Battle Stations

Suffering unprecedented losses by 1944, the US Air Force's daylight bombing campaign over Nazi occupied Europe was in danger of collapse. A fighter escort was needed--and urgently. North America's P-51 was originally built for Britain's RAF. Now fitted with the Packard Merlin it was drafted in and immediately made a difference. Taking on the worst that the Luftwaffe had to offer, the Mustang fighter pilots of the 8th Air Force dramatically turned the tide of the air war in Europe earning themselves the nickname 'Little Friends.'

Stalin enlisted the ideas of an American engineer, J. Walter Christie, to develop one of the most formidable tanks in history.

Outlining the most audacious engineering feat of WWII.

Enter the world of rocket scientists, secret weapons, and the race to destroy two of Hitler's most elusive weapons.

Adolf Hitler became personally involved in the Tiger Tank, one of history's finest armoured fighting vehicles.

The terror of being hunted by Hitler's U-boats and the bravery of crews that risked their lives to deliver men and material to defeat Nazi forces.

By mid 1944, the allied forces were regularly flying raids of one thousand bombers over Nazi Germany. Escorted by American Mustangs and Lightnings, these armadas were now dominating the skies. Then in July 1944, a new German fighter appeared on the scene. Flying at over 100 mph faster than a P-51 Mustang, and capable of destroying a B-17 in a single pass, this aircraft put fear into the allies, and made the Germans feel like gods. It was the jet-powered Messerschmitt 262.

In 1888, German physicist Heinrich Rudolf Hertz discovered electromagnetic radiation. His experiments with radio waves formed the basis of what would become one of the most important warfare technologies of the twentieth century. Discover the history behind radar technology, from Hertz's early experiments with radio waves to Christian Hulsmeyer's historic 1904 invention of the "telemobiloscope," which was designed to prevent the collision of ships at sea. During World War II, radar (originally an acronym for radio detection and ranging) not only helped win the famous Battle of Britain, but also brought Allied women into the frontlines for the first time as they worked to track and destroy Hitler's Luftwaffe.

The Lancaster bomber of Britain's Royal Air Force, ranks alongside the legendary Spitfire as one of the finest British aircraft of World War II. It was the most successful Allied bomber in the European theatre, able to carry almost twice the bomb load of other British and American bombers, and carry it further.

The Vietnam War was the Huey war-a brutal war, where the lethal Huey gunship wreaked havoc on the Viet Cong. The Huey revolutionised U.S. Army tactics and changed the way modern wars were fought.

Bombing from altitudes of over 10,000 feet, the Marauder had the lowest loss rate of any Allied bomber during WWII.

Developed from jet technology captured from the Germans after WWII, the F-86 approached speeds of Mach 1.

The MiG 15 was one of the 20th century's most feared high-performance weapons.

The legendary "Black Cat" squadrons won fame as night bombers in the battles of the Solomon Islands.

The Black Hawk remains today the world's most advanced twin-turbine military helicopter and flies wherever duty calls, from hot deserts to the icy Arctic.

Designed in the 1950s by Kelly Johnson, the SR-71 Blackbird was the world's first stealthy aircraft, designed to over-fly enemy territory with impunity while photographing 100,000 square miles in an hour.

This episode documents the growth of the American carrier task force in the Pacific. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December, 1941, the American Pacific Fleet was left with just three carrier groups. These centered on the carriers Enterprise, Lexington, and Hornet. But these groups proved their mettle in the fight against the Japanese by striking at Japanese bases in the Marshall and Gilbert islands, and the Enterprise and Hornet groups led the famous Doolittle raid against Tokyo in April, 1945.

Designed for aircraft carriers, it proved too hot to handle during deck landing.

The race to produce the first intercontinental jet bomber.

This episode explores the development and battlefield evolution of America's premier main battle tank. It highlights the Abrams' advanced armor, powerful armament, and cutting‑edge technology that set it apart from earlier armored vehicles. The episode also examines how the tank's design and capabilities have shaped modern armored warfare.

The P-38s struggle for aerial supremacy in the skies of the South West Pacific during WWII - Americas Ace of Aces.

Featuring interviews with sailors who served on these gladiators of the sea in the often suicidal Pacific Theatre, striking archive film, much of it in colour, and detailed re-enactments.

One aircraft in the US arsenal best typifies the will to win. Using the latest and most sophisticated computerized technology, the F/A-18 Hornet is now one of the foremost fighters of the 21st century.

It is the most potent symbol of American Airpower in military history. Designed to fend off ferocious attacks of the German Luftwaffe it dealt a deathblow to Nazi wartime industrial production and razed Hitler's capital to the ground. Each crewed by 10 men--thousands of them would fly the most perilous missions of the Second World War. But many would never return.

Built to put US pilots back in charge of the skies, the F-15 Eagle proved its superiority in Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Dogged by controversy, shrouded in secrecy F-117's have become the world's first truly stealth aircraft - forever changing the concept of aerial warfare.

It is the most feared aircraft in the US Air Force. The A-10 Tankbuster was the first aircraft in the US aviation history designed specifically for Close Air Support.

Powered by two Rolls Royce Merlin engines, this plane was a revolutionary design with no armour or weapons but could carry the same bomb load as a B-17.

Developed during the Cold War, this incredible aircraft is now the most powerful and feared helicopter in the world. Able to dive into action at over 200mph, it can deliver a devastating firestorm of missiles or rockets.

These boats were WWII's most heavily armed fighting boats. Screwed and glued together on a hull made of wood, they were nicknamed "The Devil Boats of the Night".

When this 60 tons of high-tech military hardware rumbles onto the battlefield there's nowhere for the enemy to hide.

The HMS Victory would play a crucial role in the foremost naval engagement in 19th century maritime history, the Battle of Trafalgar.

With its origins in single wing experimentation carried out in Germany in the 1930s, and continuing through cutting edge aviation research in the 1950s and 60s, the B-2 was developed under a cloak of secrecy.

The greatest machine of WWII springs into action. It is made up of thousands of ships and aircraft, tens of thousands of men and millions of tons of steel and concrete.

Deadly and undetectable at long range, this super-jet is the latest in fifth-generation fighter technology.

Commissioned in 1938, the British cruiser HMS Belfast was the Royal Navy's most modern warship.