Known as one of the most awe-inspiring achievements in the history of aviation, Lockheed Martin’s SR-71 Blackbird was the pinnacle of twentieth century American military aviation. Conceived in the late 1950s, as the Cold War was underway, the SR-71 was designed to fly faster than any known aircraft. 

At that time, Soviet air defenses were becoming more complex and could do more damage to American aircraft. If US planes could not penetrate Soviet airspace, then critical surveillance missions could not be conducted. During the nuclear standoff with the USSR, situational awareness was key. 

So, the SR-71 was designed to fly faster than any known Soviet defense system (including Soviet interceptor jets).

Of course, the all-black, almost alien-looking SR-71 was not America’s first success in creating high-flying, covert surveillance birds. The U-2 spy plane was an iconic feature of America’s arsenal. But, by the 1950s, the U-2 was finding it difficult to successfully sneak itself into the USSR without being intercepted by those increasingly complex Soviet air defenses. 

As a supersonic bird, the SR-71 could out-fly anything the Soviets could throw at her. Especially at the start of her service, in the late 1960s. 

Some Key Facts

The SR-71 could fly at Mach 3.2 (around 2,100 miles per hour). So, Blackbird was not hypersonic as its anticipated successor, the SR-72, is set to be. Instead, it was a supersonic plane. But that was fine for the era it was serving in. 

The Blackbird is considered to have been the fastest manned air-breathing jet in history. What’s more, it had an impressive operational ceiling of above 85,000 feet—at the edge of space, basically—so it could not only outrun Soviet interceptor jets, but it could fly above the ranges of Soviet anti-aircraft missile defense systems. 

And, from high in the sky, SR-71’s operators could use advanced (for its day) optical and infrared imaging systems.

The Blackbird’s airframe was built from titanium, meaning it could withstand the extreme temperatures generated by high-speed flight. In fact, the aircraft’s skin could heat up to over 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit due to the friction from the air. The aircraft’s skin would expand during flight to the point where the aircraft leaked fuel on the ground. Once in the air, however, the expansion of the skin would seal the leaks perfectly, proving that the SR-71 may have been the most technically impressive manned military aircraft the United States ever built. 

An interesting story comes from one of the pilots who famously flew from the Plant 42 Facility at Palmdale, just outside of Los Angeles (where Lockheed’s Skunkworks is located) to Dulles International Airport outside of Washington, D.C. in 68 minutes. While visiting “Blackbird” Park at Palmdale in 2022, this author got to speak with the surviving SR-71 pilots there, and they told of reaching their gloved hands up when they were flying and seeing the fireball surrounding their planes, feeling the heat emanating from it, even with the cockpit glass and thick flight suits separating them from the inferno beyond. 

An Inspiration for Stealth Planes?

At a time when stealth was not even a mainstream thought, and the Blackbird was certainly not a stealth plane, it incorporated features that would become common in American stealth planes. Things like a reduced radar cross-section. The use of specialized radar-absorbing materials, and its UFO-like shape, all contributed to the SR-71 being difficult for enemy radar operators to reliably track. And even if they did detect the Blackbird in their airspace, the bird was so fast, it was probably gone before any defenses could be scrambled. 

And the Blackbird’s operational record was impeccable. Its service life began during the Vietnam War and lasted until the end of the Cold War. Blackbird flew over 3,551 missions. Unlike the U-2, the SR-71 boasted no losses during that time. Blackbird’s intelligence-gathering missions were essential to America’s national defense during the heady days of the. Cold War, providing up-to-date intelligence and data about the enemy’s capabilities and movements. 

What’s more, once the Soviets and their allies figured out that the SR-71 was real, the psychological impact of knowing the Blackbird was in their airspace was a further complication to America’s enemies’ best laid defense plans.

SR-71 soon captured the public’s imagination and became a cultural icon of the prowess that American aerospace engineering once embodied. A simple, sleek, black profile became emblematic of the cutting-edge technology of the time. Celebrated across media, literature, and movies, the SR-71 symbolized how America pushed its boundaries. 

A Storied Plane from a Bygone Era

Sadly, by 1990, the Air Force retired the SR-71. But its speed records have yet to be broken by any of the Air Force’s other warbirds. The knowledge and technology developed by Blackbird program were key for the future development of other advanced planes in America’s arsenal. For instance, the B-2 Spirit long-range stealth bomber and the newer, aforementioned SR-72, and so many other advanced planes were all heavily influenced by the hard lessons learned from the SR-71.

We will truly never see another plane like Blackbird. Even the successor, the SR-72 “Son of Blackbird,” is going to be unlike the SR-71. It is not only slated to be hypersonic—theoretically reaching speeds of up to Mach 6—but also unmanned. While that’s certainly a safer route for America’s airmen, there’s something deeply saddening about not having a young, enterprising, and daring American airman piloting a plane as next-level as the SR-71 was in its day.

Brandon J. Weichert, a Senior National Security Editor at The National Interest as well as a Senior Fellow at the Center for the National Interest, and a contributor at Popular Mechanics, consults regularly with various government institutions and private organizations on geopolitical issues. Weichert’s writings have appeared in multiple publications, including the Washington Times, National Review, The American Spectator, MSN, the Asia Times, and countless others. His books include Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life, and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy. His newest book, A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine is available for purchase wherever books are sold. He can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.

Image: Wikimedia Commons.