The XB-70 Valkyrie was a Mach 3 nuclear bomber built to fly so high and fast that nothing the Soviet Union launched could ever reach it — and one of the only two ever built was destroyed not in combat but in a midair collision during a publicity photo sho

The XB-70 Valkyrie was a Mach 3 nuclear bomber built to fly so high and fast that nothing the Soviet Union launched could ever reach it — and one of the only two ever built was destroyed not in combat but in a midair collision during a publicity photo sho

Summary and Key Points: The North American XB-70 Valkyrie was built to cruise at three times the speed of sound — so high and fast that nothing the Soviet Union could field would ever catch it. It beat the heat, the speed, and the engineering that should have killed it, and then, in June 1966, one of the only two ever built was lost in a midair collision during a formation flown for a corporate photo shoot. Below we have included original photos…