Isaac Seitz

Aerospace & Defense

Twelve Mach 3 SR-71 Blackbirds Were Lost in Accidents and None to Enemy Fire. ‘Rapid Rabbit’ Nearly Became the Exception Over Hanoi. A Typhoon Did.

SR-71 Blackbird 61-7978 wore white bunny logos on its tails and the nickname "Rapid Rabbit," and in 1972 it used up every ounce of...

Isaac SeitzSeptember 16, 2026

U.S. Air Force Maj. Kristin “BEO” Wolfe, F-35A Lightning II Demonstration Team pilot and commander, flies an F-35A Lightning II assigned to the 421st Fighter Generation Squadron during Naval Air Station Key West 2023 Southernmost Air Spectacular over Boca Chica Field in Key West, Florida, April 14, 2023. The F-35 demonstrated its capabilities during the airhshow, along with the U.S. Navy Blue Angels and other various performers. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Kaitlyn Ergish)

Aerospace & Defense

Without Its Radar-Absorbent Coating, the F-35 Shows Up on Radar at About 0.06 Square Meters. With It, 0.0001. The Coating Does the Rest.

The F-35 Lightning II grew out of the Joint Strike Fighter program, a fighter designed from the start for export, and the F-35A entered...

Isaac SeitzSeptember 16, 2026

A 380th Air Expeditionary Wing F-22 Raptor prepares to launch a sortie in support of Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve at an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia, Dec. 14, 2016. The F-22s have provided support to multi-national Coalition partners working to defeat ISIS in the area of responsibility. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Tyler Woodward)

Aerospace & Defense

China’s J-20 Was Not Built to Fight the US Air Force F-22 Raptor. Its Job Is to Kill the Tankers and Radar Planes Behind It and to Hit U.S. Bases in the Pacific.

The F-22 Raptor was born from the Advanced Tactical Fighter program at the end of the Cold War, built to beat the Su-27 Flanker...

Isaac SeitzSeptember 15, 2026

Aerospace & Defense

A US Air Force SR-71 Blackbird Came Apart Around Pilot Bill Weaver at Mach 3.2 and 78,000 Feet. He Never Pulled the Handle — the Aircraft Threw Him Out. He Survived and Was Flying Again 2 Weeks Later.

The pressure suit did the work. It kept his blood from boiling at 78,000 feet, fed him oxygen, and its ejection system deployed a...

Isaac SeitzSeptember 14, 2026

Kirov-Class Russian Navy Creative Commons Image

Aerospace & Defense

Russia Commissioned the Nuclear Battlecruiser Admiral Nakhimov in 1986 and Sent Her to the Yard at Severodvinsk in 1999. She Came Out in 2025. She Has Now Spent Roughly Twice as Long Being Repaired as She Ever Spent in Service, at a Cost of About $5,000,000,000.

The old Kirov-class carried 20 P-700 Granit missiles. The rebuilt Admiral Nakhimov carries up to 80 in new vertical launch cells, compatible with the...

Isaac SeitzSeptember 14, 2026

General George Patton at National Portrait Gallery

Aerospace & Defense

Decades Later, US Army General George Patton’s Line That ‘You Can’t Run an Army Without Profanity’ Is Still One of the Greatest Military Quotes in Armed Forces History

US Army General George S. Patton: His allies could not agree on him. Americans respected the results and found him impossible to work with....

Isaac SeitzSeptember 14, 2026

Aerospace & Defense

The German WWII Panzer VIII Maus Tannk Was Specified at 100 Tonnes, Redrawn at 120, and Came Out Near 190. Hitler Ordered 5 Before the Design Was Finished and Wanted 10 a Month. Germany Completed 2 Prototypes, and Neither Ever Fought.

The Maus Tank: Frontal hull armor ran 220mm, the sides 190mm — thinned deliberately to save weight. The turret front was 240mm, the gun...

