The 23rd Air Force is not a typical elite unit, but its operations are critical to the success of other U.S. special forces. In March 1983 all Special Operations Forces (SOF) of the U.S. Air Force were centralized under a single command, then the 1st Special Operations Wing (1st SOW) and the Office of Recovery and Rescue Aerospace (ARRS) remained under the control of newly created 23 th Air Force, headquartered at Scott Base in Illinois. The 1st SOW consists of five squadrons equipped with modified versions of helicopter and aircraft C-130 Hercules.

The composition and organization of this unit are highly confidential, but some of their equipment are known: AC-130H aircraft (Hercules fighting or “Gunboat Flying”) developed for use in Vietnam armed with six-barreled Gatling guns and howitzers up to 105 mm ; aircraft MC-130H (Combat Talon) with advanced avionics and improved performance to make low-flying, rescue operations and covert infiltration; Helicopters MH-53J “Pave Low” with armor protection, tanks and autoselantes probe for refueling, helicopter MH-60G “Pave Hawk” equipped with radar, FLIR, rescue winch, armor protection and machine guns.

Combat team of the 1st SOW in amphibious training. Created in 1946, the ARRS also makes use of helicopters and C-130, a combination that proved effective. Consisting of about 3,500 men and about two hundred aircraft, their missions ranging from combat-SAR until recognition of climatic conditions. Thanks to its efficient 966 lives were saved in the Korean War and Vietnam War in 2759. It also provides support for NASA missions to recover manned spacecraft or rockets. The team responsible for the weather, locates and enters hurricanes and typhoons with their WC-130H aircraft that requires great courage and skill. The ARRS provides escorts in shifts of Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) from its underground silos scattered throughout the U.S..

Its specialized versions of Hercules are: HC-130H with greater reach and folding device in the nose for the recovery of men and material in the soil, using the technique skyhook, and JHC-130H with extra equipment for the recovery of space capsules in the air. Both components of the 1st SOW as the ARRS use uniform standards of the USAF, distinguishable only by special badges on the shoulder pads. Some members are thoroughly trained paratroopers. Units of the 1st SOW participated in Operation Eagle Claw and the intervention in Grenada in 1983.

Some background and general information, see youtube video below:
Russia’s first stealth fighter intended to match the latest U.S. design made its maiden flight boosting the country’s efforts to modernize its rusting Soviet-built arsenals and retain its lucrative export market.
The Sukhoi T-50′s flight comes nearly two decades after the first prototype of the U.S. F-22 Raptor took to the air, and Russian officials said it will take another five years for the new jet to enter service. Still, the flight marked a major step in Russia’s efforts to burnish the faded glory of its aviation industries and strengthen a beleaguered military.
The sleek twin-engined jet closely resembling the Raptor flew for 47-minutes from an airfield at Sukhoi’s production plant in the Far Eastern city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur. Development of the so-called fifth-generation fighter has been veiled in secrecy and no images of it had been released before the flight.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin hailed the flight as a “big step forward,” but admitted that “a lot remains to be done in terms of engines and armament.”
Craig Caffrey, an analyst for Jane’s Defense Procurement-Military Aircraft, said the new fighter is “hugely important,” both for modernizing the aging Russian air force fleet and retaining export markets.
The T-50 should offer the Russian Air Force a significant boost in its capabilities and ensure that it remains one of the best equipped air forces in the world.
For those countries that don’t traditionally purchase military equipment from the U.S. it will be the only fifth generation aircraft available.
The NPO Saturn company said in a statement that the jet has new engines, but military analysts suggested that they were a slightly modernized version of the Soviet-era engine powering the Su-27 family of fighters.
“It’s a humbug,” said independent military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer. “It’s just a prototype lacking new engines and a new radar. It takes new materials to build a fifth-generation fighter, and Russia lacks them.”
Putin said Friday the first batch of new fighters is set to enter an Air Force evaluation unit in 2013 and serial production is set to begin in 2015.
Russian military analysts were also skeptical, pointing at a history of delays in the program and other Russian weapons projects.
“The schedule will likely be pushed back as usual,” said Alexander Konovalov, the head of the Moscow-based Institute of Strategic Assessment, an independent think tank.
Russia’s prospective Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile has failed in at least eight of its 12 test launches, dealing a blow to Russia’s hopes of making it a cornerstone of its nuclear arsenal. Officials have blamed the failures on manufacturing flaws resulting from post-Soviet industrial degradation.
Felgenhauer and other observers said the fighter program, which depends on hundreds of subcontractors, has been dogged by similar problems.
Russian officials have said the new fighter, like the Raptor, will have supersonic cruising speed and stealth capabilities. Its pilot, Sergei Bogdan, said in televised remarks that it was easy and pleasant to fly.
While officials saw the new fighter as essential, some analysts said the country has more pressing needs.
“There is no mission and no adversary for such plane,” Konovalov said, adding that the Russian military lacks a modern communications system and satellite navigation. “It would be more expedient to fit modern avionics to older generation jets.”
===>The U.S. administration decided to quit buying the F-22 Raptor, the world’s most expensive fighter jet at more than $140 million apiece, effectively capping its production at the 186 already ordered.

YouTube Video: Russian 5th Gen PAK FA T-50 fighter makes first ever flight.

X-51 with Scramjet Engine
Underdevelopment since 2005 this missile has a variety of uses from spy plane to dropping huge payloads even nuclear capability.
Unlike conventional weapons planes have to be flown long distances and take hours to get to their target. This new technology delivers a payload anywhere on earth within 60 to 90 minutes and can be launched from the United States. The rocket is reusable making it cost effective. See more details below…

The WaveRider aboard a B-52 Bomber (photo Dec 11, 2009)

X-51 developed by the United Sates Air Force (USAF), the Boeing X-51 is a scramjet aircraft for hypersonic flight (Mach 7, around 8,050 km/h). Testing has all ready begun on the X-51 WaveRider program and is a consortium of the U.S. Air Force, DARPA, NASA, Boeing and Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne because it has multiple sue potential.

The program is managed by the Propulsion Directorate within the United States Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL).
The X-51 is a descendant of earlier efforts including the Advanced Rapid Response Missile Demonstrator and the liquid hydrocarbon-fueled scramjet engine developed under the USAF’s HyTech program. The scramjet flight test vehicle was designated X-51 on 27 September 2005.

The X-51 is carried aloft by a B-52 bomber and then launched with the aid of a solid rocket booster.
DARPA had viewed X-51 as a stepping stone to Blackswift, a planned hypersonic demonstrator that was canceled in October 2008.
Since many rockets that carry nuclear warheads like those being developed by Iran are solid fuel they can be fueled in an hour. The X-51 is so quick it can respond and destroy such rockets before they are launched.
Nothing has ever been developed that flies so fast within the earth’s atmosphere.