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First Post
28-07-2025
- General
- First Post
Turkey unveils Gazap: Is this the most powerful non-nuclear bomb ever built?
Turkey has unveiled Gazap, its most powerful non-nuclear bomb, at the IDEF 2025 defence fair in Istanbul. Weighing 970 kilogrammes, the bomb disperses over 10 fragments per metre, creating a devastating blast radius. Compatible with F-16s and F-4s, Gazap showcases Turkey's defence ambitions read more Aircraft bomb GAZAP was unveiled at the International Defence Industry Fair (IDEF) 2025 held in Istanbul from July 22-27. Image/X Turkey has revealed its most powerful non-nuclear aircraft bomb to date, the Gazap, at the 17th International Defence Industry Fair (IDEF) 2025 in Istanbul. The bomb, whose name translates to Wrath in Turkish, weighs 970 kilogrammes (2,000 pounds) and represents one of the most significant leaps in Ankara's weapons technology. The unveiling took place at an event organised by KFA Fairs with backing from Turkey's Defence Industries Secretariat and the Turkish Armed Forces Foundation. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD This six-day fair, which has become one of the world's leading defence exhibitions, was spread across multiple venues — including the Istanbul Fair Center, Ataturk Airport, WOW Hotel, and Atakoy Marina. Turkey's National Defence Ministry's research and development (R&D) centre spearheaded the Gazap project. According to TRT Global and Anadolu Agency reports, Gazap is now fully certified and ready for use, following extensive design, testing and qualification processes. What makes Gazap so deadly? At its core, Gazap is a fragmentation bomb that redefines the destructive potential of conventional weapons. It disperses an extraordinary 10.16 fragment explosions per metre (3.2 feet) — far exceeding the old standard of one explosion every three metres (9.8 feet). This fragmentation density means the bomb can cover an extensive kill zone with controlled particle dispersion. According to Nilufer Kuzulu, who headed the research team behind Gazap, 'Unlike its conventional counterparts, it features a fragment-based structure with 10,000 particles. These fragments disperse within a one-kilometre radius upon detonation.' Kuzulu explained the scale of the advancement, 'Traditional bombs of this category typically disperse around three fragments per square metre, while Gazap disperses 10.16 fragments per square metre. This makes it three times more powerful than standard MK-series bombs.' The approach taken is also unique. Rather than breaking apart randomly, Gazap's structure ensures precision fragmentation. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'This design mimics the effect of a defensive grenade, breaking apart into controlled fragments instead of random steel pieces,' Kuzulu added. Blast tests show massive impact Video footage from military trials illustrates the bomb's terrifying potential. Dropped from a bomber during testing, Gazap detonates with a massive flash, sending visible shockwaves across the landscape. Moments later, a dense mushroom of smoke and debris blankets an area spanning roughly 160 metres across. JUST IN: 🇹🇷 Turkey unveils 'GAZAP', its most powerful non-nuclear bomb. — BRICS News (@BRICSinfo) July 27, 2025 Officials described the effect as one of the most powerful ever seen from a non-nuclear weapon. Gazap's thermobaric properties — using fuel-air mixtures to generate extreme overpressure and heat — mean its detonation can reach up to 3,000 degrees celsius, hot enough to melt through steel and concrete. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD If such heat comes into contact with human flesh, it is capable of burning all the way to the bone, highlighting why thermobaric weapons are regarded as some of the deadliest conventional arms ever created. Compatible with multiple aircraft The bomb is designed to be dropped from F-16 fighter jets and is also compatible with older F-4 Phantom aircraft — two of the mainstay platforms in the Turkish Air Force. Defence officials have indicated that future modifications could allow Gazap to be deployed from drones, expanding its operational versatility. One official reportedly said, 'The R&D center has modified the explosive and filler design. Qualification and certification processes are complete and ready for use.' Not alone: NEB-2 Ghost bunker-buster also revealed Gazap wasn't the only headline-grabber at IDEF 2025. Turkey also showcased the NEB-2 Ghost (Hayalet), another 970-kilogramme bomb, this time designed for deep penetration strikes. Officials touted NEB-2 as the 'best bunker-buster in the field.' Its ability to penetrate fortifications is remarkable — far exceeding the performance of foreign-made equivalents. An official explained: 'Normally, in nuclear power plants, US-made missiles penetrate 2.4 metres (7.8 feet) of C35 (standard concrete). NEB-2 penetrates 7 metres of C50 (three times stronger concrete than in nuclear power plants).' The NEB-2 underwent dramatic field testing. Dropped on an island, it bored 90 metres (295 feet) into the ground, unleashing enough energy to trigger landslides, gas leaks, and rock destruction across a 160-metre-wide area. