If so, you wonÂ’t once you check out the specifications for Air Force ceremonial swords.
These are the beautiful swords that cadets at the Air Force Academy get (paid for with about $300 of their own money, deducted from their cadet pay) when they graduate (you can buy one too, here, for $355).
They may merely be ceremonial, but the testing they have to undergo offers some sense as to just how demanding the testing is for real weapons – like fighters, bombers and drones.
According to a recent contract solicitation by the academy for 724 of the swords, mostly silver but some gold “in appearance” for class standouts, the swords must be machined to precise tolerances, and meet the following standards:
