Best of Military Machine

20 best flight sim gear picks from $30 joysticks to $700 HOTAS setups. Sticks, throttles, rudder pedals, head tracking, VR, and cockpit panels.

Only six pilots have ever sat in a B-21 Raider cockpit. Everything they saw is classified. Northrop Grumman's next-generation stealth bomber made its first flight in November 2023 and has been in flight testing at Edwards Air Force Base since, making it the most secretive aircraft program in a generation. At roughly $700 million per aircraft, the Raider is designed to penetrate the most advanced air defenses on earth and deliver nuclear or conventional weapons to any target, anywhere. Here is what we know about the bomber the Air Force calls its most important acquisition.

The MiG-31 was designed to catch the SR-71 Blackbird. It is still the fastest fighter in any air force. The Foxhound's Zaslon phased-array radar, the first ever installed in a fighter, can track 10 targets and engage 4 simultaneously at ranges exceeding 200 miles. Here is why Russia still flies a 1980s interceptor, and why the MiG-31BM carrying a Kinzhal hypersonic missile has changed what the aircraft means to modern warfare.

The C-17 Globemaster III can carry a 70-ton M1 Abrams tank, fly it 2,400 nautical miles, and land on an unpaved runway shorter than most regional airports. No other aircraft on earth can do all three. Here is how Boeing built the most versatile strategic airlifter ever to fly, and why nothing has replaced it.

France built the only Western tank with an autoloader, a 56-ton machine designed for speed and desert warfare. Everyone said the autoloader was a mistake. Then the UAE bought 388 of them and took them to war. Here's how the Leclerc defied its critics and why France chose a fundamentally different path than every other NATO nation.

The BMP-3 carries a 100mm cannon, a 30mm autocannon, and three machine guns on a vehicle that can swim across rivers. The Bradley carries one 25mm gun on a vehicle that weighs almost twice as much. Both designs reflect fundamentally different philosophies about what an infantry fighting vehicle should do, and Ukraine has stress-tested both in combat.

According to the IDF, 5,400 anti-tank attacks have been stopped, with zero crew killed in a Trophy-equipped tank. Rafael's Trophy Active Protection System detects an incoming rocket or missile, calculates an intercept point, and fires a shotgun-like countermeasure, all in less than one-tenth of a second. Here is how the system works, why the U.S. Army is installing it on every M1 Abrams, and the one kind of round it cannot stop.

22 best diecast military models from $25 desk pieces to $170 collector-grade aircraft and tanks. Hobby Master, Corgi, Forces of Valor, and more.

These weapons were built to fight a war that everyone prayed would never happen. The Minuteman III has been on alert since 1970. The Typhoon-class carried enough nuclear warheads to destroy a continent. The Davy Crockett could be fired by three soldiers. Most of them have been waiting for 40 years. Here are 10 Cold War weapons built exclusively for World War III.

For 77 days in 1968, 6,000 Marines held a remote hilltop combat base against 20,000-30,000 North Vietnamese soldiers. Operation Niagara dropped 110,000 tons of bombs around the perimeter. Resupply aircraft landed on a runway under constant shelling. The question isn't whether Khe Sanh was a tactical victory, it's whether it mattered.

For 77 days in 1968, 6,000 Marines held a remote hilltop combat base against 20,000-30,000 North Vietnamese soldiers. Operation Niagara dropped 110,000 tons of bombs around the perimeter. Resupply aircraft landed on a runway under constant shelling. The question isn't whether Khe Sanh was a tactical victory, it's whether it mattered.

23 patriotic gifts and 4th of July party gear for military enthusiasts. America's 250th anniversary picks from $10 to $180.

In December 2024, Ukrainian forces ran the first fully unmanned ground combat operation, with AI-coordinated drones identifying targets, engaging, and assessing damage without a human in the loop. The era of autonomous warfare isn't coming. It's here.

Laser weapons, robot dogs, see-through helmets - technologies that seemed impossible are now routine military equipment.

How military drones evolved from reconnaissance into a central pillar of modern warfare.

How sensor architecture transforms pilot awareness and decision-making.

Can a carrier be sunk? From Aegis destroyers to CIWS gatling guns, here's every layer of defense protecting a $13B aircraft carrier from missiles and torpedoes.