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD What makes NEB-2 even more formidable is its delayed explosion mechanism. Typically, such bombs detonate within 25 milliseconds, but for NEB-2, engineers extended the delay to 240 milliseconds, allowing the bomb to burrow deeper before exploding. 'The explosion, which normally takes 25 ms (milliseconds), was timed to 240 ms, making it more destructive,' an official said. A weapon just short of nuclear capability The Gazap bomb is now considered one of the world's most powerful conventional weapons — only a step below nuclear arms in destructive potential. Its thermobaric nature makes it especially lethal, producing immense overpressure that crushes structures and vaporises everything in its blast radius. Thermobaric bombs have a dark history, first being conceptualised by the Nazis during World War II, later refined and used by the US in Vietnam, and, more recently, deployed by Russia in Ukraine, reported The Irish Sun. While there is controversy surrounding their humanitarian impact, international law does not explicitly ban the use of thermobaric weapons on enemy positions — provided they are not directed at civilians. The development of Gazap and NEB-2 reflects Turkey's broader effort to establish itself as a leader in advanced weapons manufacturing. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD By investing heavily in domestic R&D, Ankara has been working to reduce reliance on foreign defence suppliers. With inputs from agencies
The Irish Sun
28-07-2025
- Science
- The Irish Sun
Leaked vid shows terrifying power of new one-tonne vacuum bomb ‘the GAZAP'…one of the world's most destructive non-nukes
A LEAKED video has emerged showing the catastrophic power of the new one-tonne vacuum bomb developed by Turkey. Touted as one of the world's most destructive non-nuclear bombs, the GAZAP can Advertisement 7 The moment Turkish military dropped the one-tonne vacuum bomb during a test Credit: X/nexta_tv 7 The bomb explodes and creates a huge flash, sending shockwaves that are visible to the naked eye Credit: X/nexta_tv 7 A massive cloud of smoke and dust follows the explosion Credit: X/nexta_tv 7 A GAZAP bomb on display during the International Defence Industry Fair (IDEF) 2025 in Istanbul Credit: IDEF 2025 And a glimpse of the devastation was caught in a short clip, which showed the mighty bomb's terrifying effects. The footage shows the GAZAP being dropped on the ground from a bomber during a military test. The bomb explodes and creates a huge flash, sending shockwaves that are visible to the naked eye. A massive cloud of smoke and dust follows the explosion, which covered an area of almost 160metres wide, according to Turkish military bosses. Advertisement The bomb is said to be one of the most powerful conventional weapons, just one step below nukes. The GAZAP, which means "Wrath" in Turkish, was unveiled at the International Defence Industry Fair (IDEF) 2025 in Istanbul. It is a 2,000-pound MK84 aircraft bomb which can be dropped from bombers as well as fighter jets, including F-4s and F-16s. Nilufer Kuzulu, who led the research to develop the bomb, said: "Unlike its conventional counterparts, it features a fragment-based structure with 10,000 particles. Advertisement Most read in The US Sun Live Blog "These fragments disperse within a one-kilometre radius upon detonation." She noted that traditional bombs of this category typically disperse around three fragments per square meter, while GAZAP disperses 10.16 fragments per square meter. Moment cache of Putin's thermobaric 'vacuum bombs' is BLOWN UP in 3,000C blast "This makes it three times more powerful than standard MK-series bombs," Kuzulu said. "This design mimics the effect of a defensive grenade, breaking apart into controlled fragments instead of random steel pieces," she added. Advertisement The GAZAP bomb can be deployed from Turkish F-16 and F-4 fighter jets and can be developed further to be deployed from drones . Thermobaric weapons were originally developed by the They can produce more heat and overpressure than conventional bombs by exploding a vapour in the blast zone. 7 The bomb is said to be one of the most powerful conventional weapons Credit: X/nexta_tv Advertisement 7 The bomb can be dropped from bombers as well as fighter jets, including F-4s and F-16s Credit: X/nexta_tv The deadly cloud produced after the explosion can reach temperatures of up to 3,000 degrees Celsius - and can burn through steel and concrete. And