19FortyFive — Defense, National Security and Military Analysis

A-12 That Came From SR-71 Family USS Intrepid Photo Shoot 19FortyFive

Aerospace & Defense

The US Air Force Wanted 93 Mach 3 YF-12 Interceptors and Built 3. The Program Died in 1968, and Its Radar and Missile Went On to Arm the US Navy’s F-14 Tomcat for the Next 40 Years.

Kelly Johnson's idea was to turn the CIA's A-12 into a missile truck that could sit above 80,000 feet at three times the speed...

Brandon Weichert1 hour ago

Aerospace & Defense

An SR-71 Blackbird Left Andrews Air Force Base in 1984 With Its Own Afterburner Blowing 1,500-Degree Flame Into the Wing. The Pilot Dumped 14,000 Pounds of Fuel to Get the Weight Off and Set 13 Acres of Maryland on Fire.

The right SR-71 afterburner attachment section blew out on a low pass over the runway, driving flame into the nacelle and peeling titanium off...

Sean Spoonts4 hours ago

Aerospace & Defense

I Am a Retired US Army Special Forces NCO: NATO Asked for a Weapon to Arm Truck Drivers and Artillerymen Who Would Probably Never Fire It. It Ended Up With DEVGRU, GSG 9, GIGN and the US Capitol Police.

The 1989 requirement was to defeat the CRISAT target — 1.6mm of titanium backed by twenty layers of Kevlar — which no pistol cartridge...

Steve Balestrieri4 hours ago

Four F-117 Nighthawks fly in formation during a sortie over the Antelope Valley recently. After 25 years of history, the aircraft is set to retire soon. As the Air Force's first stealth fighter, the F-117 is capable of performing reconnaissance missions and bombing critical targets, all without the enemy's knowledge. (Photo by Bobbi Zapka)

Aerospace & Defense

Lockheed Wanted to Put the F-117 Nighthawk on US Navy Aircraft Carriers. It Proposed 255 of Them at $70,000,000 Each — Almost $17,900,000,000 — and Congress Set Aside $175,000,000 Just to Study Whether It Would Work. The Navy Said No Twice.

The Navy had just lost the A-12 Avenger II and had nothing to replace the aging A-6 Intruder, so Lockheed pitched the F-117 stealth...

Brandon Weichert5 hours ago

Aerospace & Defense

The US Navy Planned to Deliver the Aircraft Carrier USS John F. Kennedy in July 2025. She Is Now Due in March 2027. The 20-Month Slip Came Down to Arresting Gear Certification and the Weapons Elevators — the Same 2 Systems That Held Up USS Gerald R. Ford.

Ford was built with thinner deck and bulkhead plates to save weight, and the steel turned out to be harder to work with —...

Caleb Larson5 hours ago

Dr. Andrew A. Michta: Geostrategy

Putin’s Next Target May Be NATO Itself

Aerospace & Defense

The US Navy Has No Way to Get Close to China Without Being Showered by Thousands of Missiles and Drones

Aerospace & Defense

The Great US Marine Corps Reboot Has Arrived

The Embassy

Russia and NATO’s Gray Zone Actions Could Spark a War No One Wants

Dr. Andrew A. Michta: Geostrategy

Dr. Andrew A. Michta: Geostrategy

Why the Witkoff-Kushner Mission Failed: Washington Still Misreads the Stakes in Ukraine

Dr. Andrew A. Michta: Geostrategy

Germany Is Becoming Ukraine’s Most Important Ally in Europe — and Poland Is Paying the Price

Dr. Andrew A. Michta: Geostrategy

NATO’s Answer to the Pentagon’s Europe Review Already Exists: The Eastern Flank Deterrence Initiative

Dr. Andrew A. Michta: Geostrategy

The Eastern Flank Comes First: Inside NATO’s Post-Ankara Turn Toward Forward Defense and Industrial Muscle

Aerospace & Defense

Aerospace & Defense

Finnish and Swedish Jets Intercept Russian MiG-31s in First Joint Mission

Aerospace & Defense

A Piece of String Solved the Mystery of the US Air Force’s Crooked SR-71 Blackbird

