Today we discuss the SR-71 Blackbird that vanished from NASA Armstrong. Tail 844, the last Blackbird ever built and the last to fly, is gone from its display and NASA will not say where.

Aviation Week: https://aviationweek.com/defense/aircraft-propulsion/nasa-quietly-removed-sr-71-storage-amid-x-plane-push
The Warzone: https://www.twz.com/air/a-sr-71-blackbird-has-vanished

Aviation Week defense editor Steve Trimble broke the story using satellite imagery showing the aircraft missing since at least 17 May 2026. Joseph Trevithick at The War Zone followed up, and NASA's response was that it has no additional information to share, while noting it continues to explore opportunities to build on that legacy.

The timing is what has everyone talking. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman recently teased a new X-plane using a silhouette that looks a great deal like a Blackbird, and said the agency intends to fly higher, farther, and faster than it has in decades. Asked at AirVenture Oshkosh in July whether he would bring the SR-71 back, his answer was "that's classified."

Aviation Week has since reported that NASA reached out to former employees about returning to an SR-71 effort. One former Air Force and NASA test pilot, now in his late seventies, turned it down. His words: "I just don't think you can get there from here."

Tail 844 flew its last mission on 9 October 1999, reaching 80,100 feet and Mach 3.21 with NASA pilots Rogers Smith and Robert Meyer. It has sat in flyable storage at Armstrong since March 2002.

Getting it airborne again means JP-7, a fuel with a flash point high enough that the airframe used it as a heat sink. It means triethylborane shots to light the J58s, sixteen per reservoir. It means the tanker problem: 56 KC-135s were converted to KC-135Q between 1966 and 1968 with separated tanks purely to carry JP-7 for the Blackbird.

This is not the first attempt. Congress allocated $100 million in 1994 to return three SR-71s to Air Force service. The aircraft were grounded in 1996, funding came back the same year, and a line item veto killed it in 1997. The Air Force program formally ended on 30 June 1999 at Det 2, Edwards. After 9/11 the Pentagon asked what a restart would take and was told 60 to 90 days and roughly $45 million.

Afterburn Links:
Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LowdownNews
Website: https://bit.ly/Afterburn_Website
Merch: https://bit.ly/AfterburnMerch
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/theafterburnpodcast

Podcast:
Afterburn Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@afterburnpodcastshow
Apple: https://apple.co/4d3EKFM
Spotify: https://bit.ly/TAP_on_Spotify

Social Media:
Rain ‘s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rainwaters27/?hl=en
Flash’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikeflashmcvay/?hl=en
Afterburn Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afterburnpodcast/?hl=en
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/afterburnpodcast/
X: https://x.com/AfterburnPod

Sponsors:
Become a Pilot: https://bit.ly/Bogi_Dope
AFOQT Wingman: https://bit.ly/AirForce_TestPrep (“AFTERBURN” for Discount)

Recommendations:
Books/DCS Gear: https://amzn.to/4nlA67m

0:00 The Mysterious Disappearance of the Blackbird
1:31 The Best Candidate for a Return to Flight
2:35 Recruiting Veterans for a New Mission
4:04 The Complex Science of Specialized Fuel
7:13 A History of Political and Technical Hurdles

Today we discuss the Air Force naming its first Collaborative Combat Aircraft, the FQ-42A Vengeance from General Atomics and the FQ-44A Fury from Anduril, plus the plan for 1,000 drones by 2032.

On 14 September 2026, Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink announced a target of roughly 1,000 autonomous combat aircraft by 2032: 500 Collaborative Combat Aircraft and 500 Massed Modular Aircraft. The F in FQ-42 and FQ-44 is deliberate. These are being designated as fighters, not surveillance drones.

Vengeance has been delivered to Creech Air Force Base and has already flown in formation with the F-35 and the F-15E Strike Eagle. Fury fired an AIM-120 AMRAAM at a digital target in July with a human retaining oversight of the shot. Contract award to first flight ran about 18 months, a pace almost unheard of in defense acquisition.

