diff --git a/changelog.d/1436-military-geom-vertical-rate.md b/changelog.d/1436-military-geom-vertical-rate.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ddeb5b4aa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/1436-military-geom-vertical-rate.md
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+- Military aircraft whose transponders report a GNSS vertical rate now carry it
+  in analyst and tracked-aircraft data instead of null (Aditya, @Rohilalala,
+  #1436).
diff --git a/docs/CURRENT-STATE.md b/docs/CURRENT-STATE.md
index 6dbed2900..030138906 100644
--- a/docs/CURRENT-STATE.md
+++ b/docs/CURRENT-STATE.md
@@ -1138,7 +1138,8 @@ The tracked-aircraft descriptor both flight layers hand to the cockpit carries
 `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.
+absent rate stays null rather than reading as level flight. A military readsb row
+without `baro_rate` reports its GNSS rate as `geom_rate`, which is used instead.
 
 ## Transponder emergency highlighting
 
diff --git a/src/sources/live/aircraft.js b/src/sources/live/aircraft.js
index 1af1f6b47..9da4f7a5f 100644
--- a/src/sources/live/aircraft.js
+++ b/src/sources/live/aircraft.js
@@ -48,7 +48,8 @@ export function normalizeReadsbAircraft(row, snapshotTimeMs) {
   const baroFt = finite(row.alt_baro),
     geoFt = finite(row.alt_geom);
   const speedKts = finite(row.gs),
-    rateFtMin = finite(row.baro_rate);
+    // readsb sends a GNSS-sourced rate as geom_rate instead of baro_rate.
+    rateFtMin = finite(row.baro_rate) ?? finite(row.geom_rate);
   const seen = finite(row.seen),
     seenPos = finite(row.seen_pos);
   return {
diff --git a/src/sources/live/contract.test.mjs b/src/sources/live/contract.test.mjs
index b8b1787da..79626f6b3 100644
--- a/src/sources/live/contract.test.mjs
+++ b/src/sources/live/contract.test.mjs
@@ -145,6 +145,20 @@ test('readsb units and position/contact ages are normalized once against the sou
   );
 });
 
+test('readsb vertical rate falls back to the GNSS rate when no baro rate is sent', () => {
+  // readsb reports the rate under geom_rate when the aircraft's source is
+  // GNSS; 26 of 157 positioned rows in a live /v2/mil fetch had only that.
+  const row = { hex: 'ae638d', lat: 20.3, lon: -158.5, geom_rate: -2432 };
+  assert.equal(
+    normalizeReadsbAircraft(row, now).verticalRateMps,
+    -2432 * 0.00508,
+  );
+  assert.equal(
+    normalizeReadsbAircraft({ ...row, baro_rate: -2400 }, now).verticalRateMps,
+    -2400 * 0.00508,
+  );
+});
+
 test('vessel identity, opaque reference and heading/course remain distinct, unknowns stay null', () => {
   const row = normalizeVesselObservation(
     {