diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 8ee00d839..98d32365f 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,26 +1,10 @@
 # Changelog
 
-- Local FM seek finds stations after wrapping around 87.5–108 MHz, covers both
-  band edges, skips the starting station and rejects spectra from an earlier
-  tune (Aditya, @Rohilalala, #1174).
-- Local RTL-SDR keeps USB reads queued in order and bounds pending decoder
-  work. A stalled or overloaded decoder stops with an explicit error; stopping
-  terminates its worker and rejects late audio. FM playback buffers short
-  scheduling gaps, caps its audio queue at 256 ms, and reduces display updates
-  and spectrum calculations while listening.
-
-- Add Bogotá (Tembici, 250 stations) and Santiago de Chile (Bike Itaú, 200
-  stations) to the GBFS bikeshare registry, the layer's first stations in
-  Colombia and Chile. Both are PBSC feeds like the Brazilian Bike Itaú cities,
-  so no proxy change is needed. Both feeds also list depot stations on other
-  continents (São Paulo, Madrid) as in service; stations outside a city's load
-  radius are now dropped instead of drawn as live docks.
-
-- Add Barcelona's bike share to the GBFS registry: Bicing (543 stations, the
-  city's PBSC system) and AMBici (237 e-bike stations across the metropolitan
-  area, run by nextbike). Both are keyless GBFS 2.3 feeds listed in
-  MobilityData's systems catalogue; AMBici's is CC0. `gbfs.nextbike.net` joins
-  the proxy allowlist. These are the layer's first stations in Spain.
+- The tracked-aircraft descriptor now publishes `verticalRateMps`, on both the
+  civil and military layers, so a consumer reading `getTrackedInfo()` no longer
+  has to reach past it into the raw poll record for climb/descent. Reported,
+  never derived: an aircraft that has not transmitted a rate reads as `null`
+  rather than a level-flight `0`.
 
 - Add nine Ontario transit feeds: TTC, MiWay, Hamilton HSR, Durham Region,
   YRT/Viva, Guelph, Burlington, Barrie and Kingston, each carrying its own
diff --git a/docs/CURRENT-STATE.md b/docs/CURRENT-STATE.md
index 385e8c78b..34ad95e6b 100644
--- a/docs/CURRENT-STATE.md
+++ b/docs/CURRENT-STATE.md
@@ -861,6 +861,13 @@ use the supplied asset resolver, including the preload path. Enrichment receives
 an abort signal and cannot update a later lifecycle after destruction. Existing
 camera, terrain floor, trail, selection and measured model-size policies remain.
 
+The tracked-aircraft descriptor both flight layers hand to the cockpit carries
+`verticalRateMps` beside `velocityMps` and `track`. Civil records store the rate as
+`verticalRate` and military records as `verticalRateMps`; the query seam maps both to
+one name, so `resolveTrackedAircraftInfo` returns a single shape for either layer. The
+rate is reported, never derived: a blank poll keeps the last transmitted value and an
+absent rate stays null rather than reading as level flight.
+
 ## Transponder emergency highlighting
 
 `src/data/aircraftEmergency.js` derives one status per poll from the Mode A
diff --git a/src/data/flights.test.mjs b/src/data/flights.test.mjs
index c325ea744..7fe197c30 100644
--- a/src/data/flights.test.mjs
+++ b/src/data/flights.test.mjs
@@ -726,7 +726,15 @@ const LABEL_ICAO = 'ae1fa4';
 const LABEL_POSITION = Cesium.Cartesian3.fromDegrees(-97.71, 30.21, 10_668);
 
 /** Seed one civil contact through the production refresh seam. */
-function seedLabelContact({ callsign, registration, tracked = false }) {
+function seedLabelContact({
+  callsign,
+  registration,
+  tracked = false,
+  // Per-test metadata overrides, spread last so a test can set a field to
+  // `undefined` to model "the feed never sent it" — a default parameter
+  // could not express that, it would just re-supply the default.
+  meta: metaOverrides = {},
+}) {
   _setTrackedFlightRefreshStateForTest({
     icao24: LABEL_ICAO,
     entity: null,
@@ -752,6 +760,7 @@ function seedLabelContact({ callsign, registration, tracked = false }) {
       turnRateDps: 0,
       rawLat: 30.21,
       rawLon: -97.71,
+      ...metaOverrides,
     },
   });
 }
@@ -825,6 +834,44 @@ test('civil label chain: the cockpit descriptor exposes a trimmed registration',
   assert.equal(flightsLayer.getTrackedInfo()?.registration, null);
 });
 
