Aircraft | War History

The Five Greatest Fighter Aircraft Ever Flown By the US Military

F-15E Strike Eagle in flight + F-86 Sabre in flight + Belly of an F-4E Phantom II in flight + F/A-18E/F Super Hornet in flight + F-22 Raptor in flight

Over the course of history, world powers have worked relentlessly to build the best fighter aircraft. American manufacturers, such as McDonnell Douglas, Lockheed Martin and…

Why the F-15 Eagle is the Best Fighter Aircraft of All Time

F-15 Eagle in flight

The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle is a twin-engine fighter aircraft that has served the US Air Force for decades. Entering service in 1976, the F-15…

Tom Cruise Created Intense Flight Training Program for ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Co-Stars

Jay Ellis, Monica Barbaro and Danny Ramirez in 'Top Gun: Maverick'

Top Gun: Maverick has only just been released in movie theaters, but that doesn’t mean reviews haven’t begun to role in. The sequel to the…

Junkers Ju 87Bs Utilized Psychological Warfare Against Allied Ground Troops

Junkers Ju 87Bs in flight

The Germans during the Second World War hoped to take over the world, and they didn’t just plan to do so by using military force.…

Was Ball Turret Gunner the Worst Position to Hold During World War II?

Gunner sitting in the entrance to a ball turret

There were plenty of positions during World War II that put a serviceman’s life at risk. Arguably one of the worst was being the ball…

Here’s Why the Russian Sukhoi Su-27 Has Withstood the Test of Time

Sukhoi Su-27 in flight

The Sukhoi Su-27, nicknamed the “Flanker” by NATO, is a Soviet-made aircraft that has withstood the test of time and continues to perform in almost…

The History of the US Navy’s TOPGUN School

Tom Cruise and Larry Gilyard starring in 'Top Gun'

The popular Tom Cruise movie Top Gun debuted in theaters in 1986, and features Cruise and his co-stars attending the US Navy’s TOPGUN school –…

The Titanium Used to Construct the SR-71 Blackbird Came from the Soviet Union

SR-71 Blackbird in flight

Aviation technology rapidly advanced during the 20th century, but as the aircraft advanced, so too did the machines and technology designed to detect them. In…

Close Air-to-Air Combat Made MiG Alley One of the Deadliest Places of the Korean War

Four photos of a Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 in flight

For many US Air Force pilots, one of the most deadly places to battle the enemy during the Korean War was MiG Alley. The site…

Lockheed AC-130: The Gunship That Provided Much-Needed Support in Vietnam

Lockheed AC-130 in flight

The Lockheed AC-130 is a special operations gunship that can trace its history back to the Douglas C-47 Skytrain. Over its nearly 60 years of…

A-12 Spy Plane: Why Lockheed’s CIA Spy Plane Only Flew 29 Missions

Lockheed A-12 in flight

The Lockheed A-12 spy plane was developed for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) for service during Project Oxcart. While it had the potential for a…

Grumman F-14 Tomcat: The Versatile Fighter Made For Top Gun Pilots

Grumman F-14 Tomcat taking off

The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is one of the most iconic aircraft to ever be operated by the US Navy, with it serving as the primary…