if it comes into contact with human flesh, it can melt through right down to the bone. has a chilling past with thermobaric bombs and has reportedly dropped at least a few so far during its war with Ukraine . Advertisement Read more on the Irish Sun While the use of the weapon can be extremely dangerous, it is not banned by the International arms control organisations to use against enemy positions in active warzones. Deploying such bombs is not a breach of international law as long as civilians aren't being targeted with them. Putin's wreakes havoc with vacuum bomb in Ukraine Throughout the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia has been widely accused of using thermobaric weapons, commonly known as "vacuum bombs". Within days of the invasion, Ukraine's ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova, accused Russia of deploying a vacuum bomb. Around the same time, visual evidence of TOS-1A - a Soviet-era launcher - being moved into Ukraine began circulating on social media. During the brutal siege of Mariupol and the intense fighting in the Donbas region, numerous reports and videos surfaced allegedly showing the impact of thermobaric weapons. Putin was also accused of dropping a vacuum bomb in response to a Ukrainian incursion into the Kursk region. Earlier this year, a cache of Russian thermobaric bombs was blown up in a huge explosion after an overnight Ukraine strike. Incredible footage shows a huge fireworks-like inferno reaching high up in the sky after the precision attack. Ukrainian Defense Forces destroyed the large pile of thermobaric munitions that was stored inside a warehouse in the Russian-occupied part of Donetsk region. Ukraine's General Staff said in a statement: "On the night of February 28, the Defense Forces of Ukraine destroyed a thermobaric ammunition storage facility of the Russian invaders in the temporarily occupied territory of the Donetsk region, in the Selidove district. "In addition, three more important facilities of the Russian invaders were damaged. In particular, the Ilsk Oil Refinery, which is involved in supplying the Russian occupation army." 7
The Hill
11-07-2025
- General
- The Hill
They came here to bomb. They returned here to live.
Da Nang, Vietnam — Richard Brown hadn't planned on crying by the side of a Vietnamese road. He had come back to Da Nang, where he had once loaded bombs bound for targets across Vietnam, expecting anger, hatred, maybe even violence. Instead, during his first week back, a local motorbike driver grabbed his hand, looked him in the eye and said: 'I want to thank you and your country for sending so many boys here to come and die and help my country be free.' Then the man walked away, leaving Richard alone on the roadside to weep. 'I had one experience like this after another,' Richard told me, sitting near the old Chu Lai airbase where he had spent a year as a kid from Boston — 5'4″, 115 pounds, a former Hells Angels drug-runner trying to dodge jail by signing up with the Marines. On his first day in Vietnam during the war, he went drinking with some new friends. 'Then on the way back, someone pulls out a joint,' he said. 'And that's the last thing I remember until I got on the plane to come home.' He spent his tour as a 'bomb humper,' loading F-4s with napalm and rockets. 'We were more dangerous to ourselves than anything the Vietnamese could throw at us.' When the war ended, Richard went home, but nobody asked him about it. 'Nobody wanted to know what it was like.' He became an aircraft mechanic, an FAA supervisor, and then, decades later, found himself standing at the Vietnamese consulate window in California 'with fear in my heart,' he said. 'I figured I'd be rejected or yelled at… but I filled out the visa application with my shaky hand and stuck it through the window. For 25 bucks, I got it a week later.' My trip to Hanoi came just after Reunification Day, Vietnam's victory celebration in what is sometimes referred to as the American war of aggression. The red flags and old slogans were everywhere. A few people spoke of it almost apologetically, as if they pitied me for being reminded of my country's catastrophic defeat. Americans prefer our victories — Normandy, Desert Storm. The wars we lose, we bury. But for a few hundred men scattered from Hanoi to Da Nang to Ho Chi Minh City, burying it was not enough. So they came back. Da Nang makes sense for many of these men. It was often their first and last stop in Vietnam — the place they landed and flew out from. Tens of thousands of U.S. veterans have returned since the 1990s, mostly for short visits to see the places where they once fought. A few hundred stayed. Da Nang — once a major airbase, now a coastal city with condos, coffee shops, and pristine beaches — is consistently ranked among Vietnam's most livable cities. It holds symbolic weight: a hub for Agent Orange, for bombs and final goodbyes. Richard says he feels more at home here than he ever did in Boston. Over the years, he worked in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), where South Vietnamese treated him as a hero, but in Hanoi — consulting for Vietnam Airlines — his Marine past earned him some cold stares. 