+test('the tracked descriptor publishes the reported vertical rate', () => {
+  // `mapAnalystRecord` has always published `verticalRateMps`; the tracked
+  // seam did not, so a consumer that needs climb/descent (a flight-phase
+  // classifier, the cockpit) had to reach past getTrackedInfo() into the
+  // raw record. Both seams now answer with the same field name and unit.
+  seedLabelContact({
+    callsign: 'SWA696',
+    registration: 'N123AB',
+    tracked: true,
+    meta: { verticalRate: -6.4 },
+  });
+  assert.equal(flightsLayer.getTrackedInfo()?.verticalRateMps, -6.4);
+  assert.equal(
+    mapAnalystRecord(LABEL_ICAO, { verticalRate: -6.4 }).verticalRateMps,
+    -6.4,
+    'the analyst seam and the tracked seam must agree',
+  );
+});
+
+test('an unreported vertical rate stays null, never a level-flight zero', () => {
+  // Absent is not level. `stickyNumber` seeds this field with null, so a
+  // contact that has never transmitted a rate must not read as 0 m/s — a
+  // phase classifier would call that cruise while the aircraft climbs.
+  for (const missing of [undefined, null, Number.NaN]) {
+    seedLabelContact({
+      callsign: 'SWA696',
+      registration: 'N123AB',
+      tracked: true,
+      meta: { verticalRate: missing },
+    });
+    assert.equal(
+      flightsLayer.getTrackedInfo()?.verticalRateMps,
+      null,
+      `vertical rate ${String(missing)} must publish as null`,
+    );
+  }
+});
+
 test('civil label chain: identity stays icao24 while the label moves', () => {
   for (const fixture of [
     { callsign: 'SWA696', registration: 'N123AB' },
diff --git a/src/data/militaryFlights.test.mjs b/src/data/militaryFlights.test.mjs
index 0c518eb5f..d04061793 100644
--- a/src/data/militaryFlights.test.mjs
+++ b/src/data/militaryFlights.test.mjs
@@ -834,3 +834,48 @@ test('two contacts matching at the same strength resolve deterministically', ()
     'and the same query resolves the same way every time',
   );
 });
+
+test('the military tracked descriptor publishes the reported vertical rate', () => {
+  // Shape parity with the civil layer's getTrackedInfo(). The two layers store
+  // the rate under different record keys (`verticalRateMps` here,
+  // `verticalRate` there), so `resolveTrackedAircraftInfo` only hands back one
+  // shape if BOTH descriptors map it — a consumer that reads the field off the
+  // civil seam and finds it missing on the military one would silently treat
+  // every military contact as level flight.
+  const seedRate = (verticalRateMps) =>
+    _setTrackedMilitaryRefreshStateForTest({
+      icao24: 'ae7f01',
+      entity: { gevLabelModel: { title: 'TEST', details: [] } },
+      billboard: {
+        position: Cesium.Cartesian3.fromDegrees(-97.0, 31.0, 8_000),
+        color: Cesium.Color.WHITE,
+        show: true,
+      },
+      billboardCollection: { show: true, remove() {} },
+      viewer: { camera: { positionCartographic: null }, scene: {} },
+      meta: {
+        callsign: 'RCH512',
+        rawLat: 31,
+        rawLon: -97,
+        altitudeFt: 26_000,
+        speedMps: 220,
+        track: 95,
+        onGround: false,
+        verticalRateMps,
+      },
+    });
+
+  seedRate(12.7);
+  assert.equal(militaryFlightsLayer.getTrackedInfo()?.verticalRateMps, 12.7);
+
+  // Absent is not level: a contact that has never transmitted a rate must read
+  // as null, not as a 0 m/s a phase classifier would call cruise.
+  for (const missing of [undefined, null, Number.NaN]) {
+    seedRate(missing);
+    assert.equal(
+      militaryFlightsLayer.getTrackedInfo()?.verticalRateMps,
+      null,
+      `vertical rate ${String(missing)} must publish as null`,
+    );
+  }
+});
diff --git a/src/layers/flights/queries.js b/src/layers/flights/queries.js
index 9c206a335..552adbe01 100644
--- a/src/layers/flights/queries.js
+++ b/src/layers/flights/queries.js
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ export function createQueries({
    * Build a public descriptor for one aircraft using its best current position
    * (dead-reckoned when history exists, billboard position otherwise).
    * @param {string} icao24 - ICAO 24-bit transponder address.
-   * @returns {{icao24: string, callsign: string|null, position: Cesium.Cartesian3, latitude: number, longitude: number, altitudeM: number, velocityMps: number|null, track: number|null}|null}
+   * @returns {{icao24: string, callsign: string|null, position: Cesium.Cartesian3, latitude: number, longitude: number, altitudeM: number, velocityMps: number|null, track: number|null, verticalRateMps: number|null}|null}
    *   Descriptor with a cloned position, or null if the aircraft is unknown.
    */
 