Aerospace & Defense

The US Army’s 95-Ton Tank Needed Four Tracks and Still Only Hit 8 MPH

Aerospace & Defense

The US Army’s Nuclear-Powered Tank Was Too Radioactive for Its Own Crew

Trillions

Trillions - 19FortyFive

‘Effectively Closed’: The Strait of Hormuz Oil and Gas Crisis Is Going from Bad to Even Worse

Trillions - 19FortyFive

21 Years Ago, Apple Founder Steve Jobs Advice on Time and ‘Living Someone Else’s Life’ Is the Truth Serum That Still Shapes Our World

Trillions - 19FortyFive

“Money Never Made a Man Happy Yet, Nor Will It. The More a Man Has, the More He Wants.” Benjamin Franklin Was the 8th of 17 Children, Got 2 Years of Schooling Because His Family Could Not Afford More, and His Face Is on the $100 Bill.

Trillions - 19FortyFive

Iran’s Economy Is Buckling. That Is Not the Same as Iran Being Ready to Sign a Deal

The Embassy

The Embassy

Putin’s Giant Gamble: Another Ukraine War Mobilization Is Filled with Unknown Risks and An Angry Russia Simmering

The Embassy

‘Pivotal Meeting’: Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Donald Trump Will Meet Today. Here’s What’s on the Agenda to Try and End the Ukraine War

The Embassy

The Race to Succeed Putin Has Begun

The Embassy

Putin Is Using Russia’s Election to Recruit for the War in Ukraine

Hermit Kingdom

Hermit Kingdom

Donald Trump Needs to Bring Concessions if He Wants a Deal with North Korea

Hermit Kingdom

What the Iran War Proved About America’s Nuclear Weapons Threat to North Korea

Hermit Kingdom

The North Korea Deal Donald Trump Should Actually Want

Hermit Kingdom

North Korea’s Fingerprints Are All Over Iran’s War Against America

Aerospace & Defense

The US Air Force Wanted 93 Mach 3 YF-12 Interceptors and Built 3. The Program Died in 1968, and Its Radar and Missile Went On to Arm the US Navy’s F-14 Tomcat for the Next 40 Years.

Aerospace & Defense

An SR-71 Blackbird Left Andrews Air Force Base in 1984 With Its Own Afterburner Blowing 1,500-Degree Flame Into the Wing. The Pilot Dumped 14,000 Pounds of Fuel to Get the Weight Off and Set 13 Acres of Maryland on Fire.

Aerospace & Defense

I Am a Retired US Army Special Forces NCO: NATO Asked for a Weapon to Arm Truck Drivers and Artillerymen Who Would Probably Never Fire It. It Ended Up With DEVGRU, GSG 9, GIGN and the US Capitol Police.

Aerospace & Defense

Lockheed Wanted to Put the F-117 Nighthawk on US Navy Aircraft Carriers. It Proposed 255 of Them at $70,000,000 Each — Almost $17,900,000,000 — and Congress Set Aside $175,000,000 Just to Study Whether It Would Work. The Navy Said No Twice.

Aerospace & Defense

The US Navy Planned to Deliver the Aircraft Carrier USS John F. Kennedy in July 2025. She Is Now Due in March 2027. The 20-Month Slip Came Down to Arresting Gear Certification and the Weapons Elevators — the Same 2 Systems That Held Up USS Gerald R. Ford.

Trending

Aerospace & Defense

‘She Broke Free’: The CIA Used a Cover Story to Recover a Chunk of a Russian Ballistic Submarine Armed with Nuclear Warheads But Part of the Sub Slid Back Below the Waves

Aerospace & Defense

Boeing Spent $67,000,000 of Its Own Money Building 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

China’s J-20 And J-35A Stealth Fighters Don’t Have To Beat US Military F-22 Raptors And F-35s. Beijing Is Building Enough That They Don’t Need To

Aerospace & Defense

Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird’s Pratt & Whitney J58 Engines Ran at Full Afterburner for Hours at a Time With Exhaust Temperatures Near 3,400 Degrees. At Mach 3.2 Cruise, Roughly 80 Percent of the Thrust Came From the Inlet, Not the Engine.

Aerospace & Defense

$850,000,000 Australian Submarine ‘Sank’ $5,500,000,000 US Navy Nimitz-Class Aircraft Carrier By Evading US, Japanese, Canadian, Chilean, Korean, and British Forces — 6 Navies — and Photographed the Supercarrier