In 1945, the U.S. Army Air Force issued a requirement for a “penetrating escort” jet that could accompany comparatively ponderous B-29 and B-50 strategic bombers all the way to targets over the Soviet ...

Key point: During the early days of the Cold War, it was assumed that nuclear weapons might well be used in the next war. Naturally, the U.S. Air Force needed to test the durability of its aircraft.

We'd like to believe that every prototype military aircraft goes on to have a long and successful career. But especially in the early days of the Cold War, it simply didn't work out this way. But when ...

On April 22, 1952, dozens of journalists and approximately 2,000 military personnel watched as a 31-kiloton nuclear bomb exploded above the Nevada Proving Ground. Operation Tumbler-Snapper, as the ...