SR-71 Blackbird
The SR-71 Blackbird was a US supersonic, strategic reconnaissance aircraft used by the US Air Force during the Cold War. The SR-71 was originally designed as the interceptor A-12 by the American engineer Clarence Johnson, for the Central Intelligence Agency. Although Lockheed produced thirteen A-12 interceptor prototypes, in 1964, upon President Johnson behest, the A-12 was converted into a top-secret reconnaissance model, the SR-71, which first flew as such on May 25, 1964.
The Blackbird could reach a top speed of Mach 3+, which generated high temperature. To solve this problem, high-temperature materials were needed, and the airframe of the SR-71 was substantially made of titanium. The aircraft was designed to minimize its radar cross-section, an early attempt at stealth design. The aircraft was painted a dark blue, almost black, to increase the emission of internal heat and to act as camouflage against the night sky. There was a sharp, pointed movable cone called a "spike" at the front of each inlet; it was locked in the full forward position on the ground or in subsonic flight. During acceleration to high-speed cruise, the spike would unlock at Mach 1.6 and then begin a mechanical (internal jackscrew powered) travel to the rear. It moved up to a maximum of 26 inches (66 cm).
On March 21, 1968, Major Jerome F. O’Malley and Major Edward D. Payne flew the first operational SR-71 sortie in SR-71 serial number 61-7976 from Kadena AB, Okinawa. From the beginning of the Blackbird’s reconnaissance missions over enemy territory (North Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia) in 1968, the SR-71s averaged approximately one sortie a week for nearly two years. By 1970, the SR-71s were averaging two sorties per week, and by 1972, they were flying nearly one sortie every day. While deployed in Okinawa, the SR-71s and their aircrew members gained the nickname Habu after a pit viper indigenous to Japan, which the Okinawans thought the plane resembled.
Avionics
Capabilities for the SR-71 included optical/infrared imagery systems, side-looking airborne radar (SLAR), electronic intelligence (ELINT) gathering systems, defensive systems (for countering missile and airborne fighter threats) and recorders for SLAR, ELINT and maintenance data. Imagery systems used on the Blackbird were diverse. At the simple end of the spectrum, SR-71s were equipped with a Fairchild tracking camera of modest resolution and an HRB Singer infrared-tracking IR camera, both of which ran during the entire mission to document where the aircraft flew and answer any post-flight political charges of overflight.
Specifications for the SR-71A
Engine: two Pratt & Whitney J58-1 continuous-bleed afterburning turbojets.
Maximum Speed: Mach 3.2+ (2,200+ mph, 3,530+ km/h) at 80,000 ft (24,000 m).
Range: 2,900 nmi (5,400 km).
Service ceiling: 85,000 ft (25,900 m).
Length: 107 ft 5 in (32.74 m).
Wingspan: 55 ft 7 in (16.94 m).
Crew: two
Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird (Video)
