The Convair B-58 Hustler, America’s first Mach 2 supersonic bomber, was the center of a radical Cold War plan to create a ...

The Convair B-58 Hustler, America’s first Mach 2 supersonic bomber, was a revolutionary but deeply flawed Cold War weapon.

Today the Soviet ICBM boost phase lasts up to five minutes. ”Fast-burn booster” technology now in development may cut that time to as little as 50 seconds–a ”short fighting window.” ...

Striking the ICBM, X rays instantaneously ionize a thin layer of its outer casing, causing the formation of a sheath of hot gas, or plasma. But only a small portion of X-ray energy is used to form ...