@@ -164,6 +164,15 @@ export function createQueries({
       onGround: info?.onGround === true,
       velocityMps: displayed.speedMps,
       track: displayed.trackDeg,
+      // Climb/descent rate, the one kinematic field `mapAnalystRecord` already
+      // published (as `verticalRateMps`) but this descriptor did not, so a
+      // consumer reading the tracked seam had to reach back into `_flightData`
+      // for it. Reported, never derived: `stickyNumber` in records.js keeps the
+      // last value across a blank poll, and an absent rate stays null rather
+      // than becoming a level-flight 0 the aircraft never transmitted.
+      verticalRateMps: Number.isFinite(info?.verticalRate)
+        ? info.verticalRate
+        : null,
       stale: Boolean(
         flightState.records.missingPolls.get(icao24) ||
         flightState.feed._backoff,
@@ -856,7 +865,7 @@ export function createQueries({
 
     /**
      * Describe the currently tracked aircraft at its dead-reckoned position.
-     * @returns {{icao24: string, callsign: string|null, latitude: number, longitude: number, altitudeM: number, velocityMps: number|null, track: number|null}|null}
+     * @returns {{icao24: string, callsign: string|null, latitude: number, longitude: number, altitudeM: number, velocityMps: number|null, track: number|null, verticalRateMps: number|null}|null}
      *   Tracked aircraft info, or null when nothing is tracked.
      */
     getTrackedInfo() {
diff --git a/src/layers/military/queries.js b/src/layers/military/queries.js
index f3393e748..9c106e927 100644
--- a/src/layers/military/queries.js
+++ b/src/layers/military/queries.js
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ export function createQueries({
    * Build a public descriptor for one aircraft using its best current position
    * (dead-reckoned when history exists, billboard position otherwise).
    * @param {string} icao24 - ICAO hex identifier of the aircraft.
-   * @returns {{icao24: string, callsign: string|null, position: Cesium.Cartesian3, latitude: number, longitude: number, altitudeM: number, velocityMps: number|null, track: number|null}|null}
+   * @returns {{icao24: string, callsign: string|null, position: Cesium.Cartesian3, latitude: number, longitude: number, altitudeM: number, velocityMps: number|null, track: number|null, verticalRateMps: number|null}|null}
    *   Descriptor with a cloned position, or null if the aircraft is unknown.
    */
 
@@ -131,6 +131,13 @@ export function createQueries({
       onGround: info?.onGround === true,
       velocityMps: displayed.speedMps,
       track: displayed.trackDeg,
+      // Same field, same name, same null-when-absent rule as the civil
+      // descriptor — the two layers store the record under different keys
+      // (`verticalRateMps` here, `verticalRate` there), so only the mapping
+      // makes `resolveTrackedAircraftInfo` hand back one shape for both.
+      verticalRateMps: Number.isFinite(info?.verticalRateMps)
+        ? info.verticalRateMps
+        : null,
       stale: Boolean(
         flightState.records.missingPolls.get(icao24) ||
         flightState.feed._backoff,
@@ -777,7 +784,7 @@ export function createQueries({
 
     /**
      * Describe the currently tracked aircraft at its dead-reckoned position.
-     * @returns {{icao24: string, callsign: string|null, latitude: number, longitude: number, altitudeM: number, velocityMps: number|null, track: number|null}|null}
+     * @returns {{icao24: string, callsign: string|null, latitude: number, longitude: number, altitudeM: number, velocityMps: number|null, track: number|null, verticalRateMps: number|null}|null}
      *   Tracked aircraft info, or null when nothing is tracked.
      */
     getTrackedInfo() {