FLYING Classics: Lockheed Created the 'Impossible' SR-71 Blackbird to Replace the U-2

FLYING Classics: Lockheed Created the ‘Impossible’ SR-71 Blackbird to Replace the U-2

Scott Mall

Friday, September 09, 2022 at 08:26 AM ET

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Stealth, beauty, and speed are the hallmarks of the SR-71. [FLYING Archives]

Key Takeaways:

The SR-71 Blackbird was developed by Lockheed's Skunk Works as a critical response to Cold War tensions, aiming to create an unmatched high-speed, high-altitude, and low-observable reconnaissance aircraft.
Its design pioneered groundbreaking technological innovations, including extensive use of titanium alloys and advanced heat-resistant materials to withstand Mach 3+ speeds, alongside early stealth characteristics to evade radar detection.
Operating at unmatched speeds and altitudes, the Blackbird set unbroken records and was invulnerable to enemy fire, though its complex operation led to several accidental losses.
An iconic symbol of the Cold War, the SR-71 served the U.S. Air Force for over two decades, provided critical intelligence, and was later used by NASA for high-speed aeronautical research until 2001.

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Following the loss of a U-2 reconnaissance aircraft over the Soviet Union on May 1, 1960, the Eisenhower administration sought a new aircraft from Lockheed (NYSE: LMT)—“one that would fly faster than any aircraft before or since, at greater altitude, and with a minimal radar cross section,” according to Lockheed Martin. Lockheed needed “to build the impossible—and do it fast.”

Development work on an aircraft to improve the United States’ intelligence-gathering capabilities had already begun at Lockheed’s Skunk Works in Burbank, California.