US Air Force Archives

A-12 Avenger II Creative Commons Computer Mock Up from 2023

Aerospace & Defense

The US Navy Fixed a Price on Stealth Technology Nobody Had Invented Yet, and the A-12 Avenger II Never Flew. 35 Years Later Boeing Lost $4,900,000,000 in a Single Year on the Same Kind of Contract.

Lockheed refused to bid. Northrop refused to bid, and told the Navy its cost estimate was at least $2,000,000,000 short. The contract fixed a...

Harry J. Kazianis4 days ago

Aerospace & Defense

“We Had Raptor Salad for Lunch.” German Eurofighter Typhoon Pilots Said That After Beating US Air Force F-22 Raptors at Red Flag 2012, Then Painted Raptor Kill Decals on Their Fuselages.

The Luftwaffe sent 8 Eurofighter Typhoons and 150 personnel to Alaska in 2012 for two weeks of Red Flag. In close-range basic fighter maneuvers,...

Brent M. Eastwood4 days ago

Maj. Kristin “BEO” Wolfe demonstrates the capabilities of the F-35A Lighting II, a single seat, single engine, all-weather stealth multirole fighter aircraft, during a practice flight with the F-35 Demonstration Team at Hill Air Force Base, Utah Feb. 6, 2024. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Jack Rodgers)

Aerospace & Defense

The US Air Force F-35 Lightning II Went 20 to 1 Against Aggressor F-16s at Red Flag 2017. In Stealth Configuration It Carries Only 4 AMRAAM Missiles, and the F-16 Pilots Worked That Out.

The F-35 Lightning II reportedly finished Red Flag 2017 with a 20:1 kill ratio, killing aggressor F-16s that never knew they had been seen....

Harrison Kass4 days ago

A B-21 Raider test aircraft lands at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., during ongoing developmental flight testing, Sept. 11, 2025. The B-21 will be the backbone of the bomber fleet; it will incrementally replace the B-1 Lancer and B-2 Spirit bombers. (U.S Air Force photo by Todd Schannuth)

Aerospace & Defense

Chinese Researchers Ran the US Air Force B-21 Raider Stealth Bomber Through Their Own Simulation Software Using Nothing but Public Photographs, and Say They Found Aerodynamic Flaws in It.

Researchers at the China Aerodynamics Research and Development Centre say they have identified aerodynamic and stability weaknesses in the US Air Force's B-21 Raider...

Harrison Kass4 days ago

Aerospace & Defense

The US Air Force Wanted to Retire All 162 A-10 Warthogs in 2026. Congress Wrote a Law Forcing It to Keep 126 of Them Flying Until 2033 and Named the Law After the Sound the Gun Makes.

The US Air Force wanted every remaining A-10 Warthog gone in the FY2026 budget cycle — all 162 of them, two years ahead of...

Brandon Weichert5 days ago

Aerospace & Defense

Boeing Spent $67,000,000 of Its Own Money Building the YF-118G Bird of Prey Stealth Aircraft. It Flew 38 Times on Landing Gear From a Beech King Air and an Ejection Seat From a Harrier.

Boeing paid for the YF-118G Bird of Prey out of its own pocket — roughly $67,000,000 — to prove that an all-aspect stealth aircraft...

Steve Balestrieri5 days ago

A U.S. Air Force F-15EX Eagle II assigned to Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, flies a training mission over southeast United States, March 23, 2026. The 96th Test Wing and 53rd Wing perform developmental and operational test series on the platform including next-generation survivability, radars, sensors and networking capabilities. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Blake Wiles)

Aerospace & Defense

Forget the F-35 Stealth Fighter: At 87,000,000,000 Operations Per Second, the US Air Force F-15EX Eagle II Is a Real Flying Supercomputer

The F-15EX Eagle II is not stealthy and the US Air Force bought it anyway. It flies at Mach 2.5 against the F-35's Mach...

