Soviet Union Archives

Aerospace & Defense

‘Death Is Imminent!’: An SR-71 Blackbird Lost Its Entire Nose Section in a Collision With Its Own Tanker at Altitude. Both Crewmen Ejected and Both Survived.

The SR-71 Blackbird managed roughly 2,000 nautical miles on internal fuel. With KC-135Q tankers positioned along the route, missions ran past 12,000. The fastest...

Jack BuckbySeptember 14, 2026

Aerospace & Defense

“It Can’t Fire a Gun and Doesn’t Carry a Bomb.” That Was the Air Force Chief of Staff on the SR-71 Blackbird, an Aircraft With 17,300 Sorties and Zero Losses to Enemy Fire.

Across its life the SR-71 Blackbird program flew 53,490 hours over 17,300 sorties, including 11,675 hours above Mach 3 — a record of production...

Harry J. KazianisSeptember 13, 2026

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

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

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

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

Varyag under tow in Istanbul. Mainland China purchased the former Soviet carrier, Varyag, from the Ukraine in 1998 for about $20 million dollars (US). The Varyag was the newer, sister ship to the Russian Kuznetsov. But the Ukrainian government had never finished the carrier after the fall of the Soviet Union and had tried to sell it to various concerns. As a result, the carrier fell into a state of disrepair. The Chinese bought the carrier and indicated that the holding company that had purchased it planned to tow it to Red China and make it a floating casino.

Aerospace & Defense

China’s First Aircraft Carrier Was Bought from Ukraine By a Travel Agency for $20,000,000 in 1998 Under a Plan to Make It a Floating Casino in Macau. It Was Commissioned Into the People’s Liberation Army Navy as the Liaoning.

The Varyag aircraft carrier had no propulsion and no crew, so it had to be dragged. Turkey refused passage through the Bosphorus for sixteen...

Harrison KassSeptember 11, 2026

Typhoon-Class Submarine SSBN Soviet Navy

Aerospace & Defense

The Soviet Typhoon-Class Submarine Displaced 48,000 Tons, Carried Up to 200 Nuclear Warheads, and Had a Swimming Pool and a Sauna. It Could Stay Under the Arctic Ice for 120 Days.

Inside one outer casing sat five separate pressure hulls: two complete parallel main hulls side by side like a catamaran, plus three more for...

Harry J. KazianisSeptember 11, 2026

Aerospace & Defense

Congress Spent $100,000,000 Bringing Just 2 SR-71 Blackbirds Back from Retirement in 1995 and Another $30,000,000 in 1997. By 1998 the Program Was Dead Again.

Across its whole service life the SR-71 Blackbird accumulated 53,490 flight hours, 11,675 of them above Mach 3, over 17,300 sorties. By the late...

Brandon WeichertSeptember 10, 2026

19FortyFive

All posts tagged "Soviet Union"

Aerospace & Defense

‘Death Is Imminent!’: An SR-71 Blackbird Lost Its Entire Nose Section in a Collision With Its Own Tanker at Altitude. Both Crewmen Ejected and Both Survived.

Aerospace & Defense

“It Can’t Fire a Gun and Doesn’t Carry a Bomb.” That Was the Air Force Chief of Staff on the SR-71 Blackbird, an Aircraft With 17,300 Sorties and Zero Losses to Enemy Fire.

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

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

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

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.

Aerospace & Defense

China’s First Aircraft Carrier Was Bought from Ukraine By a Travel Agency for $20,000,000 in 1998 Under a Plan to Make It a Floating Casino in Macau. It Was Commissioned Into the People’s Liberation Army Navy as the Liaoning.

Aerospace & Defense

The Soviet Typhoon-Class Submarine Displaced 48,000 Tons, Carried Up to 200 Nuclear Warheads, and Had a Swimming Pool and a Sauna. It Could Stay Under the Arctic Ice for 120 Days.

Aerospace & Defense

Congress Spent $100,000,000 Bringing Just 2 SR-71 Blackbirds Back from Retirement in 1995 and Another $30,000,000 in 1997. By 1998 the Program Was Dead Again.

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