat video nonetheless.

would love to hear more comparing f22 to f35

Now the term 4.75 gen aircraft is being thrown around one example is the KAI KF-21 now on its flight testing phase

He really knows his stuff

Can you do an review or explanation about the F35 Helmet?

Could you explain the block series on the f16

Boom!

Off topic question. Mach 1 at the surface of the ocean is about 1200 km/h. Chuch Yeager "cheated" at 1047 km/h at high altitude. Is there a standard altitude one refers to when one talk about mach speed. When I do the math sometimes I get confused about it.