Modern military aircraft are all painted in a desperately boring shade of grey… well, almost all. Air Forces Monthly Editor Thomas Lovegrove teams up with Hush-Kit’s Joe Coles to dig deep, and uncover ten masterpieces of conspicuous inconspicuity.

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10. Antonov An-26 ‘Curl’, Kazakh Border Guard, ‘Chocolate pudding’  

 

9. Northrop F-5N Tiger II, US Navy, ‘Rhythm of the Saints’

This Navy aggressor impresses with a wild dazzling stripe scheme.

8. Lockheed Martin F-16C Fighting Falcon, US Air Force ‘Arctic monkey’

7. Sukhoi Su-27UB ‘Flanker’, Eritrean Air Force, ‘Splinter faction’

African ‘phwoar-lord’.

 

6. ShinMaywa US-2, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, ‘Blue steel’

Smart as hell. US Pacific World War II style? 1950s US Navy chic? Steel blue with crisp red Hinomaru: perfection.

5. Grumman F-14AM Tomcat, Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force, ‘Shi-raz-clart Mehrabadboy’

A smart desert splinter scheme reminiscent of an airshow ‘Flanker’ of the 1990s gives this Iranian Tomcat a certain something. Smart white undersides.

4. Antonov An-22 ‘Cock’, Russian Air Force, ‘Insert heteronormative Cock joke here’

Attempting to hide such a massive airlifter is an exercise in futility. Still, nice Bond-esque scheme.

3. MD Helicopters MD500, Korean People’s Air Force, ‘Lime twizzler’

Crazy colours, turquoise belly. Job’s a good’un.

2. Grumman S-2T Tracker, Republic of China Air Force, ‘Return to the blue lagoon’

Carnival time, down in Taiwan.

 

1. McDonnell Douglas F-4EJ Phantom II, Japan Air-Self Defense Force, ‘Digital Forest Ranger’ Spetsnaz Viggen. Disrupticon prime.

 

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This site needs your help to continue. Our site is absolutely free and we have no advertisements (any you do see, are from WordPress). If you’ve enjoyed an article you can donate here. 

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