Project Tom-Tom

Project Tom-Tom was originated by the United States Air Force’s Strategic Air Command as a way to provide its long range heavy bomber fleets with a fighter umbrella by towing them on semi-fixed wing links. The concept of the MX-1018, the programs official call-sign, was devised from the FICO (Fighter Conveyor) system. A program initiated by the US Air Force in the 1950s to test the feasibility... 

Blackburn B.32 - Big Daddy Never Made It Off The Drawing Board

Many aircraft designs never made it as far as the production stage. But that does not mean that they did not contribute to furthering the development of the industry. Such was the case of the Blackburn B.32 flying boat. Until the late 1940s, many air forces around the world still viewed the flying boat as an instrumental part of their force structure. The same applied to the civilian sector where the... 

A Plane With No Name

Convair’s B-36 long range bomber is well recognized by many attributes. It was America’s first true intercontinental heavy bombing platform and the Strategic Air Command’s initial deterrence weapon. Although its service life of just 10 operational years (1949 to 1959) was short in comparison to other aircrafts conceived during the same time, such as the U-2, SR-71 and B-52, which... 

Germany’s Air Assault On England - 1914

“Nobody said it will be easy, but I think that this (bombing) campaign can shorten the ground war to a minimum. In fact, there’s a good enough chance that Britain’s public would rise and force its government to the negotiating table”, said a boastful Paul Behncke, Deputy Chief (Konteradmiral) of the German Imperial Navy Staff and one of the most ardent proponents for a saturated... 

Argentinian Air Operations: Guided Missiles

Just days after the American and British forces broke through the German defenses at Normandy, foreshadowing the end of Nazi rule over the European Continent, much of that country’s top technical personnel began to filter out in hopes of escaping the ever closing circle. Most were captured by the Western Allies (United States and Great Britain); others were ‘recruited’ by the Soviet... 

19 Variants of the ‘Man in the Missile’ Starfighter

‘Man on a Missile’, that’s how many Starfighter pilots refer to their experience flying one of the most intriguing aircraft ever developed: the Lockheed F-104. From its conception, the Starfighter was one of the most revolutionizing airplanes in the history of aviation. Its streamlined, powerful engines and advanced electronic and weapons packages made the F-104 one of the most powerful... 

Anti-Aircraft Defenses of German U-Boats

In the early years of World War II, Germany’s U-Bootwaffes roamed, almost with impunity, the sea trade routes of the Western Allies, engaging and sinking their extremely vital ships at an alarming rate. It wasn’t until the Allies began to implement a sophisticated system of long rage, air patrols over the Atlantic that the tide of the submarine war finally began to turn in their favor. Because... 

The Heart Of The Patriot Missile: The MPQ-53 Radar

Anyone who saw the First Gulf War in 1991 was glued to the television set looking at the majestic sight of the United States Army’s newest Theater Anti-Missile System, the now famous MIM-104 Patriot. Night after night, the vaunted weapon was launched in an attempt to intercept Iraq’s unsophisticated and terribly inaccurate Scud mid range missile. The image of America’s missile intercepting... 

Largest Airplane Ever

Can you believe that the largest airplane ever measured was more than 275 feet long and featured a wing span of 290 feet? Well, it did! The Russian An-225 Cossnak may be considered the largest airplane ever built, but there are other largest airplane ever facts out there to consider when learning about super-large-scale aircraft. Here are just a few: the An-225 Cossnack had a miximum takeoff weight... 

United States Deterrence Systems and Strategies at the Beginning of the Cold War

When World War II ended in September 1945, the United States of America was the most powerful economic and military country in the world. Sole possessor of the mighty atom bomb, in possession of the most advance conventional weapon systems in the world and the world power that was the least affected by the destruction of four dramatic years of fighting. The US, confident that peace would reign in the... 

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