The Battle of Milne Bay (from August 25 through to September 7, 1942), was the defense of the eastern New Guinea by Australian and US forces against a Japanese invasion. It would become the first time that Japanese forces had been defeated on land, shattering the myth at the time of Japanese invi...

The F-14 Tomcat is remembered for it's important Navy role during the 1980s and 1990s. However, few people are aware of the brief role it played in the Vietnam War. We look at Operation Frequent Wind, in which the F-14 served.

The concept of brainwashing is often discussed, but rarely understood. Originating from the Chinese term Xinao, which literally means ‘wash brain’, the word first entered circulation in the west in the 1950s. However, to this day, few understand the origins of brainwashing, and to what purpose it...

There have been an incredible number of wars, genocides, conquests and natural disasters that have killed a staggering number of people throughout human history. Conquests and genocides can often be accompanied by disease and starvation and number of fatalities can be difficult to ascertain. Ther...

In the early 1970s, the Imperial Iranian Air Force - as it was then known - sought to procure new fighters to combat potential threats, particularly that posed by the new MiG-25. The new MiG’s capability was largely a mystery to the west, and Iran needed a strong deterrent for it’s northern borde...

The Tsar Bomba, a Soviet nuclear bomb code named “Ivan”, was the most powerful nuclear weapon ever created and tested. The testing of this bomb would be the Soviet’s declaration of nuclear competence to the United States, which held superiority over the USSR in the nuclear weapons race.
In order ...

During the Vietnam War, pilots would square off using many new technologies. For the first time, air-to-air missiles would be used, allowing for longer range combat and more intense dogfights.

On the 5th of August 1964, the US Navy begins operations of a new aircraft over Vietnam. This new multirole aircraft - the F4 Phantom - will come to define Vietnam War era jet combat, but during these early missions the aircraft was still a work in progress. Today we look at the story of the firs...

The French government signed an armistice with Germany in mid-1940, which was effective from June 22nd onward, following the fall of France. This would, as the French hoped, put an end to the regional conflict in France and restore a measure of security. England, which had by this time withdrawn ...

It is the morning of January 16th 1991. Within the next 24 hours, coalition forces will undertake a precision aerial campaign against Iraqi forces, in what will be known as Operation Desert Storm. Desert Storm will see almost 4000 aircraft mobilized by both sides, with coalition forces taking par...

Teddy Roosevelt was the first president to fly in a plane and FDR would receive the first presidential airliner in 1933. In this program, we will explore the history of the Air Force One aircraft.

Materiel losses during World War 2 were massive. According to one source, Germany produced a staggering 119,907 aircraft of all types and most were destroyed or damaged during the war. The United States lost 52,951 of their 95,000 aircraft in operations over Europe and the Pacific. The Soviet Uni...

Over the years the C-130 Hercules has been the subject of many experiments. From landing on aircraft carriers to retrieving falling film cannisters from spy satellites. However, one of the more prominent experiments was around a rocket powered concept, which was to be used in a hostage rescue ope...

On August 9th 1945, the United States dropped a nuclear weapon on Nagasaki. After almost 80 years, few are aware of the strange events that led to Nagasaki - of all places - being chosen as a nuclear target. The reality is, the city was not chosen because of any real military significance of valu...

Many years ago, the US Military had plans for a F-22 upgrade. This would have been a strike fighter, with an emphasis on bombing. Details surrounding the project remain a mystery, with some suggesting that the project was never really cancelled, but rather postponed for possible future implementa...

In 1943, the heart of the German air defense system was the early-warning and flak-predictor radar systems. It had proved to be a good system, as was the British radar chain that had been set up since 1935. The Germans knew, however, that strips of metal foil could blind the radar sets and they w...

During World War II, two ace pilots emerged and were considered unmatched for their skill and combat record. They were Erich Hartmann - highest scoring ace of all time - and Hans-Joachim Marseille - the top ace in the North African campaign. A common debate is whether Marseille - despite having h...

During the first half of the 1970s, General Dynamics would attempt to modify the F-4 Phantom - the most used US combat aircraft at the time - into something even more powerful. With foreign interest as well, the idea was floated for a ‘Super Phantom’, and so the F-4X program was born.

This year, Boom Supersonic's demonstrator, the XB-1, achieved a major milestone by breaking the sound barrier. Having achieved supersonic flight marks an important milestone toward the company's larger commercial airliner, the Overture.

There are few individuals who continue to be as widely discussed as John F. Kennedy. He received both support and criticism during his tenure as president. He was undoubtedly a controversial figure during his era, as he assumed the presidency during one of the most turbulent periods in American h...

In late 1944, Japan’s military turned to a deadly and radical tactic: suicide attacks by pilots known as kamikaze, or “divine wind.” These young men, often in their late teens, flew explosive-laden aircraft into Allied ships, sacrificing themselves to delay defeat. The kamikaze program, rooted in...

Today, it seems the Middle East is on the brink of another regional conflict, and it is possible that western militaries may be forced to intervene in some way. Given the relevance to us all, in the near future we will take a look at a number of middle eastern air operations, from Australian forc...

The B-1B Lancer has long been one of the most capable bomber aircraft ever produced. Able to fly supersonic (and at extremely low altitudes), deliver large quantities of weapons with pinpoint precision, the Lancer has been proven in several conflicts. However, the B-1 bomber we know today was nev...

On the 4th of July 1989, a strange incident would occur in Europe. Over the course of an hour, various air forces would be put on high alert as a Soviet MIG-23 flew across central Europe. What wasn’t known, until after the aircraft had been intercepted and visually identified, was that this MiG-2...