Isaac SeitzSeptember 13, 2026

Aerospace & Defense

The US Navy’s New $23,400,000,000 Nuclear Trump-Class Battleship Keeps Getting Called Obsolete Thanks to Drones. Chinese Military Experts Just Tested That Theory Out

The Trump-class lead ship, the 'battleship' USS Defiant, carries an estimated price tag of $23,400,000,000. Wang Lei's own conclusion is modest — artillery alone...

Isaac SeitzSeptember 12, 2026

Aerospace & Defense

Russia’s PAK-DA Strategic Bomber: Massive 35-Ton Payload, a 12,000 km Range, and Stealth Like the US Air Force B-2 Spirit But It Looks Frozen In Time

Russian defense officials have described a subsonic PAK-DA flying wing resembling the B-2 Spirit, carrying a 35-tonne payload in internal bays, with a crew...

Isaac SeitzSeptember 11, 2026

Russian Tu-160 bomber. Image Credit - Creative Commons.

Aerospace & Defense

Russia’s Mach 2 Tupolev Tu-160 Bomber Is the Heaviest Combat Aircraft Ever Built and Carries Up to 12 Cruise Missiles on 2 Internal Rotary Launchers. Russia Has Built About 4 New Ones in 11 Years.

Two rotary launchers in the internal bay give the Tu-160 up to 12 cruise missiles. The armament list runs Kh-55SM, Kh-555, Kh-101/102, and the...

Isaac SeitzSeptember 11, 2026

19FortyFive

Isaac Seitz

Aerospace & Defense

Twelve Mach 3 SR-71 Blackbirds Were Lost in Accidents and None to Enemy Fire. ‘Rapid Rabbit’ Nearly Became the Exception Over Hanoi. A Typhoon Did.

Aerospace & Defense

Without Its Radar-Absorbent Coating, the F-35 Shows Up on Radar at About 0.06 Square Meters. With It, 0.0001. The Coating Does the Rest.

Aerospace & Defense

China’s J-20 Was Not Built to Fight the US Air Force F-22 Raptor. Its Job Is to Kill the Tankers and Radar Planes Behind It and to Hit U.S. Bases in the Pacific.

Aerospace & Defense

A US Air Force SR-71 Blackbird Came Apart Around Pilot Bill Weaver at Mach 3.2 and 78,000 Feet. He Never Pulled the Handle — the Aircraft Threw Him Out. He Survived and Was Flying Again 2 Weeks Later.

Aerospace & Defense

Russia Commissioned the Nuclear Battlecruiser Admiral Nakhimov in 1986 and Sent Her to the Yard at Severodvinsk in 1999. She Came Out in 2025. She Has Now Spent Roughly Twice as Long Being Repaired as She Ever Spent in Service, at a Cost of About $5,000,000,000.

Aerospace & Defense

Decades Later, US Army General George Patton’s Line That ‘You Can’t Run an Army Without Profanity’ Is Still One of the Greatest Military Quotes in Armed Forces History

Aerospace & Defense

The German WWII Panzer VIII Maus Tannk Was Specified at 100 Tonnes, Redrawn at 120, and Came Out Near 190. Hitler Ordered 5 Before the Design Was Finished and Wanted 10 a Month. Germany Completed 2 Prototypes, and Neither Ever Fought.

Aerospace & Defense

The US Navy’s New $23,400,000,000 Nuclear Trump-Class Battleship Keeps Getting Called Obsolete Thanks to Drones. Chinese Military Experts Just Tested That Theory Out

Aerospace & Defense

Russia’s PAK-DA Strategic Bomber: Massive 35-Ton Payload, a 12,000 km Range, and Stealth Like the US Air Force B-2 Spirit But It Looks Frozen In Time

Aerospace & Defense

Russia’s Mach 2 Tupolev Tu-160 Bomber Is the Heaviest Combat Aircraft Ever Built and Carries Up to 12 Cruise Missiles on 2 Internal Rotary Launchers. Russia Has Built About 4 New Ones in 11 Years.

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