Lt. Col. William Barnes pushes the recognized absolute speed record past 700 mph, as he hits 715.697 mph in a North American F-86D over the Salton Sea in California. This marks one of the first times an aircraft type has succeeded itself in setting a new world speed record.
The Senate Armed Services Committee this week released the full text of its version of the 2026 defense policy bill—often referred to as the National Defense Authorization Act—that would allow the Air Force and Space Force to spend billions of dollars more than the services had sought for next year.