'When they found out I was a veteran, bombing the f— out of these people — needless to say, I got some cold receptions,' he said. It was a former North Vietnamese Air Force pilot who broke down those barriers. 'We weren't adversaries. We were just wearing different uniforms, taking orders from different a–holes,' he said. Gordy Thomas came back too. When he got home from the war in 1972, America was done with people like him. 'We learned not to talk about it,' he said. 'I got cancelled from everything because I'd fought in Vietnam. It's the same way people get cancelled now for supporting Trump. … It's that sense that you have no moral justification.' Decades later, long after getting his veteran's disability rating, he sold his house outside Nashville, cashed in his Delta miles and flew first class back to Da Nang — chasing cheap living, sunshine, and My Khe Beach (China Beach), where Marines once landed. Gordy says living here forced him to confront the 'moral injury' of war — the belief that an American life was worth more than a Vietnamese one. 'Coming here was the final healing point of my PTSD,' he told me. He now gives part of his pension to schools and poor families in his wife's hometown. 'So what it comes down to is the United States government, who sent me down here in the first place…now gives me enough money tax-free each month that I can take a very small amount and give it to the people here,' he said. 'It's very helpful to them and is appreciated.' Like Richard, Gordy never really knew the Vietnamese during the war — and like Richard, he met and married his Vietnamese wife here, only decades later. Matt Keenan's story is about unfinished business. He came to Vietnam in 1971 to help 'Vietnamize' the war. In 2014, back in New York, he got a cancer diagnosis tied to Agent Orange. 'I wasn't surprised,' he said. 'But I wanted to come back and see how the people who were exposed are living.' He found his purpose at the Da Nang Association for Victims of Agent Orange. He volunteers with disabled children, some born decades after the spraying stopped. 'They've become like my extended family,' he said. 'The beach is nice, but that's not my priority. I have a whole life in Vietnam.' He has attended solemn repatriation ceremonies for soldiers' remains. He even stood alongside President Biden during one, handing a former Vietnamese soldier back the diary he had lost 50 years before. Keenan, too, met and married his wife here. Before I left Hanoi, I visited the old Hoa Lo Prison — the 'Hanoi Hilton.' Its yellow walls once held Vietnamese revolutionaries under the French. The Vietnam War wing presents its own tidy version: photos of American POWs smiling, playing basketball, unwrapping care packages — a careful curation of the story. Not far away, in a modest home in west Hanoi, I met Ngo Ngọc Duong. Through a translator, he told me that he joined the North Vietnamese Army at 18 and fought for 16 years as a reconnaissance soldier — crawling into enemy zones for intelligence, surviving on roasted cassava in bamboo tubes. He described the day American helicopters hunted him through dense forest for miles as he dove into foxholes, crawled forward and ran again. 'They had aircraft, bombs, the most advanced weapons,' he said. 'But in the end … they couldn't kill me.' His daughter was born deaf and with intellectual disabilities, a legacy of Agent Orange. Still, he sees American soldiers, like himself, as victims of war. 'They didn't want to invade another country, but due to circumstances and orders, we ended up on opposite sides,' he said. 'On the battlefield, we were enemies — but outside of war, they are just people like us, with families, dreams, and their own pain.' That's why, even today — after all the loss and suffering — he warmly welcomes American veterans back. He hopes to shake hands with them, to talk, to be friends, and most importantly, to send a message: 'Cherish life. Cherish peace.' All four men grew emotional while telling their stories. The three Americans arrived with bombs overhead and rifles in their hands — or bombs strapped to the wings of jets they loaded. Now, they come back with pension checks, Agent Orange scars, and local wives. They stand barefoot on the same sand they once cratered, in a country that — for reasons they're still figuring out — feels more like home than the one they left behind. Daniel Allott is the former opinion editor of The Hill and the author of 'On the Road in Trump's America: A Journey into the Heart of a Divided Country.'
