strategic air command

Starting thread at the end... https://www.twz.com/air/final-kc-10-extender-tanker-sent-into-retirement

Greatly inspired by the "Longer B-58 Hustler service?" thread by @Rule of cool How could the B-47 have had a more impactful service life? Improved engines and aerodynamics? Exports to friendly nations? As a total What-if thought, I would consider a four-engine B-47 evolution as seen with...

I saw a B58 Hustler for the first time the other day, I was surprised by how small it was. I also finally understand what the combination fuel-weapon store is and does. Was the design too specific and limited to remain in service beyond 1969? Could it have carried SRAMs or other advanced...

from ARDC TR-59-64 Advanced Concepts Study, Final Report. from USAF FOIA reading room. (edit: PDF split & now attached) A JT11-7A powered Booster Airplane launches a rocket vehicle & satellite payload with two solid fuelled stages and a storable liquid propellant third and fourth stages...

San Diego Air and Space Museum archives on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/search/?user_id=49487266%40N07&view_all=1&text=B-1+Lancer&sort=relevance

A rare video about the B-47 Stratojet and some programs surrounding it

The A-12 and the later SR-71 used the NAS-14v2 astro-inertial navigation system (ANS) from the 1960s, which was particularly interesting in the pre-GPS times. The set apparently looked like this...

I used to nurse the fond belief that only the B52G and H versions carried Hound Dog missiles and that they were only loaded in the "silver era". Thanks to the Internet it turned out that the Dog served well into the 70s and so was carried by SIOP scheme B52s. An example is shown here...

Does anyone know the final disposition of the Terex MX Transporter Emplacer (TE)? This vehicle was designed to support MX deployment in a system of multiple protective shelters linked by above ground roads, the so-called "Racetrack" proposal. In 1979, President Carter announced that 200 MX...

A more theoretical question than alternative history, was there any interest within SAC to develop a "Heavy" ICBM to match the R-36's capabilities? If so, could it fit within the existing Titan II launch sites? Titan II and R-36 are somewhat surprisingly similar in diameter and height, though...

Does anyone have any links or documents concerning technical data about the ADM-20 Quail?

Inspired by the Projects that should have been killed at birth thread's recent conversation about the B-1s futility/utility I thought I'd make a "What If" thread if the AMSA/B-1 program never saw flight. So for whatever reason the AMSA program is not revived by the Nixon Administration...

The famous B-52 Stratofortress has been in service with the USAF for more than 65 years and its iconic shape is known and recognised all over the world. Yet the B-52 and its predecessor, the B-47 Stratojet, started out looking very different indeed. Each aircraft was the end product of a lengthy...

General Dynamics F-111 Author: David Baker RRP: £27.95 £27.95 Add to Compare AVAILABLE 30TH AUGUST 2021 The General Dynamics F-111 was a swing-wing tactical fighter, interdictor, nuclear bomber and electronic warfare aircraft developed in the early 1960s in the belief that requirements...

Couldn't find a specific thread on that one, so here. Found this small image of a model : And

Here you go you, folks! Looking for art of the Convair shuttle for Orion and I found this. It's a good imagining of many uses for the XB-70 IF it hadn't stayed a prototype. Enjoy! ;D http://www.edwardsflighttest.com/b70.html

https://media.defense.gov/2020/Nov/23/2002540204/-1/-1/1/B-70%20VARIANTS.PDF This is nice :)

Guys, I am not certain exactly as to where to place this news item, but the actual article is about the plugs that block the top parts of the Minuteman 3 siloes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidhambling/2020/09/16/us-enhances-last-line-of-nuclear-missile-silo-defense/#70b81576f568 But...

As said in the thread title. There were talks about combining the (equally doomed) Skybolt and Valkyrie. Except it ran into a very stupid issue: Skybolt had been build for subsonic release. Ok then, the B-70 would fly subsonically, launch the Skybolts and get ride of the pylons. And then it...

Last few days I've been tearing my hair out looking for a collection of images I *know* I saw some time ago: art and diagrams depicting various aircraft including the B-52 carrying the Navaho missile. If this sounds at all familiar to anyone, please let me know. Here's an image from another...