Cold War Archives

Aerospace & Defense

At 75,000 Feet an SR-71 Blackbird Pilot Could See the Horizon 335 Miles Away and Make Out the Curvature of the Earth. He Could Also See the Contrail of the Soviet Fighter Coming for Him, 100 Miles Out.

The SR-71 Blackbird was outside Soviet territorial waters, but the interceptor knew where the turn was coming. Ed Yeilding assumed the MiG pilot had...

Jack BuckbySeptember 13, 2026

SR-71 Blackbird High in the Sky USAF Photo

Aerospace & Defense

A US Air Force Mach 3 SR-71 Blackbird Flew More Than 15,000 Miles in 10 Hours and 30 Minutes With 5 Aerial Refueling. The Limit Was Not Fuel, Not the Engines, and Not the Crew. It Was 212 Liters of Liquid Nitrogen.

The SR-71 Blackbird carried two consumables that each capped the mission. Liquid nitrogen in Dewar flasks in the nose wheel well, and triethylborane —...

Harry J. KazianisSeptember 13, 2026

Aerospace & Defense

Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird Came Back From Every Mission 3 to 4 Inches Longer Than It Took Off. At Mach 3.2 the Titanium Skin Ran Around 620 Degrees Fahrenheit, So Lockheed Built the Panels Loose on Purpose and the Fuel Tanks Leaked on the Ramp Until Heat Swelled the Joints Shut.

For the SR-71 Blackbird, Corning spent years and millions developing solid quartz windows because ordinary glass would have distorted. The wing skin was deliberately...

Harry J. KazianisSeptember 13, 2026

Aerospace & Defense

Over 4,000 Missiles Failed to Hit a Single US Air Force Mach 3.2 SR-71 Blackbird. Speed Was the Only Way to Survive as It Had No Weapons to Fire Back

The SR-71 Blackbird did not dodge missiles so much as it made the intercept mathematically unaffordable, arriving and departing faster than the defense could...

Harry J. KazianisSeptember 12, 2026

Aerospace & Defense

The Mach 3 US Air Force SR-71 Blackbird Ran on a Fuel So Stable You Could Put Out a Match in It. Then They Had to Invent a Way to Light It.

No tanker on earth could carry JP-7, so the Air Force built one for the SR-71 Blackbird. The KC-135Q had isolated tanks and separate...

Harry J. KazianisSeptember 12, 2026

Aerospace & Defense

Russia Built a Titanium Hulled ‘Golden Fish’ Nuclear Submarine That Could Hit 44 Knots That Had 2 Reactors. The Goal Was to Hunt US Navy Aircraft Carriers

Ordinary pressure hulls were steel. Project 661 (also known as the Papa-Class or the K-222 submarine) used titanium alloy, which meant the Soviet Union...

Harrison KassSeptember 12, 2026

SR-71 Blackbird over the Earth Creative Commons Photo

Aerospace & Defense

To Fly the US Air Force SR-71 Blackbird at Mach 3 and 85,000 Feet You Needed an Astronaut’s Body, Iron Nerves, and the Stomach to Outrun Soviet Missiles

The Air Force never advertised. A board met at Beale roughly every six months to fill seats opening seven to nine months later, working...

Harry J. KazianisSeptember 12, 2026

Aerospace & Defense

The Eurofighter Typhoon First Flew in 1994 and Can Never Be Made Into the F-22 or F-35. In January 2026 the UK Signed a £453,500,000 Contract for 40 ECRS Mk2 Radars — About £11,300,000 Each — That Track Targets and Jam Enemy Sensors at the Same Time Across a 200-Degree Field of Regard.

The ECRS Mk2 folds radar, electronic warfare and jamming into one gallium-nitride array, which hands the Typhoon a Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses role...

Steve BalestrieriSeptember 11, 2026

Venera 14 Probe Image Creative Commons Photo

Aerospace & Defense

On March 5, 1982, the Soviet Venera 14 Lander Survived 870 Degrees Fahrenheit and 92 Times Earth’s Atmospheric Pressure to Reach the Surface of Venus. Its Soil Instrument Deployed Exactly as Designed and Measured the Camera Lens Cap the Spacecraft Had Just Ejected.

Perseverance and Curiosity have spent years on Mars choosing targets and repositioning instruments. Venera 14 had under an hour before Venus destroyed it. Every...

Harrison KassSeptember 11, 2026

Aerospace & Defense

America Did Not Have Enough High-Grade Titanium to Build the SR-71 Blackbird, So the CIA Bought It From the Soviet Union Through Shell Companies in Neutral Countries. The Airframe Was 85 to 90 Percent Titanium, and Much of the Ore Came Out of Soviet Ukraine.

Cadmium-plated steel tools embrittled titanium on contact, so Lockheed had to build new tools out of titanium for the SR-71 Blackbird. Parts washed in...

Harry J. KazianisSeptember 11, 2026

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All posts tagged "Cold War"

Aerospace & Defense

At 75,000 Feet an SR-71 Blackbird Pilot Could See the Horizon 335 Miles Away and Make Out the Curvature of the Earth. He Could Also See the Contrail of the Soviet Fighter Coming for Him, 100 Miles Out.

Aerospace & Defense

A US Air Force Mach 3 SR-71 Blackbird Flew More Than 15,000 Miles in 10 Hours and 30 Minutes With 5 Aerial Refueling. The Limit Was Not Fuel, Not the Engines, and Not the Crew. It Was 212 Liters of Liquid Nitrogen.

Aerospace & Defense

Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird Came Back From Every Mission 3 to 4 Inches Longer Than It Took Off. At Mach 3.2 the Titanium Skin Ran Around 620 Degrees Fahrenheit, So Lockheed Built the Panels Loose on Purpose and the Fuel Tanks Leaked on the Ramp Until Heat Swelled the Joints Shut.

Aerospace & Defense

Over 4,000 Missiles Failed to Hit a Single US Air Force Mach 3.2 SR-71 Blackbird. Speed Was the Only Way to Survive as It Had No Weapons to Fire Back

Aerospace & Defense

The Mach 3 US Air Force SR-71 Blackbird Ran on a Fuel So Stable You Could Put Out a Match in It. Then They Had to Invent a Way to Light It.

Aerospace & Defense

Russia Built a Titanium Hulled ‘Golden Fish’ Nuclear Submarine That Could Hit 44 Knots That Had 2 Reactors. The Goal Was to Hunt US Navy Aircraft Carriers

Aerospace & Defense

To Fly the US Air Force SR-71 Blackbird at Mach 3 and 85,000 Feet You Needed an Astronaut’s Body, Iron Nerves, and the Stomach to Outrun Soviet Missiles

Aerospace & Defense

The Eurofighter Typhoon First Flew in 1994 and Can Never Be Made Into the F-22 or F-35. In January 2026 the UK Signed a £453,500,000 Contract for 40 ECRS Mk2 Radars — About £11,300,000 Each — That Track Targets and Jam Enemy Sensors at the Same Time Across a 200-Degree Field of Regard.

Aerospace & Defense

On March 5, 1982, the Soviet Venera 14 Lander Survived 870 Degrees Fahrenheit and 92 Times Earth’s Atmospheric Pressure to Reach the Surface of Venus. Its Soil Instrument Deployed Exactly as Designed and Measured the Camera Lens Cap the Spacecraft Had Just Ejected.

Aerospace & Defense

America Did Not Have Enough High-Grade Titanium to Build the SR-71 Blackbird, So the CIA Bought It From the Soviet Union Through Shell Companies in Neutral Countries. The Airframe Was 85 to 90 Percent Titanium, and Much of the Ore Came Out of Soviet Ukraine.

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