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
F-4 Phantoms Sought By Private Space Launch Company Starfighters International
The Kennedy Space Center-based research, test, and now space launch company Starfighters International, which has been flying F-104 Starfighters privately for decades is now, is in the process of acquiring a dozen F-4 Phantoms. The deal would see the iconic third-generation Cold War fighters fly primarily in service of the firm's space launch operations, which aim to provide rapid and flexible access to low Earth orbit (LEO) for small satellites, as well as suborbital offerings. Starfighters International began as a company around three decades ago, and grew from doing air shows to becoming largely a research and development support firm with a very unique address. The company and its fleet of antique Mach 2-capable F-104 Starfighters, which includes seven airframes today, moved into Kennedy Space Center in 2007. There they would have access to arguably one of the most famous and largest runways on earth, the Shuttle Landing Facility. Now they are in the process of building a 150,000-square-foot facility in Midland, Texas, to support the firm's more ambitious space launch aims. And this is precisely where the F-4 Phantoms come into play. While the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter is capable of zooming up into the stratosphere at high speed, they cannot carry heavier, outsized launch vehicles at the required performance that will allow larger payloads to be inserted into low Earth orbit. The F-4s — at least in concept — can. In an April 2025 SEC filing, the firm, which is undergoing a major fundraising drive, stated that it is in the process of acquiring a dozen F-4s, all from South Korean stocks. Additional support aircraft — a DC-9 and MD-80 — are also being perused. The filing reads, in part: 'On October 31, 2024, our wholly owned subsidiary, Starfighters International entered into an aircraft acquisition agreement (the 'Aircraft Agreement') with Aerovision LLC, a Florida limited liability company ('Aerovision'), pursuant to which Starfighters International agreed to purchase from Aerovision various used aircraft and associated spare equipment (the 'Aircraft Transactions') in phases. The Aircraft Agreement contemplates that each Aircraft Transaction will be completed pursuant to a definitive agreement (each, a 'Definitive Agreement') to be settled between the parties, in each case with a corresponding bill of sale and associated closing documents. The Aircraft Agreement provides that it, and any Definitive Agreement entered into by the parties, may be amended and/or extended in writing by the parties on a case-by-case basis. The subject aircraft for acquisition pursuant to the Aircraft Agreement are: (i) twelve F-4 Phantom II aircraft, (ii) one MD-83 with U.S. Federal Aviation Administration ('FAA') Registration N572AA, and (iii) one DC-9 with FAA Registration N932NA. The subject aircraft are used-serviceable surplus aircraft offered on an 'as-is-where-is' basis, with no warranty express or implied. The twelve F-4 Phantom II aircraft have recently been decommissioned by the Republic of Korea Air Force, and will have to be registered with the FAA after they are imported into the United States from South Korea. The Aircraft Agreement requires an initial deposit advance in the amount of $5,000,000.00 to be made no later than ten business days from the signing of the Aircraft Agreement, which has been paid from funds received from the Company's Regulation A Tier 2 Offering. The payment of the deposit is considered to constitute 'Phase 1' under the Aircraft Agreement. Phase 2 will involve the payment of an additional $5,000,000.00 for the acquisition of eight of the twelve F-4 Phantom II aircraft. Such payment is due no later than December 15, 2024. Phase 3 will involve the payment of an additional $5,000,000.00 for the acquisition of the final four F-4 Phantom II aircraft. Such payment is due no later than March 15, 2025. Phase 4 shall involve the payment of an additional $5,000,000.00 for the acquisition of the MD-83 aircraft with FAA Registration N572AA, and the DC-9 aircraft with FAA Registration N932NA. The parties are to use their reasonable best efforts to complete Phase 4 by April 15, 2025.' It's worth noting that South Korea retired its last upgraded F-4E Phantoms a year ago, which you can read all about in this past feature. There are currently no F-4s registered to Starfighters International in the FAA database. Importing fighters, especially ones as capable as the Phantom, is a complex, very expensive process, and tightly controlled in various ways, including through U.S. International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). If the deal is moving forward as planned, delays would not be surprising. Beyond financing, when dealing with the transfer of capable and deadly military hardware from one country to another, and especially from government to private hands, other factors can emerge virtually from nowhere. Case in point, from the same SEC filing: 'As a result of the current political situation in South Korea, Starfighters International has been unable to view the F-4 Phantom II aircraft originally contemplated under the Aircraft Agreement to be acquired from the Republic of South Korea Air Force, and neither Starfighters International nor Aerovision have been able to confirm the continued availability of such aircraft. As such, Starfighters International did not pay the Phase 1 initial deposit advance nor the Phase 2 payment provided for under the Aircraft Agreement. On or about January 28, 2025, Starfighters International and Aerovision verbally agreed to amend the Aircraft Agreement regarding the Aircraft Transactions, pursuant to which: (i) Starfighters International may elect not to proceed with Phase 3 and/or Phase 4; (ii) The initial deposit advance of $5,000,000.00 is broken down into two payments of $2,500,000.00 each, with the first payment to be made on or before January 31, 