A NASA SR 71B variant
3 SR 71s at Dryden Flight Research Centre
An SR 71 inflight with a F/A 18 Chaser
December 1964,
US government officials acknowledged the existence of a top-secret spy plane so technologically advanced, it could fly to the edge of space and cross the continent in an hour flat. The needle-shaped aircraft was powered by massive jet engines that propelled it at 35 miles a minute. Constructed with imported Russian titanium and painted midnight black, it had a sleek, sinister appearance straight out of science fiction.
It was the SR 71 which was to serve the USAF for more than 30 years
The Lockheed SR-71 was an advanced, long-range, Mach 3 strategic reconnaissance aircraft developed from the Lockheed YF-12A and A-12 aircraft by the Lockheed Skunk Works. The SR-71 was unofficially named the Blackbird; its crews often called it the Sled, or the Habu ("snake"). The SR-71 line was in service from 1964 to 1998.The SR-71 was one of the first aircraft to be shaped to reduce radar cross section. However, the aircraft was not stealthy and still had a large enough radar signature to be tracked by contemporary systems. The aircraft's defense was its high speed and operating altitude; if a surface-to-air missile launch was detected, the standard evasive action was to simply accelerate.
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