Space Force Budget Doubles to $71 Billion
The United States Space Force is six years old, has fewer personnel than the New York City Police Department, and just asked Congress for $71 billion. If approved, the 2027 budget request would nearly double the service’s funding in a single year — the most...
Anduril Secretly Building Hypersonic Missiles and Drones
Palmer Luckey sold virtual reality headsets to Facebook for two billion dollars, then used the proceeds to build a defence company that makes autonomous weapons. Now that company — Anduril Industries — is quietly hiring engineers to design missiles that fly faster...
Jolly Green Gets Missile Shield After Iran Rescue
The HH-60W Jolly Green II flew into Iran on April 2 to rescue the crew of a downed F-15E Strike Eagle. It found the pilot, pulled him aboard, and took hits from small arms fire on the way out — wounding crew members but staying airborne. The helicopter did everything...
Belgium Picks SkyCourier as Its First Special-Ops Plane
Belgium has an unconventional taste in special operations aircraft. While most NATO allies shop for modified business jets or purpose-built gunships, Brussels just placed an order for five Cessna 408 SkyCouriers — a twin-turboprop designed to haul FedEx packages. It...
Chile’s KC-135 Refuels F-35s in a Latin American First
At 26,000 feet over the Pacific, a Chilean Air Force KC-135E extended its boom toward a pair of American fighters that no South American nation has ever operated. Two F-35A Lightning IIs from the 388th Fighter Wing at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, locked on, took fuel,...
Twelve Seconds That Changed the World: The Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk
At 10:35 on the morning of December 17, 1903, on a cold, windswept beach in North Carolina, a 32-year-old bicycle mechanic from Dayton, Ohio climbed onto a wooden biplane, opened the throttle of a 12-horsepower engine, and flew. Orville Wright stayed aloft for 12...
The Ride That Nearly Killed Chuck Yeager
Quick Facts PilotColonel Chuck Yeager, USAF — the first human to break the sound barrier (1947) AircraftLockheed NF-104A Aerospace Trainer — an F-104 Starfighter modified with a 6,000-lb thrust Rocketdyne AR2-3 rocket motor DateDecember 10, 1963 Peak Altitude108,700...
Red, Green, White, Flash: What Every Light on a Plane Means
Quick Facts Navigation LightsRed (left/port wingtip), Green (right/starboard wingtip), White (tail) — required from sunset to sunrise and in reduced visibility Anti-Collision LightsRed rotating beacon (top and bottom of fuselage) — on whenever engines are running...
Why Airplane Cabins Are Pressurised to 6,000 Feet, Not Sea Level
Quick Facts Cruise AltitudeMost airliners cruise between 35,000 and 42,000 feet — where the outside air pressure is roughly one-quarter of sea level Cabin AltitudeTypically maintained at 6,000–8,000 feet equivalent — NOT sea level Why Not Sea Level?Maintaining...
Pushed by Angels: The Me 262’s Doomed Revolution
Quick Facts AircraftMesserschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe (“Swallow”) — the world’s first operational jet fighter First FlightJuly 18, 1942 (jet-only power); entered service April 1944 Top Speed870 km/h (540 mph) — roughly 150 km/h faster than any Allied...
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