News: The Idaho ANG's 124th FW is retiring its A-10C fleet, with the first aircraft already gone. All A-10s are expected to be divested by mid-2026, as the unit transitions to F-16s, slated to arrive by spring 2027.

A fascinating overview of the W88 - high-yield, miniaturized thermonuclear warhead designed for the UGM-133 Trident SLBM. With a yield of 475 kilotons, the W88 is one of the most powerful nuclear warheads in the U.S. arsenal.

NASA’s F-18 High Alpha Research Vehicle, nicknamed “Silk Purse,” doing what it did best - pulling an extreme high-angle-of-attack maneuver using thrust vectoring magic. The special program ran from 1987 to 1996, logging 385 research flights.

Hangin' out. down the street?.An A-4C from VA-36 “Roadrunners” hangs off the bow of USS America (CVA-66) after its brakes failed while taxiing (December 7, 1966). The jet rolled over the edge and was caught in the safety nets, nose-down above the sea. The pilot, Lt. K.W.

An Atlas Cheetah in rainbow colours, as bold and bright as its sharkmouth smile! Developed as a major upgrade of the French Dassault Mirage III, the Denel (later Atlas) Cheetah served the SAAF as a multi-role fighter from 1986 to 2008.

That don't call it a supercarrier for nothing. USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), ladies and gentlemen.

P.S. The RB-57F was flown by No. 24 Squadron “Blinders” of the Pakistan Air Force - the same unit that today operates the DA-20 EW Falcons.

By then, it had already done its job. The RB-57F shaped PAF planning, exposed IAF vulnerabilities, and demonstrated how far Cold War-era US assistance could go. It wasn’t just a spyplane - it was a black asset that briefly tilted the intelligence war in Pakistan’s favour. 5/5

Eventually, India got a partial win. On September 15, 1965, as the RB-57F started its decent near Ambala AB on its return to Peshawar, it was struck by two SA-2 SAMs at 52,000 ft. The blast damaged the airframe. Though the crew nursed it home, it crash-landed at Peshawar and was

MiG-21s, IAF's most advanced fighter at the time, were scrambled repeatedly to intercept the high-flying RB-57F streaking near the edge of space. But the MiGs lacked both the altitude performance and the tactics to engage. The spyplane flew unchallenged, day after day. 3/5

Flying at over 70,000 ft, the RB-57F penetrated deep into Indian airspace, conducting bomb damage assessment and electronic intelligence missions. It intercepted IAF radio traffic, mapped radar networks, and provided the PAF with critical insight into Indian air defences. It was

Did you know that during the 1965 Indo-Pak War, the Pakistan Air Force operated a single, ultra-specialised RB-57F for strategic reconnaissance and electronic warfare? Supplied secretly by the United States to spy on Soviet ICBMs, this high-flying spyplane instead became one of

An A-7D at the arming area at Korat AB (Circa 1972). The wing commander’s jet was the only A-7D in the 354th Sqn to wear a sharkmouth - matching the SAM-hunting F-105s from the 17th Wild Weasel Sqn seen in the background.

Apologies, folks - this is an F-4S, not an F-4J. The F-4S was an upgraded F-4J, fitted with leading-edge slats for better manoeuvrability and new smokeless engines to reduce its signature. Thanks for all those who pointed this out 🙏.

A stunning shot of an F-4J in flight. Essentially, an upgraded F-4B with improved engines, radar, and avionics, the “Jaybird” became the definitive Navy Phantom. It brought new teeth to the fleet and set the standard for carrier-based interceptors in the '70s. Btw, those

On September 13, 1985, Maj. Doug Pearson flew a modified F-15A, nicknamed "Celestial Eagle," to 38,000 ft, and fired the ASM-135A straight up like a space-bound javelin. Minutes later, it slammed into the defunct 6.8-ft Solwind P78-1 satellite orbiting 290 miles above Earth -

The missile chosen was LTV Aerospace's ASM-135A, a three-stage marvel of Cold War overengineering. The first two stages hurled it into space; the third deployed a Miniature Kill Vehicle (MKV) - a 40 lb interceptor with 63 micro thrusters and an infrared sensor chilled by liquid

Shooting down satellites isn’t science fiction anymore. The US, Russia, China, and India have all proven they can swat low Earth orbit satellites using anti-ballistic missile tech. But in the early 80s, it was a huge deal. The Soviets were believed to have an armed

Vintage footage of an AH-1 Cobra unleashing a salvo of 2.75 inch FFARs during trials. A single salvo could saturate an area roughly the size of two football fields. Rocket firing Cobras became one of the most feared weapons of the Vietnam War.

My sister visited the International Spy Museum in D.C. and sent me this photo. Always fascinating how recon aircraft like the U-2 straddle genres - you’ll find them in aviation museums as well as in spy museums 😀 Btw she loved the place. Highly recommend.