Afterburn Links:
Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LowdownNews
Website: https://bit.ly/Afterburn_Website
Merch: https://bit.ly/AfterburnMerch
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/theafterburnpodcast

Podcast:
Afterburn Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@afterburnpodcastshow
Apple: https://apple.co/4d3EKFM
Spotify: https://bit.ly/TAP_on_Spotify

Social Media:
Rain ‘s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rainwaters27/?hl=en
Flash’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikeflashmcvay/?hl=en
Afterburn Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afterburnpodcast/?hl=en
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/afterburnpodcast/
X: https://x.com/AfterburnPod

Sponsors:
Become a Pilot: https://bit.ly/Bogi_Dope
AFOQT Wingman: https://bit.ly/AirForce_TestPrep (“AFTERBURN” for Discount)

Recommendations:
Books/DCS Gear: https://amzn.to/4nlA67m

The Air Force has officially named its first two robot fighters. We cover the FQ-42A Vengeance and FQ-44A Fury capabilities.

The service plans to field 1,000 uncrewed aircraft by 2032, splitting the fleet between Collaborative Combat Aircraft and Massed Modular Aircraft. These platforms are formally designated as a fighter jet, not a standard surveillance drone, marking a massive shift in how the Air Force approaches air superiority.

We look at the rapid development timeline, where contract-to-flight testing occurred in just 18 months, setting a new benchmark for defense technology. By integrating advanced artificial intelligence, the Vengeance and Fury are already flying alongside crewed platforms like the F-35 and F-15E, showcasing the future of military aviation.

Subscribe for weekly analysis on the latest aerospace developments, and let us know in the comments if you think these platforms will replace traditional manned fighters.

How the Air Force uses lasers to put an F-16 wing back on. Inside the Service Life Extension Program at Hill Air Force Base, crews optically find the exact center of a fighter jet and rebuild the beam that holds the wing at 9Gs.

This is part of our behind-the-scenes series inside the depot at Hill Air Force Base that keeps American airpower flying. To keep a 30-plus-year-old F-16 in the fight for decades more, the closure beam that anchors the wing has to be replaced and milled to a ten-thousandth of an inch, a part you can't buy off the shelf, so they build it and machine it to the jet. We also get into why one of these jets was flying crooked, and how they bring it back to true.

Afterburn Links:
Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LowdownNews
Website: https://bit.ly/Afterburn_Website
Merch: https://bit.ly/AfterburnMerch
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/theafterburnpodcast

Podcast:
Afterburn Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@afterburnpodcastshow
Apple: https://apple.co/4d3EKFM
Spotify: https://bit.ly/TAP_on_Spotify

Social Media:
Rain ‘s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rainwaters27/?hl=en
Flash’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikeflashmcvay/?hl=en
Afterburn Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afterburnpodcast/?hl=en
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/afterburnpodcast/
X: https://x.com/AfterburnPod

Sponsors:
Become a Pilot: https://bit.ly/Bogi_Dope
AFOQT Wingman: https://bit.ly/AirForce_TestPrep (“AFTERBURN” for Discount)

Recommendations:
Books/DCS Gear: https://amzn.to/4nlA67m

00:00 Aligning an F-16's wing with lasers
01:05 The one beam that holds the wing at 9Gs
02:34 The cracked bulkhead they had to cut out
03:26 The 16 bolts that hold the wing on
05:45 Milling to a ten-thousandth of an inch
09:35 Why this jet flew crooked

On 8 April 2003, Maj Gary "Wolfman" Wolf's A-10 Warthog was hit by an SA-16 MANPAD over Baghdad during a close air support mission in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Full interview @afterburnpodcast : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwRfjsusbL4

This is the first-person account — cockpit / HUD context, jettison, escort and recovery.

