The Boeing X-32 Boeing was given a four-year contract by the US Department of Defense in 1996 for the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program competition’s concept demonstration phase. The intention…
The Barricade landing Navy carrier operations are a furious ballet that flogs the senses, even in the calmest circumstances. This is taken a step further when the choice is made…
The Vigilante The North American A3J Vigilante was once intended to be a Mach 2 all-weather bomber with nuclear weapons capability. However, as nuclear submarines took over the Navy’s strategic…
A lonely US Navy A-7 intercepts a formation of Soviet Tu-16 Badger bombers The Tupolev Tu-16, also known by the NATO reporting name Badger, was an innovative project that was…
The F-4 Constructed initially as a high-altitude interceptor, the F-4 Phantom II soon proved to be a unique aircraft, setting more than a dozen world records for speed, altitude, and…
The P-3 Orion Ten men focus on instrument panels, scopes, and detection devices as their P-3 Orion flies an ASW search pattern, far from land, skimming over rough seas whose…
The English Electric Lightning Designed as a Mach 2 interceptor with an unrivaled rate of climb, the English Electric Lightning was frequently referred to as “a pilot sitting on two…
The hottest ‘battlefield’ of the Cold War Germany was the most heated “battlefield” of the Cold War, remaining divided for decades between the late 1940s and the early 1990s. According…
Ejection seat An ejection seat is a mechanism installed in an aircraft that is intended to save the pilot or other crew members in the event of an emergency. Most…
Why the oxygen mask? Fighter pilots consistently wear a mask and helmet. Fighter jocks at high altitudes need oxygen masks in order to prevent hypoxia and maintain the brain’s oxygen…