Key Points and Summary - The B-58 Hustler was the U.S. Air Force’s first operational supersonic bomber, a delta-winged, nuclear-armed hot rod that shattered speed and altitude records in the 1960s.

In the early 1950s, the U.S. military established a requirement for a high thrust, low weight, mechanically simple jet engine that could perform efficiently at Mach 0.9 cruise and Mach 2.0 combat ...

Lockheed’s XF-104 chased Mach 2 with a tiny wing, the new J79 engine and radical engineering, but the prototypes first flew ...

Furthermore, the Phantom’s J79 engines produced thick black smoke, which combined with the aircraft’s larger size, made it easier to spot and target from a distance. On the other hand, the ...