Battle Creek Bourbon: https://shop.winglorespirits.com/pages/commemorative

Program and partnership inquiries: https://theafterburnpodcast.com/contact/


Afterburn Links:
Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LowdownNews
Website: https://bit.ly/Afterburn_Website
Merch: https://bit.ly/AfterburnMerch
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/theafterburnpodcast

Podcast:
Afterburn Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@afterburnpodcastshow
Apple: https://apple.co/4d3EKFM
Spotify: https://bit.ly/TAP_on_Spotify

Social Media:
Rain ‘s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rainwaters27/?hl=en
Flash’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikeflashmcvay/?hl=en
Afterburn Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afterburnpodcast/?hl=en
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/afterburnpodcast/
X: https://x.com/AfterburnPod

Sponsors:
Become a Pilot: https://bit.ly/Bogi_Dope
AFOQT Wingman: https://bit.ly/AirForce_TestPrep (“AFTERBURN” for Discount)

Recommendations:
Books/DCS Gear: https://amzn.to/4nlA67m

0:00 Intro "Lead's Been Hit"
1:29 The Close Air Support Mission
6:10 Hit by an SA-16
12:44 Jettison Everything
15:33 Escort and Rescue Join Up
16:41 Gear Down
18:55 Battle Creek Bourbon with Wing Lore Spirits
23:44 Mitchell Wolf on Tail Number 258

How the U.S. Air Force keeps its fighter jets flying: go inside Hill Air Force Base, where crews rebuild F-16s, A-10s, and more, overhaul landing gear, and bring aging warplanes back to life.

This is Part I of a multipart series.
Part II: https://youtu.be/SZan5gGGtbs

Support the podcast and get early access - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/theafterburnpodcast

This is a behind-the-scenes look inside the Ogden Air Logistics Complex at Hill Air Force Base, the depot the Air Force calls America's Depot. We go inside the shops and meet the mostly civilian workforce who are the world's experts on these aircraft, from stripping an F-16 down to bare metal, to rebuilding landing gear for 17 different weapon systems, to the battle damage repair crews who keep jets in the fight.

Program and partnership inquiries: https://theafterburnpodcast.com/contact/

Afterburn Links:
Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LowdownNews
Website: https://bit.ly/Afterburn_Website
Merch: https://bit.ly/AfterburnMerch
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/theafterburnpodcast

Podcast:
Afterburn Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@afterburnpodcastshow
Apple: https://apple.co/4d3EKFM
Spotify: https://bit.ly/TAP_on_Spotify

Social Media:
Rain ‘s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rainwaters27/?hl=en
Flash’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikeflashmcvay/?hl=en
Afterburn Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afterburnpodcast/?hl=en
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/afterburnpodcast/
X: https://x.com/AfterburnPod

Sponsors:
Become a Pilot: https://bit.ly/Bogi_Dope
AFOQT Wingman: https://bit.ly/AirForce_TestPrep (“AFTERBURN” for Discount)

Recommendations:
Books/DCS Gear: https://amzn.to/4nlA67m

0:00 How the Air Force keeps its jets flying
1:32 The base that works on almost every US warplane
4:20 Stripping an F-16 to bare metal to fly 30 more years
7:48 Inside the world's largest landing gear facility
10:37 F-35 Heavy maintenance
12:55 Taking an axe to a fighter jet on purpose

Walk-around of the OA-1K Sky Raider II, AFSOC's newest armed overwatch aircraft. L3Harris test pilot Lt. Gen. (ret.) C.R. Davis, who flew 47 aircraft types and nearly 5,000 hours in the U.S. Air Force, dives into the capabilities, performance, and some of the systems the light attack platform provides to customers.

We cover the PT6-67F engine, and why it's one of the most reliable powerplants Davis has ever flown, the redesigned combat wing with nine weapons stations, self-sealing fuel panels and fire suppression foam, the MX-15 and MX-20 sensor pairing, armor plating and bulletproof glass, and the Garmin cockpit Davis calls the most advanced avionics of anything he flew in 35 years of Air Force service. We also get into what it actually takes to fly this aircraft off farm roads and unprepared fields, eight hours of endurance, and how any partner nation can tie this platform into the joint force at a fraction of the cost per flying hour of an F-16 or F-35.

Filmed on location with L3Harris in Waco, Texas.

