The North American XF-108 Rapier was a proposed long-range, high-speed interceptor aircraft designed by North American Aviation intended to defend the United States from supersonic …

Instead of becoming the most spectacular warplane of the 1950s, the F-108 Rapier became a “might have been,” an aircraft that was never built, never flown, never tested. “Nothing was …

Sep 8, 2020 · As told by Peter E. Davies in his book North American XB-70 Valkyrie, its main purpose was to climb to 81,000ft, reach Mach 3, and fly for up to 1,000 nautical miles to …

Nov 7, 2015 · By January 1959, North American had completed a full-scale mock-up of the F-108, which would have been capable of intercepting a bomber 1,000 miles from its target. The …

sleek, triple-sonic F-108 Rapier was to have been the fi ghter-interceptor half of an Air Force nuclear tag team with the B-70 Valkyrie supersonic bomber.

Jan 16, 2020 · Though the Air Force cancelled the F-108 program, they chose to continue development of the Hughes ASG-18 radar and GAR-9 missile systems.

The North American F-108 was designed as a very high speed (mach 3) interceptor and escort fighter for the B-70 "Valkyrie" bomber under development at the same time.

North American F-108 Rapier Performance Document Definitions PD = Performance Data (Early WWII Era) ACP = Airplane Characteristics and Performance (WWII Era, lasted into about …

Jan 25, 2018 · Building the F-108 called for new techniques and materials, including stainless-steel honeycomb panel construction that would also be successfully adopted on the Valkyrie.

The F-108 Rapier: A Dream That Never Took FlightThe F-108 Rapier was an experimental aircraft developed in the late 1950s by North American Aviation. It was designed to be a long-range, …