Military Hardware: Tanks, Bombers, Submarines and More Russia Built the MiG 1.44 to Beat the F-22 in the 1990s — Its Design Data Now Lives On in the Su-57 and Su-75 Stealth Fighters Russia’s Mikoyan Project MiG 1.44 was conceived in the late 1980s as the Soviet Union’s answer to the U.S. Air Force’s Advanced Tactical Fighter... Brent M. EastwoodMay 9, 2026
Military Hardware: Tanks, Bombers, Submarines and More Northrop’s Tacit Blue Was Called ‘the Most Unstable Aircraft Ever Flown’ — Its 130 Flights at Area 51 Helped Create the B-2 Spirit Northrop’s Tacit Blue stealth research demonstrator made its first flight from Groom Lake — better known as Area 51 — in 1982, eventually making... Caleb LarsonMay 9, 2026
Military Hardware: Tanks, Bombers, Submarines and More Boeing Won a $20,000,000,000 Contract for the F-47 NGAD — 185 Aircraft Designed to Replace the F-22 and Outclass China’s J-20 In March 2025, President Donald Trump and U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin announced that Boeing had won a $20 billion... Steve BalestrieriMay 9, 2026
Military Hardware: Tanks, Bombers, Submarines and More Russia Spent Years Building the MiG 1.44 to Beat the F-22 Raptor — It Flew Once for 18 Minutes in 2000 and Was Mothballed Forever Russia’s MiG 1.44 was developed by Mikoyan in the 1980s and 1990s as the Soviet Union’s answer to the U.S. Air Force’s Advanced Tactical... Caleb LarsonMay 8, 2026
Military Hardware: Tanks, Bombers, Submarines and More In 1982, Northrop’s Tacit Blue ‘Whale’ Had a Radar Cross-Section Smaller Than a Bat — and Stayed Classified for 18 Years In 1982, Northrop quietly flew a stealth aircraft so radar-invisible the U.S. Air Force later said its radar cross-section was smaller than a bat’s.... Steve BalestrieriMay 8, 2026
Military Hardware: Tanks, Bombers, Submarines and More At Mach 3.1 and 70,000 Feet, the XB-70 Valkyrie Bomber Could Outrun Every Russian Interceptor — but the U.S. Cancelled It In the late 1950s, the U.S. spent $800 million building a Mach 3.1 strategic bomber that could cruise above 70,000 feet and outrun every... Jack BuckbyMay 8, 2026
Military Hardware: Tanks, Bombers, Submarines and More Chinese Computer Simulations Just Showed a Single J-20 Has Less Than a 10% Chance of Beating an F-22 Raptor in Combat China’s own computer simulations show that a single J-20 Mighty Dragon has less than a 10% chance of defeating an F-22 Raptor in combat.... Steve BalestrieriMay 8, 2026
Dollars and Sense Lockheed Martin Just Won an $11.4 Million Contract to Upgrade Israel’s F-35I Adir — Funded by Israel In March, an Israeli F-35I Adir shot down an Iranian Yak-130 over Tehran — the first time an F-35 stealth fighter ever destroyed another... Stephen SilverMay 7, 2026
Dollars and Sense The F-47 NGAD Stealth Fighter Has a 1,000-Mile Combat Radius — Nearly Double the F-22 and F-35 The F-47 stealth fighter will have a 1,000-mile combat radius — nearly double that of the F-22 — and is built for the Indo-Pacific.... Harrison KassMay 7, 2026