G.I. Joe: Air Superiority – A Look at the Joe’s Air Force

One of the hallmarks of the G.I. Joe line across most of its incarnations — well, the good ones, anyway — has always been a focus on vehicles and equipment pulled from real-world military hardware.  A Real American Hero factored that into their early releases especially, though you could find examples of things at least based on actual weapons throughout the line.  Today, I’m going to take a brief look at some of the Joe’s air assets; in particular, the ones based on real aircraft, or at least close to it.

XP-14 SkyStriker — F-14 Tomcat

Beginning with the easiest to recognize, both in and out of the Joe-verse, the Skystriker is, of course, an impressively faithful interpretation of the US Navy’s Grumman F-14.  In the comics and cartoons, the Skystriker served exclusively as the Joe’s aircraft until newer models arrived, and it served as the prime counter to the Cobra Rattler, no doubt the best example being Ace and Wild Weasel’s dogfight in issue #34.

I honestly think both the Skystriker and Tomcat can easily top any list for the emotional response they trigger in people. When the F-14 retired from the Navy in 2006, serving over 30 years and through four different models, there were a staggering amount of tearful pilots, crews, and air enthusiasts who couldn’t bear to see it go.  Truly, one of the most impressive-looking aircraft ever designed, nobody did intimidation and demonstrated Naval air power quite like the Tomcat, confronting hundreds of MiGs, Tupolevs, and Sukhois flown by various nations throughout its career. And it’s worth noting that the Skystriker actually preceded Top Gun and the ensuing “Tomcat craze” by nearly three years.

XH-1 Dragonfly — AH-1 HueyCobra

My personal favorite Joe vehicle, since I’m a rotorhead, has always been the XH-1 Dragonfly, and it could also be the toy that most influenced some of my earlier career aspirations.  The Dragonfly was a stalwart close-air support weapon of the Joe Team, particularly in the comics.  This comes as little surprise, given that writer Larry Hama pulled from his knowledge and experiences in Vietnam, where ground forces lived and died by the strength of their air cover. The XH-1 is very similar in all but the tail and armament to the Bell AH-1 Cobra, the world’s first dedicated attack helicopter.

Built on the experience (and a lot of the frame) of the venerable UH-1 Huey, the AH-1 first saw action in the latter part of the war, and even after developments in helicopter gunships like the AH-64 Apache, the Cobra stayed as the backbone of the US Army’s attack helicopter fleet throughout the 1980s and ’90s, including Desert Storm. The last of the Army’s Cobras exited Reserve status in 2001. The twin-engined upgrade, known as the SuperCobra, is still in frontline service with US Marines, and they have no intention of changing that any time soon.  The Joes would also eventually field a version of the Apache, the AH-74, but it never achieved the cult status of the Dragonfly.

X-30 Conquest — X-29

When the Joes needed a more advanced aircraft to confront Cobra’s new Night Raven, they turned to the X-30 — a radical development in air superiority with a forward-swept wing and uncanny maneuverability. Even the legendary Skystriker pilot Ace would eventually upgrade to one of these lighter and faster jets.

The Conquest actually looks very believable as a combat aircraft version of the Grumman X-29 test aircraft.  the forward-swept wing and avionics were built by Grumman onto a pair of F-5s to demonstrate the capabilities of such a wing during the 1980s and 90s.  The X-29 was never configured for combat, but the information it offered on these types of unstable airframe designs is no doubt still influencing the future of fighter planes in ways we probably haven’t yet seen.

X-16 Ghoststriker — F-16 Falcon

 

On the more conventional side, the Joes also employed a lighter and less expensive air superiority and multi-role 4th generation fighter in the 1990s.  The Ghoststriker was not as prolific as it’s contemporaries, but in truth it might have been more regularly used if we count its many background appearances before it was officially named as a Joe vehicle.

That’s no doubt because the aircraft it’s based on, the F-16, is one of the most widely deployed weapons of the USAF.  Starting in 1978, the Falcon still stands as a frontline air superiority as well as strike fighter, and is one of the few aircraft to be flown almost by US allies almost as much as the US itself. Devised as a lighter, less expensive alternative to the F-14 and F-15, this makes the Falcon a highly sought after export, as it can easily keep pace with its bigger, pricier contemporaries.  Today, the very versatile fighter is being considered to even replace the role of the A-10 Warthog in close air support roles.  I can’t say that I agree with that decision, but it speaks to the strength of the design that an intended high-altitude, high-speed dogfighter could even be considered for such a job.

Tomahawk — CH-21 Shawnee

Outside of the C-130 Hercules — probably THE most important Joe vehicle never made — the Tomahawk was the Joe’s most turned-to workhorse.  Used for rescue and recovery, attack and gunship missions, as well as its core transport purpose, the Tomahawk carted Joes and their smaller vehicles wherever needed, whenever needed.

I’m going to defy convention here and tell you the Tomahawk owes most of its looks not to the CH-47 Chinook, as often stated, but the much more homely CH-21 Shawnee. While it might not look like much, the Shawnee was really the first helicopter employed by the US that truly proved the usefulness of the helicopter in combat.  Used extensively before Vietnam, the Shawnee was a test bed for all kinds of armaments and configurations, including turrets like the Tomahawk’s, before heading to war.  Sadly, the Shawnee was not built for the hot and wet conditions of Vietnam and suffered losses as well as diminished performance pretty much upon arrival.  Still, the Shawnee served until it was fully replaced by the Hueys and Chinooks by the mid 1960s.

X-19/F-19

 

The last one for today is a bit of a curiosity among air buffs even today.

Officially, the designation “F-19” has never been applied to any aircraft.  The F-18 Hornet is followed by the F-20 Tigershark, and the questions have followed the designation ever since.  A lot of the fervor over the F-19 can likely be attributed to the mystery surrounding the Lockheed “Have Blue” project, better known today as the F-117 Nighthawk. Before the F-117 was officially revealed to the world, sightings and reports of a mysterious “stealth fighter” had circulated throughout the decade, leading a lot of people to conclude even after its unveiling that there was still another, even stealthier plane not yet revealed.  The model company Testors created a model of the F-19, based partly on alleged sightings, partly on just good design sense, and it reportedly became the best selling model kit in history.  Many others followed suit, and G.I. Joe answered with their own in 1998, based on that same design. Interestingly, Ghostrider, the X-19’s pilot, was also the name given to the F-19 in a Tom Clancy novel.  But was the X-19 based on a real aircraft? Probably not, but then again, this is one of those times that not knowing is half the battle — because nobody can say it isn’t for certain.

Want to see more G.I. Joe backstory lore? Please let me know below.  And be sure to check out 3DJoes.com for some excellent 360-degree photos of these vehicles.