130,000 Horsepower: Launching the Thunderjet from a Standstill At Edwards AFB. In the high-stakes paranoia of the early Cold War, the United States Air Force faced a terrifying strategic problem: if the Soviet Union launched a surprise attack, the first targets destroyed would be the massive concrete runways required for jet fighters. Without runways, air superiority would be lost in minutes. The solution proposed by military engineers was one of the most radical and physically punishing experim