US Air Force Archives

SR-71 Blackbird High in the Sky USAF Photo

Aerospace & Defense

On April 26, 1971 an SR-71 Blackbird Flew More Than 15,000 Miles in 10 Hours and 30 Minutes With 5 Aerial Refuelings. 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. Kazianis1 hour ago

A U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor assigned to the 525th Fighter Squadron, 3rd Wing, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, takes off at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, Aug. 9, 2021. Approximately 800 Airmen and 35 aircraft participated in Pacific Air Forces’ Dynamic Force Employment operation in Guam and Tinian. The operation focused on projecting forces into the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command’s area of responsibility in support of the 2018 National Defense Strategy, calling on the military to be a more lethal, adaptive and resilient force. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Richard P. Ebensberger)

Aerospace & Defense

A Boeing KC-46 Pegasus Boom Jammed in the Receptacle of an F-22 Raptor 100 Miles Off Virginia on July 8, 2025, Struck the Tanker After the Aircraft Separated, and Broke Off Into the Atlantic. The Air Force Put the Damage at $9,980,000.

On May 12 the Air Force and Boeing announced a readiness plan with an unusual first item: five early-production KC-46s that were not due...

Jack Buckby4 hours ago

Aerospace & Defense

The 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. Kazianis4 hours ago

A U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor, assigned to the F-22 Demonstration Team, executes precision aerial maneuvers during a practice airshow at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, Dec. 5, 2024. The practice session helps ensure the team maintains peak performance and readiness during the off-season. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Nicholas Rupiper)

Aerospace & Defense

The US Air Force F-22 Raptor Stealth Fighter Holds Speeds Above Mach 1.5 Without Ever Lighting an Afterburner. Its 2 Pratt & Whitney F119-PW-100 Engines Make About 35,000 Pounds of Thrust Each, and the Fleet Just Passed 1,000,000 Flight Hours on an Engine Last Built in 2013.

Supercruise is not just engine power. The F-22 carries its weapons internally rather than hung under the wings, so nothing is sitting in the...

Jack Buckby16 hours ago

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. Kazianis16 hours ago

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. Kazianis1 day ago

F-15J Fighter from Japan Creative Commons Image

Aerospace & Defense

Japan’s Mach 2.5 F-15J Fighter Won’t Ever Fly for the US Air Force As It Was Custom Built for Tokyo

Denied the AN/ALQ-135 jammer, Japan fitted its own J/ALQ-8. Denied the AN/ALR-56, it built the J/APR-4. It even developed its own tactical data link...

Steve Balestrieri1 day ago

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. Kazianis1 day ago

Aerospace & Defense

The United States 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. Kazianis2 days ago

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 Balestrieri2 days ago

19FortyFive

All posts tagged "US Air Force"

Aerospace & Defense

On April 26, 1971 an SR-71 Blackbird Flew More Than 15,000 Miles in 10 Hours and 30 Minutes With 5 Aerial Refuelings. The Limit Was Not Fuel, Not the Engines, and Not the Crew. It Was 212 Liters of Liquid Nitrogen.

Aerospace & Defense

A Boeing KC-46 Pegasus Boom Jammed in the Receptacle of an F-22 Raptor 100 Miles Off Virginia on July 8, 2025, Struck the Tanker After the Aircraft Separated, and Broke Off Into the Atlantic. The Air Force Put the Damage at $9,980,000.

Aerospace & Defense

The 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

The US Air Force F-22 Raptor Stealth Fighter Holds Speeds Above Mach 1.5 Without Ever Lighting an Afterburner. Its 2 Pratt & Whitney F119-PW-100 Engines Make About 35,000 Pounds of Thrust Each, and the Fleet Just Passed 1,000,000 Flight Hours on an Engine Last Built in 2013.

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

Japan’s Mach 2.5 F-15J Fighter Won’t Ever Fly for the US Air Force As It Was Custom Built for Tokyo

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 United States 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

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.

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