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 · It was born out of a need to protect the U.S. against the threat of approaching Soviet bombers armed with nuclear weapons if a war between the U.S. and U.S.S.R. ever broke out. As an interceptor, the XF-108 was designed for range and extremely high speeds, so it could greet and shoot down Soviet bombers long before they were over U.S. territory.

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.” It was also going to be quite numerous: the Air Defense Command (ADC) wanted 480 of them.

Jul 26, 2021 · The United States Air Force’s vision for the Rapier was extremely ambitious: a long-range interceptor that could fly at Mach 1.7 at an altitude of 60,000 feet with a range of 1,000 miles.

Apr 18, 2021 · On September 23, 1959, the USAF abruptly cancelled the North American Aviation F-108A Rapier program. No further explanation was given. 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 · Designed to be Fast and Deadly, the XF-108 Rapier was shot down before it got off the ground Meant to be stop armageddon, getting to the Soviet bombers first, the XF-108 would be the only jet to be able to escort the Mach 3 XB-70 bomber.

Mar 12, 2025 · 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 …

Aug 30, 2024 · One of the most interesting was the XF-108 Rapier. North American Aviation received the development contract in 1957 for this two-man interceptor, whose performance design called for Mach 3, a thousand-mile range, and an altitude of seventy thousand feet.

The F-108 aircraft was designed for a maximum speed of 1980 mph at 75,550 feet and for a 1020-mile combat radius. The pilot and radar operator sat in tandem individual ejector capsules in the forward cockpit.

Jul 29, 2024 · The XF-108 Rapier was a project that seemed to be the most technologically ambitious fighter interceptor of its time. By 1955, the Soviet Union had unveiled its latest bombers: the jet-powered Tupolev Tu-16 Badger and Myasishchev M-4 …