SR-71 Blackbird

The SR-71 Blackbird was a long-range, high-altitude strategic reconnaissance aircraft developed by Lockheed's Skunk Works under Kelly Johnson, evolved from the A-12 CIA reconnaissance platform. Powered by two Pratt & Whitney J58 mixed-cycle engines that transitioned to ramjet operation in cruise, the SR-71 could sustain Mach 3.2 above 85,000 feet, outrunning every surface-to-air missile fired at it during a quarter-century of operational service.

Thirty-two Blackbirds were built; twelve were lost in accidents, but none were downed by hostile action. The fleet flew missions along the Soviet periphery and over Vietnam, the Middle East, and Korea, collecting imagery and signals intelligence that satellite coverage could not match for timeliness. The U.S. Air Force retired the SR-71 in 1990, briefly reactivated three airframes in 1995 at congressional insistence, and finally retired the last Air Force Blackbirds in 1998; NASA operated two research aircraft through 1999 before transferring them to museums.

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