Planes
Fighter jets, bombers, spy planes, helicopters, and the aircraft pushing the edge of flight.
29 articlesLatest in Planes
The Future of Air Combat: 6th Generation Fighter Jets of the 2030s
Explore how sixth generation fighter jets will revolutionize aerial warfare with AI, drone swarms, directed energy weapons, and the end of traditional dogfighting by the 2030s.
MCAS: The Silent Killer on the 737 MAX
The inside story of the Boeing 737 MAX MCAS scandal: how corporate negligence, regulatory capture, and a fatally flawed software system led to two catastrophic crashes and 346 deaths.
The X-59 Quesst: On a Mission to Change Air Travel
NASA and Lockheed Martin's X-59 Quesst experimental aircraft aims to solve the sonic boom problem that has plagued supersonic commercial flight since the Concorde era.
The A-12 Avenger II: The Stealth Bomber That Could Have Changed Everything
How the A-12 Avenger II, the US Navy's triangular stealth attack jet nicknamed the Flying Dorito, collapsed before its first flight
Boeing E-3 Sentry: The Story of America's Ultimate Eye in the Sky
Inside the Boeing E-3 Sentry AWACS, the modified 707 that became America's ultimate airborne radar and the eye in the sky for nearly 50 years
The Changhe Z-10: China's Twin-Turbo Answer to the Apache
How China built the Changhe Z-10 attack helicopter from scratch using Russian blueprints, smuggled Western tech, and homegrown engineering
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More in Planes
The MiG 1.44: How the Soviets Answered the F-22
Inside Mikoyan Project 1.44, the secret Soviet fighter built to rival the F-22 Raptor, why it flew only once, and whether it was ever real
The Mil V-12: The Largest Helicopter Ever Built
The Soviet Mil V-12 still holds the record as the largest helicopter ever built. Here's why this engineering marvel never made it past two prototypes
RAT 55: Why the US Military Built the Weirdest Boeing Ever Made
Inside RAT 55, the one-of-a-kind modified Boeing 737 with bulbous radomes that may be the secret linchpin of US stealth airpower
The SR-91 "Aurora": The Plane That Doesn't Exist
A 1985 budget line, sightings over Britain and California, a Skunk Works denial. Inside the Aurora, the spy plane that may never have existed
The Dassault Rafale: The Plane that Beat the F-16
How France walked away from NATO's joint fighter program and went it alone — producing one of the world's most capable fourth-generation combat aircraft.
F-22 Raptor: The Ultimate King of Air Supremacy
How the F-22 Raptor became the most lethal fighter jet ever built — from its origins in Cold War competition to its uncertain future.