“Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.”
—President John F. Kennedy
The truth is a strange thing. You can try to suppress it, but it will always find its way to the surface, sometimes our little minds cannot comprehend;
"We’re eyeball to eyeball…and I think the other fellow just blinked.”
—Secretary of State, Dean Rusk to NSA, McGeorge Bundy
With tensions rising in the Cold War, the most important thing for both sides was a fail-proof reconnaissance method to collect as much information as possible and maintain as much stealth as possible. By the latter half of the 1950s, the RADARs and anti-aircraft missiles were already integrated into the Air-Defense systems of both the countries, making it very difficult to launch air reconnaissance missions.
In 1962, a USAF U-2 aircraft was shot down by Russian SAM(Surface to Air Missile) over Soviet territory. Situations like these gave rise to the need for an aircraft capable of out-flying missiles and out-heighten the anti-aircraft artillery and RADAR. This Herculean task was assigned to the Lockheed Martin Corporation’s clandestine division, Skunk Works, headed by a genius Design Engineer, Clarence L. Kelly Johnson.
The initial design proposed a new high speed, high altitude, reconnaissance aircraft, to be capable of avoiding interceptors and missiles, centered on a design propelled by liquid hydrogen. This proved to be impracticable because of considerable fuel consumption. Lockheed then reconfigured the design for conventional fuels. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), already flying the Lockheed U-2, issued a production contract for an aircraft designated the A-12.
The A-12 was designed to cruise at Mach 3.2 and fly well above 18,288 m (60,000 feet).
Titanium Skin
Flying at more than three times the speed of sound generates 316° C (600° F) temperatures on external surfaces due to air drag, which was enough to melt conventional aluminum airframes. The design team chose to make the jet's external skin of the Titanium alloy to which shielded the internal aluminum airframe.
Twin Engines
Two conventional, but very powerful, afterburning turbine engines, named Pratt & Whitney J-58, propelled this remarkable aircraft. These power plants had to operate across a huge speed envelope in flight, from a takeoff speed of 334 kph (207 mph) to more than 3,540 kph (2,200 mph).
Special Color
The A-12s were to exhibit a low radar profile. This was achieved by carefully shaping the airframe to reflect as little transmitted radar energy (radio waves) as possible, and by application of special(black) paint designed to absorb, rather than reflect, those waves. And this peculiar black color gave rise to its name “The BlackBird”.
These A-12’s were upgraded by adding special reconnaissance equipment and designated as SR-71. The SR-71 was both longer and heavier than the A-12, allowing it to hold more fuel as well as a two-seat cockpit. The SR-71 was introduced to operational service in January 1966. These were very sophisticated crafts and required a lot of preparation. Pilots were trained specifically for this task.
Fun fact: The glass cover on the cockpit used to get so hot that pilots would warm their food by pressing against it.
The SR-71 still holds the world record for flying at a sustained altitude of 85,069 feet and reaching a top speed of 2,193.2 miles per hour, or Mach 3.3.
SR-71s were decommissioned from active service in 1990. It was last flown by NASA in 1999. Now the remaining of the BlackBirds are enjoying their retirement, resting in museums.
Now answer me this:
“Keeping in mind the fact that SR-71 could easily fool the RADARs, do you think it would still be stealthy if launched today?”
Here are some references for a more detailed read:
1. https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/setting-records-sr-71-blackbird
2. https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/sr-71-blackbird-spy-plane-design/index.html
3. https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/news/features/history/blackbird.html
—President John F. Kennedy
The truth is a strange thing. You can try to suppress it, but it will always find its way to the surface, sometimes our little minds cannot comprehend;
"We’re eyeball to eyeball…and I think the other fellow just blinked.”
—Secretary of State, Dean Rusk to NSA, McGeorge Bundy
With tensions rising in the Cold War, the most important thing for both sides was a fail-proof reconnaissance method to collect as much information as possible and maintain as much stealth as possible. By the latter half of the 1950s, the RADARs and anti-aircraft missiles were already integrated into the Air-Defense systems of both the countries, making it very difficult to launch air reconnaissance missions.