Afterburn Links:
Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LowdownNews
Website: https://bit.ly/Afterburn_Website
Merch: https://bit.ly/AfterburnMerch
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/theafterburnpodcast

Podcast:
Afterburn Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@afterburnpodcastshow
Apple: https://apple.co/4d3EKFM
Spotify: https://bit.ly/TAP_on_Spotify

@wac
Social Media:
Rain ‘s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rainwaters27/?hl=en
Flash’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikeflashmcvay/?hl=en
Afterburn Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afterburnpodcast/?hl=en
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/afterburnpodcast/
X: https://x.com/AfterburnPod

Sponsors:
Become a Pilot: https://bit.ly/Bogi_Dope
AFOQT Wingman: https://bit.ly/AirForce_TestPrep (“AFTERBURN” for Discount)

Recommendations:
Books/DCS Gear: https://amzn.to/4nlA67m

0:00 OA-1K Sky Raider II Walk-Around
2:15 PT6 Turboprop Engine and Combat Wing Weapons Stations
7:42 Flying the OA-1K: Dirt Strips and Unprepared Fields
9:15 Garmin Avionics and MX-15 / MX-20 Sensors
12:04 Armor, Survivability, and Cost Per Flying Hour

Today we discuss the SR-71 Blackbird that vanished from NASA Armstrong. Tail 844, the last Blackbird ever built and the last to fly, is gone from its display and NASA will not say where.

Aviation Week: https://aviationweek.com/defense/aircraft-propulsion/nasa-quietly-removed-sr-71-storage-amid-x-plane-push
The Warzone: https://www.twz.com/air/a-sr-71-blackbird-has-vanished

Aviation Week defense editor Steve Trimble broke the story using satellite imagery showing the aircraft missing since at least 17 May 2026. Joseph Trevithick at The War Zone followed up, and NASA's response was that it has no additional information to share, while noting it continues to explore opportunities to build on that legacy.

The timing is what has everyone talking. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman recently teased a new X-plane using a silhouette that looks a great deal like a Blackbird, and said the agency intends to fly higher, farther, and faster than it has in decades. Asked at AirVenture Oshkosh in July whether he would bring the SR-71 back, his answer was "that's classified."

Aviation Week has since reported that NASA reached out to former employees about returning to an SR-71 effort. One former Air Force and NASA test pilot, now in his late seventies, turned it down. His words: "I just don't think you can get there from here."

Tail 844 flew its last mission on 9 October 1999, reaching 80,100 feet and Mach 3.21 with NASA pilots Rogers Smith and Robert Meyer. It has sat in flyable storage at Armstrong since March 2002.

Getting it airborne again means JP-7, a fuel with a flash point high enough that the airframe used it as a heat sink. It means triethylborane shots to light the J58s, sixteen per reservoir. It means the tanker problem: 56 KC-135s were converted to KC-135Q between 1966 and 1968 with separated tanks purely to carry JP-7 for the Blackbird.

This is not the first attempt. Congress allocated $100 million in 1994 to return three SR-71s to Air Force service. The aircraft were grounded in 1996, funding came back the same year, and a line item veto killed it in 1997. The Air Force program formally ended on 30 June 1999 at Det 2, Edwards. After 9/11 the Pentagon asked what a restart would take and was told 60 to 90 days and roughly $45 million.

Afterburn Links:
Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LowdownNews
Website: https://bit.ly/Afterburn_Website
Merch: https://bit.ly/AfterburnMerch
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/theafterburnpodcast

Podcast:
Afterburn Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@afterburnpodcastshow
Apple: https://apple.co/4d3EKFM
Spotify: https://bit.ly/TAP_on_Spotify

Social Media:
Rain ‘s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rainwaters27/?hl=en
Flash’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikeflashmcvay/?hl=en
Afterburn Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afterburnpodcast/?hl=en
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/afterburnpodcast/
X: https://x.com/AfterburnPod

Sponsors:
Become a Pilot: https://bit.ly/Bogi_Dope
AFOQT Wingman: https://bit.ly/AirForce_TestPrep (“AFTERBURN” for Discount)

Recommendations:
Books/DCS Gear: https://amzn.to/4nlA67m

0:00 The Mysterious Disappearance of the Blackbird
1:31 The Best Candidate for a Return to Flight
2:35 Recruiting Veterans for a New Mission
4:04 The Complex Science of Specialized Fuel
7:13 A History of Political and Technical Hurdles

Today we discuss the Air Force naming its first Collaborative Combat Aircraft, the FQ-42A Vengeance from General Atomics and the FQ-44A Fury from Anduril, plus the plan for 1,000 drones by 2032.

