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 Soviet strategic bombers.

Jul 5, 2021 · The XF-108: an interceptor for the ages. The aircraft was designed by North American, the same manufacturer who brought the world the P-51 Mustang. If the XF-108 had actually flown, it would have been one of the highest performing and most advanced aircraft of …

It was going to be the biggest, fastest and most heavily armed fighter in the air. The North American F-108 Rapier, designed in response to a U.S. Air Force preliminary study of Oct. 11, 1955, was going to be the heaviest fighter of its era, weighing even more than the Soviet Union’s huge Tupolev Tu-128 “Fiddler.”

Apr 18, 2021 · The USAF Air Defense Command had planned to procure as many as 420 F-108 Rapiers to equip fighter-interceptor squadrons located at bases best suited to protect the US borders.

Feb 7, 2020 · North American’s highly innovative A3J (A-5/RA-5) Vigilante Navy attack and reconnaissance aircraft shared many of the XF-108’s aerodynamic and structural features, and the sophisticated Hughes ASG-18 fire-control system and its AIM-47A missiles were subsequently incorporated into Lockheed’s exotic fighter derivative of the SR-71 ...

Jul 7, 2020 · They XF-108 would have to fly fast and high—about 60,000 feet, at a minimum speed of Mach 1.7—all while having at least a 1,000 mile range. As an interceptor, the XF-108 would have to be able...

Jul 8, 2021 · In 1957, North American Aviation won a contract to develop the XF-108, a two-man interceptor capable of Mach 3 speed, a thousand-mile range and a maximum altitude of seventy thousand feet.

4 days ago · The XF-108 Rapier remains one of the most ambitious yet mysterious aircraft projects in American aviation history. Conceived during the height of the Cold War, this high-speed interceptor was designed to protect U.S. airspace against the looming threat of Soviet bombers. However, despite its groundbreaking design, the XF-108 never made it ...

Aug 4, 2016 · Vigilante aircraft recorded combat service in the Vietnam War (1955-1975). Performance specifications of the XF-108 included a maximum speed of Mach 3 and an operational range of 1,150 miles.

Nov 11, 2014 · It would have a maximum speed exceeding Mach 3, a range of over 1300 miles, a rotary weapons unit and the most advanced radar system in the world. North American Aviation’s XF-108 was probably the most advanced interceptor of the Cold War that never was.