The SR 71:Here to Stay....Why?

 
The SR 71 in reconnaisance flight

 Very High Service ceiling and supersonic capability favours Synoptic Coverage

     In the 1970s the SR-71 was placed under closer congressional scrutiny and with budget concerns the program was soon under attack. Both Congress and the USAF sought to focus on newer projects like the B-1 Lancer and upgrades to the B-52 Stratofortress (whose replacement was being developed). While the development and construction of reconnaissance satellites was costly their upkeep was less than that of the nine SR-71s then in service. The SR-71 had never gathered significant supporters within the Air Force making it an easy target for cost conscious politicians. Also, parts were no longer being manufactured for the aircraft, so other airframes had to be cannibalized in order to keep the fleet airworthy. The Air Force saw the SR-71 as a bargaining chip which could be sacrificed to insure the survival of other priorities. A general misunderstanding of the nature of aerial reconnaissance and a lack of knowledge about the SR-71 in particular (due to its early secretive development and usage) was used by its detractors to discredit the aircraft. In 1988 Congress was convinced to allocate $160,000 to keep six SR-71s (along with a trainer model) in flyable storage that would allow the fleet to become airborne within 60 days. The USAF refused to spend the money. The decision to release the SR-71 from active duty came in 1989. Funds were redirected to the financially troubled B-1 Lancer and B-2 Spirit programs. Four months after the plane's retirement, General Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr. was told that reconnaissance which the SR-71 could have provided was unavailable during Operation Desert Storm.After Desert Storm tactical commanders stressed that they were not getting the timely intel they needed. It's also obvious that there was no "other system" waiting in the wings. In 1995 Congress ordered the reactivation of some of the existing SR-71s.
     The SR-71 can fly within hours of notification Its flight path can, if necessary, be changed in a short time. There is no advance warning of its coming. Flying at cruise speed and altitude, it moves along a flight path unknown to those being surveyed. It collects data and is gone before assets on the ground can be moved or hidden, before those surveyed realize what happened; that is, until they feel the punch of the plane’s sonic boom. The SR-71 is the only reconnaissance platform that can penetrate hostile territory along an unpredictable flight path, accomplish wide-area synoptic coverage and survive. Very simply, the SR-71 can collect intelligence data that no other reconnaissance system can, intelligence data that, as we have seen, is otherwise unobtainable.
     After the cruise missile attacks on terrorist bases in Afghanistan in 1999, there was a problem. Bomb damage assessment (BDA) on the targets was not available due to limitations of the U.S. resources in providing information.The first reason for lack of BDA was that it was nighttime in the region; later, it was because of weather. To date the only BDA the USAF had was some low-resolution satellite photos, and those were obtained days after the attack. In other words, for days the USAF were blind as bats, without knowledge of what damage their missiles had done. Even then, the results were hardly impressive.Fortunately, in this instance, the delay in obtaining intelligence was not that critical. In another scenario, such a delay could prove catastrophic.
     The SR-71 has a long history of delivering up-to-date intelligence data when needed, not days later.
 Without the SR 71, our reconnaissance capability is greatly diminished; not only reconnaissance as in the instances noted above, but also for battle situations like those in the Gulf War. There are two basic types of reconnaissance systems; aircraft and satellites. Only one airborne vehicle can operate over hostile territory with impunity -- the SR-71,Period.It is a reconnaissance vehicle, airborne, which can provide synoptic coverage.Synoptic coverage is the collection of data on a very large target area during a single flight. For example, the SR-71, in a single mission, can collect intelligence on all of Iraq, effectively providing a snapshot of Iraq’s assets at one point in time. Satellites must make many passes to accomplish the same coverage, with considerable time lapse between each pass.