On 14 September 2026, Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink announced a target of roughly 1,000 autonomous combat aircraft by 2032: 500 Collaborative Combat Aircraft and 500 Massed Modular Aircraft. The F in FQ-42 and FQ-44 is deliberate. These are being designated as fighters, not surveillance drones.

Vengeance has been delivered to Creech Air Force Base and has already flown in formation with the F-35 and the F-15E Strike Eagle. Fury fired an AIM-120 AMRAAM at a digital target in July with a human retaining oversight of the shot. Contract award to first flight ran about 18 months, a pace almost unheard of in defense acquisition.

Afterburn Links:
Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LowdownNews
Website: https://bit.ly/Afterburn_Website
Merch: https://bit.ly/AfterburnMerch
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/theafterburnpodcast

Podcast:
Afterburn Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@afterburnpodcastshow
Apple: https://apple.co/4d3EKFM
Spotify: https://bit.ly/TAP_on_Spotify

Social Media:
Rain ‘s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rainwaters27/?hl=en
Flash’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikeflashmcvay/?hl=en
Afterburn Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afterburnpodcast/?hl=en
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/afterburnpodcast/
X: https://x.com/AfterburnPod

Sponsors:
Become a Pilot: https://bit.ly/Bogi_Dope
AFOQT Wingman: https://bit.ly/AirForce_TestPrep (“AFTERBURN” for Discount)

Recommendations:
Books/DCS Gear: https://amzn.to/4nlA67m

The Air Force has officially named its first two robot fighters. We cover the FQ-42A Vengeance and FQ-44A Fury capabilities.

The service plans to field 1,000 uncrewed aircraft by 2032, splitting the fleet between Collaborative Combat Aircraft and Massed Modular Aircraft. These platforms are formally designated as a fighter jet, not a standard surveillance drone, marking a massive shift in how the Air Force approaches air superiority.

We look at the rapid development timeline, where contract-to-flight testing occurred in just 18 months, setting a new benchmark for defense technology. By integrating advanced artificial intelligence, the Vengeance and Fury are already flying alongside crewed platforms like the F-35 and F-15E, showcasing the future of military aviation.

Subscribe for weekly analysis on the latest aerospace developments, and let us know in the comments if you think these platforms will replace traditional manned fighters.

How the Air Force uses lasers to put an F-16 wing back on. Inside the Service Life Extension Program at Hill Air Force Base, crews optically find the exact center of a fighter jet and rebuild the beam that holds the wing at 9Gs.

This is part of our behind-the-scenes series inside the depot at Hill Air Force Base that keeps American airpower flying. To keep a 30-plus-year-old F-16 in the fight for decades more, the closure beam that anchors the wing has to be replaced and milled to a ten-thousandth of an inch, a part you can't buy off the shelf, so they build it and machine it to the jet. We also get into why one of these jets was flying crooked, and how they bring it back to true.

Afterburn Links:
Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LowdownNews
Website: https://bit.ly/Afterburn_Website
Merch: https://bit.ly/AfterburnMerch
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/theafterburnpodcast

Podcast:
Afterburn Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@afterburnpodcastshow
Apple: https://apple.co/4d3EKFM
Spotify: https://bit.ly/TAP_on_Spotify

Social Media:
Rain ‘s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rainwaters27/?hl=en
Flash’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikeflashmcvay/?hl=en
Afterburn Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afterburnpodcast/?hl=en
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/afterburnpodcast/
X: https://x.com/AfterburnPod

Sponsors:
Become a Pilot: https://bit.ly/Bogi_Dope
AFOQT Wingman: https://bit.ly/AirForce_TestPrep (“AFTERBURN” for Discount)

Recommendations:
Books/DCS Gear: https://amzn.to/4nlA67m

00:00 Aligning an F-16's wing with lasers
01:05 The one beam that holds the wing at 9Gs
02:34 The cracked bulkhead they had to cut out
03:26 The 16 bolts that hold the wing on
05:45 Milling to a ten-thousandth of an inch
09:35 Why this jet flew crooked