Steve Balestrieri

Aerospace & Defense

In 1987 Japan Agreed to Build a Licensed Version of the American F-16 Fighting Falcon Instead of Its Own Fighter. More Than 95 Percent of the Engineering Drawings Were Changed, and the Finished Mitsubishi F-2 Cost About $127,000,000 Each Against $30,000,000 for an F-16.

On March 11, 2011, the tsunami flooded Matsushima Air Base and submerged 18 F-2Bs in salt water. Five were scrapped. Japan repaired the other...

Steve BalestrieriSeptember 11, 2026

Aerospace & Defense

A US Air Force B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber Fired a Stealth Anti-Ship Missile at the USS Juneau, an Amphibious Ship Commissioned in 1969 and Left in Mothballs for 18 Years. It Still Took 2 Harpoons, a Japanese Torpedo, a Hellfire, and 2 More Missiles to Put Her Under.

LPD-10 was commissioned in 1969, brought Marines home from Vietnam, answered the Exxon Valdez spill in 1989, and sailed for Desert Shield. The Navy...

Steve BalestrieriSeptember 11, 2026

Aerospace & Defense

Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird’s Pratt & Whitney J58 Engines Ran at Full Afterburner for Hours at a Time With Exhaust Temperatures Near 3,400 Degrees. At Mach 3.2 Cruise, Roughly 80 Percent of the Thrust Came From the Inlet, Not the Engine.

The J58 burned JP-7, a blend so hard to ignite that a lit match dropped into it goes out. Starting the engines required a...

Steve BalestrieriSeptember 11, 2026

Aerospace & Defense

Northrop Spent About $1,200,000,000 of Its Own Money on the F-20 Tigershark and Sold 0 Aircraft. The F-5 It Was Built to Replace Has Been Flying for More Than 60 Years.

The F-5E was never meant to be the best fighter available. It was built to be credible, affordable and easy to keep in the...

Steve BalestrieriSeptember 11, 2026

Aerospace & Defense

82 Years Ago, Army General George Patton’s Advice on How to Become a ‘Successful Soldier’ Is Still One of the Greatest Military Quotes in Armed Forces History

Before El Guettar he read Rommel's own book, Infantry Attacks. As a young cavalry officer he studied Roman sword technique, concluded the point killed...

Steve BalestrieriSeptember 11, 2026

Aerospace & Defense

F-117 Nighthawks Flew 2 Percent of Desert Storm’s Sorties and Hit 40 Percent of the Targets — More Than 1,500 of Them in 43 Nights, Without a Single Loss. 8 Years Later a 1961 Soviet Missile Shot 1 Down.

Colonel Zoltán Dani did not get lucky. He moved his missile battery constantly through the 78-day campaign, used couriers and landlines instead of radios,...

Steve BalestrieriSeptember 10, 2026

Aerospace & Defense

Northrop Spent More Than $750,000,000 of Its Own Money on the F-20 Tigershark Without a Dollar of Pentagon Funding. It Sold 0 Aircraft and Wrote Off About $1,200,000,000.

Northrop funded the F-20 Tigershark itself — more than $750,000,000 with no Pentagon research money. The aircraft out-turned the F-16 at 13.2 degrees per...

Steve BalestrieriSeptember 10, 2026

Aerospace & Defense

The F-14 Tomcat’s Engine Was Designed in 1958 for a Short-Haul Airliner. The US Navy Put It in a Dogfighter Anyway, and It Took Until 1988 to Put a Proper Fighter Engine In.

The Pratt & Whitney TF30 began in 1958 as a proposal for a short-haul jet airliner. It ended up in the F-14 Tomcat because...

Steve BalestrieriSeptember 10, 2026

Aerospace & Defense

The Dassault Rafale Fighter Costs About $16,500 an Hour to Fly and an F-35A Costs About $42,000. The Rafale Is Not Stealthy, and It Is Selling Better Than It Ever Has.

The Rafale entered service in 2001 and by any normal measure should be aging out. Instead it is in the middle of the largest...

Steve BalestrieriSeptember 9, 2026

PACIFIC OCEAN (Jan. 24, 2026) – U.S. Navy Lt. Patrick Urrutia, left, and U.S. Navy Lt. Jg. Gabriela Patrick depart a U.S. Navy EA-18G Growler attached to Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 129 on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71), Jan. 24, 2026. Theodore Roosevelt, flagship of Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 9, is underway conducting exercises to bolster strike group readiness and capability in the U.S. 3rd Fleet area of operations. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Apprentice Cesar Nungaray)

Aerospace & Defense

The US Navy EA-18G Growler Costs About $67,000,000. The Jamming Pods That Make It a Growler Cost Roughly $45,000,000 More, and a Combat-Ready Aircraft Passes $112,000,000.

The EA-18G Growler is a modified F/A-18F Super Hornet, and the airframe alone runs about $67,000,000. What makes it a Growler is bolted on...

Steve BalestrieriSeptember 9, 2026

19FortyFive

Steve Balestrieri

Aerospace & Defense

In 1987 Japan Agreed to Build a Licensed Version of the American F-16 Fighting Falcon Instead of Its Own Fighter. More Than 95 Percent of the Engineering Drawings Were Changed, and the Finished Mitsubishi F-2 Cost About $127,000,000 Each Against $30,000,000 for an F-16.

Aerospace & Defense

A US Air Force B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber Fired a Stealth Anti-Ship Missile at the USS Juneau, an Amphibious Ship Commissioned in 1969 and Left in Mothballs for 18 Years. It Still Took 2 Harpoons, a Japanese Torpedo, a Hellfire, and 2 More Missiles to Put Her Under.

Aerospace & Defense

Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird’s Pratt & Whitney J58 Engines Ran at Full Afterburner for Hours at a Time With Exhaust Temperatures Near 3,400 Degrees. At Mach 3.2 Cruise, Roughly 80 Percent of the Thrust Came From the Inlet, Not the Engine.

Aerospace & Defense

Northrop Spent About $1,200,000,000 of Its Own Money on the F-20 Tigershark and Sold 0 Aircraft. The F-5 It Was Built to Replace Has Been Flying for More Than 60 Years.

Aerospace & Defense

82 Years Ago, Army General George Patton’s Advice on How to Become a ‘Successful Soldier’ Is Still One of the Greatest Military Quotes in Armed Forces History

Aerospace & Defense

F-117 Nighthawks Flew 2 Percent of Desert Storm’s Sorties and Hit 40 Percent of the Targets — More Than 1,500 of Them in 43 Nights, Without a Single Loss. 8 Years Later a 1961 Soviet Missile Shot 1 Down.

Aerospace & Defense

Northrop Spent More Than $750,000,000 of Its Own Money on the F-20 Tigershark Without a Dollar of Pentagon Funding. It Sold 0 Aircraft and Wrote Off About $1,200,000,000.

Aerospace & Defense

The F-14 Tomcat’s Engine Was Designed in 1958 for a Short-Haul Airliner. The US Navy Put It in a Dogfighter Anyway, and It Took Until 1988 to Put a Proper Fighter Engine In.

Aerospace & Defense

The Dassault Rafale Fighter Costs About $16,500 an Hour to Fly and an F-35A Costs About $42,000. The Rafale Is Not Stealthy, and It Is Selling Better Than It Ever Has.

Aerospace & Defense

The US Navy EA-18G Growler Costs About $67,000,000. The Jamming Pods That Make It a Growler Cost Roughly $45,000,000 More, and a Combat-Ready Aircraft Passes $112,000,000.

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