20 radical military aircraft that didn’t make the cut
North American XF-108
When the Air Force wanted a long-range, high speed interceptor to defeat incoming Soviet supersonic bombers, North American Aviation came up with the XF-108. The “Rapier” design shared engine technology with the XB-70 Valkyrie supersonic bomber prototype and would have reached speeds of Mach 3, and engage bomber formations 100 miles away. However, the Soviet Union shifted their focus to missiles instead of fleets of nuclear-armed bombers and the XF-108 project was cancelled before any actual aircraft could be built.
As soon as I finish my “slideshow” on Cold War-ERA TAC warplanes — which has become more of a full-length article with 1,500 words and counting — I’ll jump right on that, Colonel!
Thanks for your service,
Chris
Excellent article and fascinating pictures. Would like to see a similar one for pre-ww1, ww1 and post-ww1 aircraft. Thanks, Colonel Buzzsaw, USAF-ret. Retired SADO/13B/DO for 601 AOC.