The Afterburn Podcast18 Jul 2025

KC-46s over NGAS? F-35s Make Moves | B-21 Raider Updates | Threat of the Day: SA-21 Growler

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This week on The Lowdown, we break down the biggest moves in military aviation and defense:

✈️ F-16s depart Misawa Air Base as the U.S. Air Force prepares for a major F-35 deployment in Japan — a key shift in Indo-Pacific airpower.

🛩️ The B-21 Raider stealth bomber is on track for combat configuration and flight testing by 2026. We cover what that means for the B-1 and B-2 fleets.

🚛 KC-46 Pegasus production ramps up, as the Air Force shelves plans for a stealth tanker and leans on Boeing's multi-role refueled.

⚠️ Threat of the Day: SA-21 Growler (S-400) — Russia’s long-range SAM system is central to its A2/AD strategy. We break down capabilities, variants, and combat history. Also in this episode: S

OCOM cuts OA-1K Skyraider II buys B-1B bombers getting a massive firepower boost E-7 Wedgetail drama on Capitol Hill AI wingmen take to the skies in Valkyrie drone tests Snapshot stories from NORAD intercepts to HH-60W VIP conversions 📩 Subscribe to The Lowdown Newsletter for the full breakdown: 👉 https://www.lowdownnews.us

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Episoder(275)

Operation Midnight Hammer | Part II - The Plan to Strike Iran's Nuclear Facilities

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28 Jun 16min

Operation Midnight Hammer | Part 1: Before Iran, There Was Yemen

This episode was designed for video. Watch this episode for text and graphical explanations: https://youtu.be/EDnLrP_45fk Operation Midnight Hammer through the eyes of the F-16 Wild Weasel pilots who ...

21 Jun 13min

[Official Trailer] Inside Operation MIDNIGHT HAMMER | The F-16 Wild Weasels Who Flew Into Iran

YT: https://youtu.be/rvVVQ3n081I This is the untold story of the F-16 pilots who flew deeper into Iran than any fourth-generation aircraft during Operation Midnight Hammer, the historic B-2 strike tar...

19 Jun 5min

Rob "ZMan" Zettel | Inside the USAF's Red Eagles

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29 Mai 1h 29min

Raul Castro Indicted | Is Cuba the Next Venezuela?

On May 20th, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed a federal indictment charging former Cuban head of state Raul Castro with the murder of American civilians. That same day, the USS Nimitz car...

29 Mai 9min

OA-1K Sky Raider II | Exclusive - How AFSOC's Newest Aircraft Is Built

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17 Mai 15min

China's Fifth-Generation Fighter Production Exploding | J-20 Production Surging

Video: https://youtu.be/L0D9c5nYO5E China's Chengdu Aircraft Corporation has more than doubled J-20 production efficiency using autonomous vehicles and AI-driven dark factories. With roughly 300 J-20s...

15 Mai 8min

China Helped Pakistan in Combat | J-10CE's First Real War

Watch this episode on YT: https://youtu.be/8X_ll2FrRIA Beijing confirmed Chinese engineers were at Pakistani air bases supporting J-10CE operations during Operation Sindoor in May 2025. Today we discu...

13 Mai 6min