2025 (which was paid on January 24, 2025), and the second payment to be made within 10 days of Aerovision executing a binding agreement to acquire a minimum of eight F-4 Phantom II aircraft from an alternative supplier(s); (iii) The due date for payment associated with Phase 2 is amended to be within five days of Aerovision providing confirmation of shipping of the F-4 Phantom II aircraft to the Company from the point of origin; (iv) The due date for payment associated with Phase 3, if Starfighters International elected to proceed, is amended to be October 31, 2025; (v) The due date for payment associated with Phase 4, if Starfighters International elected to proceed, is amended to be January 31, 2026.' While the filing does not elaborate on the 'current political situation in South Korea' at issue, the country is still dealing with the aftermath of former President Yoon Suk Yeol's declaration of martial law on December 3, 2024. Yoon, who was subsequently impeached and removed from office, is now on trial after having been charged with leading an insurrection. South Korea's relations with North Korea are also far from the best they have been. If sourcing becomes a primary issue, F-4s should be available from other friendly countries. Greece is winding down its Phantom operations and Turkey will eventually send the last of its F-4s out to pasture. Others have retired the type in recent years, such as Japan. We asked Starfighters International about the status of the F-4 acquisition. They couldn't provide additional info, stating: 'We are very excited for the future prospects of the company, but we cannot comment on the F-4s at this time.' While companies have come and gone trying to break into the space access game using fixed-wing aircraft as launch platforms before Starfighters International, the timing is arguably quite good for the company. The space access marketplace has exploded in recent years, as has the financial investment in it. In particular, the ability to put smaller payloads into orbit much faster and more flexibly is a market area that has great interest. Right now, putting a satellite into orbit weighing hundreds, not thousands of pounds, is in many cases tied to the schedules of larger space-launch payloads and the elaborate systems that put them into orbit. In other words, these smaller satellites often have to hitch rides atop rockets alongside larger ones. This means customers are married to someone else's timeline, which can be years in length. Considering the primary payload is paying most of the bill, delays in that more complex payload can push back launches. Again, this is all outside of the smaller customer's control. Then there is just the desire for flexibility — being able to quickly launch as needed and from where it is most advantageous to the required orbit. This is not a thing for traditional space launch services. Having cost-effective and highly adaptable launch options for these smaller customers also fits into NASA's aim at commercializing LEO and expanding access to it. Above all else, the U.S. military is seeking this level of flexibility across its payload classes as space becomes more contested and the technological evolution of payloads is outpacing launch schedules. Payloads are also shrinking as technology rapidly evolves, meaning more capable smaller satellites will only increase in number, and rapidly so. This is especially true as satellite constellations proliferate. Still, as noted earlier, the concept of space launch using fixed-wing mothership/launch aircraft as a first 'stage' has been littered with broken dreams and unrealized concepts. On the other hand, Starfighters International has been around for a long time and has survived providing test, training, and other support products to key industry players. They also already have a long operational record of flying very high-performance military fighter aircraft and clearly have deep roots in the spaceflight community. As it sits now, the firm sees its F-104s providing suborbital payload launches, which offer minutes of microgravity, to customers who need to experiment in that environment. This will be via their Starlaunch 1 rocket. The Starlaunch 2 rocket, which the F-4 will presumably carry, will provide LEO access, or at least heavier LEO access than what the Starfighter can provide. A single rocket can carry one payload or over a dozen smaller ones. Finally, there could also be a hypersonic testing angle that may have potential with a larger and more powerful aircraft like the F-4 as a launch platform. Most famously, Stratolaunch pivoted away from a space launch business model to one focused on supporting hypersonic testing. Of course, this example is on the other end of the spectrum when it comes to mothership size and capabilities, but smaller hypersonic vehicles will also be needed for test and evaluation efforts as the military's demand for these weapons increases. If Starfighters International can pull off its F-4 acquisition, these aircraft would join just one flight-worthy Phantom in the United States, an F-4D that belongs to the Collins Foundation. We reached out to the nonprofit as to the status of their Phantom. They told us it is in flyable condition, but it has not flown for a number of years due to the cost associated with operating it. This underlines just how expensive it is to fly anything like an F-4. The F-104s feature one J79 turbojet, while the F-4s have two. The fuel burn alone is a daunting expense — one of many that Starfighters International will have to confront to keep the F-4s flying and their pilots current. Still, today there are more advanced fighter aircraft than the F-4 flying in private hands in the United States, and successfully for business purposes. Regardless, if the South Korean jets make it to the United States and into the skies, they will be the only actively flying F-4s in the country. Hopefully, the company can share more about its potential as an F-4 Phantom operator in the near future. Contact the author: Tyler@