Kris Osborn5 days ago

An artist's conception of the X-43A Hypersonic Experimental Vehicle, or "Hyper-X" in flight. The X-43A was developed to flight test a dual-mode ramjet/scramjet propulsion system at speeds from Mach 7 up to Mach 10 (7 to 10 times the speed of sound, which varies with temperature and altitude).

Aerospace & Defense

NASA Spent About $230,000,000 Over 8 Years on the Mach 9.6 X-43A Hypersonic Scramjet. It Flew 3 Times, the First 1 Was Destroyed by Its Own Booster, and the Engine Ran for Roughly 11 Seconds.

NASA's Hyper-X program ran 8 years and cost roughly $230,000,000, and it produced exactly 3 flights of the X-43A. The first ended with the...

Caleb Larson5 days ago

F-16XL fighter. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Aerospace & Defense

F-16XL Fighter Had 27 Hardpoints and Could Carry Twice the Payload of a Standard F-16 But Lost the Competition to the F-15E

General Dynamics took the lightweight F-16, gave it a cranked-arrow delta wing with 120 percent more area, raised the hardpoint count from 9 to...

Harrison Kass6 days ago

A U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor assigned to the 90th Fighter Squadron, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, flies over clouds during RED FLAG-Alaska 14-3 Aug. 20, 2014, Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska. A combination of sensor capability, integrated avionics, situational awareness and weapons provides first-kill opportunity against threats. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Jim Araos/Released)

Aerospace & Defense

The US Air Force’s F-22 Raptor Stealth Fighter Is Fighting In a World It Was Never Designed to Fly In

The F-22 Raptor entered service in 2005 and the line shut down in 2011, which means every dollar of the $10,900,000,000 modernization contract Lockheed...

Jack Buckby6 days ago

19FortyFive

All posts tagged "US Air Force"

Aerospace & Defense

The US Navy Fixed a Price on Stealth Technology Nobody Had Invented Yet, and the A-12 Avenger II Never Flew. 35 Years Later Boeing Lost $4,900,000,000 in a Single Year on the Same Kind of Contract.

Aerospace & Defense

“We Had Raptor Salad for Lunch.” German Eurofighter Typhoon Pilots Said That After Beating US Air Force F-22 Raptors at Red Flag 2012, Then Painted Raptor Kill Decals on Their Fuselages.

Aerospace & Defense

The US Air Force F-35 Lightning II Went 20 to 1 Against Aggressor F-16s at Red Flag 2017. In Stealth Configuration It Carries Only 4 AMRAAM Missiles, and the F-16 Pilots Worked That Out.

Aerospace & Defense

Chinese Researchers Ran the US Air Force B-21 Raider Stealth Bomber Through Their Own Simulation Software Using Nothing but Public Photographs, and Say They Found Aerodynamic Flaws in It.

Aerospace & Defense

The US Air Force Wanted to Retire All 162 A-10 Warthogs in 2026. Congress Wrote a Law Forcing It to Keep 126 of Them Flying Until 2033 and Named the Law After the Sound the Gun Makes.

Aerospace & Defense

Boeing Spent $67,000,000 of Its Own Money Building the YF-118G Bird of Prey Stealth Aircraft. It Flew 38 Times on Landing Gear From a Beech King Air and an Ejection Seat From a Harrier.

Aerospace & Defense

Forget the F-35 Stealth Fighter: At 87,000,000,000 Operations Per Second, the US Air Force F-15EX Eagle II Is a Real Flying Supercomputer

Aerospace & Defense

NASA Spent About $230,000,000 Over 8 Years on the Mach 9.6 X-43A Hypersonic Scramjet. It Flew 3 Times, the First 1 Was Destroyed by Its Own Booster, and the Engine Ran for Roughly 11 Seconds.

Aerospace & Defense

F-16XL Fighter Had 27 Hardpoints and Could Carry Twice the Payload of a Standard F-16 But Lost the Competition to the F-15E

Aerospace & Defense

The US Air Force’s F-22 Raptor Stealth Fighter Is Fighting In a World It Was Never Designed to Fly In

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