In 1962, a USAF U-2 aircraft was shot down by Russian SAM(Surface to Air Missile) over Soviet territory. Situations like these gave rise to the need for an aircraft capable of out-flying missiles and out-heighten the anti-aircraft artillery and RADAR. This Herculean task was assigned to the Lockheed Martin Corporation’s clandestine division, Skunk Works, headed by a genius Design Engineer, Clarence L. Kelly Johnson.
Design
The initial design proposed a new high speed, high altitude, reconnaissance aircraft, to be capable of avoiding interceptors and missiles, centered on a design propelled by liquid hydrogen. This proved to be impracticable because of considerable fuel consumption. Lockheed then reconfigured the design for conventional fuels. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), already flying the Lockheed U-2, issued a production contract for an aircraft designated the A-12.
The A-12 was designed to cruise at Mach 3.2 and fly well above 18,288 m (60,000 feet).
Titanium Skin
Flying at more than three times the speed of sound generates 316° C (600° F) temperatures on external surfaces due to air drag, which was enough to melt conventional aluminum airframes. The design team chose to make the jet's external skin of the Titanium alloy to which shielded the internal aluminum airframe.
Twin Engines
Two conventional, but very powerful, afterburning turbine engines, named Pratt & Whitney J-58, propelled this remarkable aircraft. These power plants had to operate across a huge speed envelope in flight, from a takeoff speed of 334 kph (207 mph) to more than 3,540 kph (2,200 mph).
Special Color
The A-12s were to exhibit a low radar profile. This was achieved by carefully shaping the airframe to reflect as little transmitted radar energy (radio waves) as possible, and by application of special(black) paint designed to absorb, rather than reflect, those waves. And this peculiar black color gave rise to its name “The BlackBird”.
Fun fact: The glass cover on the cockpit used to get so hot that pilots would warm their food by pressing against it.
The SR-71 still holds the world record for flying at a sustained altitude of 85,069 feet and reaching a top speed of 2,193.2 miles per hour, or Mach 3.3.
SR-71s were decommissioned from active service in 1990. It was last flown by NASA in 1999. Now the remaining of the BlackBirds are enjoying their retirement, resting in museums.
Now answer me this:
“Keeping in mind the fact that SR-71 could easily fool the RADARs, do you think it would still be stealthy if launched today?”
Here are some references for a more detailed read:
1. https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/setting-records-sr-71-blackbird
2. https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/sr-71-blackbird-spy-plane-design/index.html
3. https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/news/features/history/blackbird.html
I think the answer is no, because now there are way better interception techniques ,like military satellites, AWACS etc
ReplyDeleteDidn't have much idea about it , but now after reading this , I can say I have handful idea about it
ReplyDeleteIf they were still useful then they would have not been decommissioned.
ReplyDeleteWhy not man...!!
ReplyDeleteFirst of all any technology that can befool radar are literally worthy. But the frickin thing that charge the late SR-71 is not it's plunging espionaging activites or lack of work..... as anything with defects can be rectified but the main rivalry which it faced was it's behemoth budget of creating it from such a levish and aristocratic metal..."Titanium". Ya, cheaper than gold but fuckheads will you gonna make Craft from Gold?? So, respect the legacy of SR-71 which is still alive and showcased in museum. You know, I conjecture that it will gonna be in use in this centenary as this might be the last century for existence of real-humans.... either everybody will gonna doom or will gonna survive an artificial life on this beautiful planet.
The thing you are missing here, Avi, is that in those times when SR-71s were used, early warning systems (EWS) were either in very early stages of development OR were absent. Furthermore AWACS can easily detect any craft including the F-35 lightning II. Now, the russian s400 anti aircraft missiles cruise at MACH 6.5. Almost twice the speed of sr-71.
Delete