The Lockheed Martin SR-72, known as the “Son of Blackbird,” could fly before the end of the decade. Developed in secret at Lockheed’s renowned Skunk Works division, the SR-72 is expected to represent a technological leap and should take the mantle as the most aeronautically impressive unmanned aerial vehicle ever to fly.

What to Expect

When an airframe is named in reference to the SR-71 Blackbird, you can expect that airframe to be fast. The SR-71 was a Cold War marvel, developed decades ahead of its time, to hit speeds in excess of Mach 3, or, 2,455 miles per hour. Sixty years later, the speed bar has changed, however; Lockheed is expected to craft an SR-72 capable of hypersonic speeds, that is, speeds in excess of Mach 5. The SR-72 could have a top speed in the Mach 6 range. That’s 4,603 miles per hour. Fast enough to fly across the continental United States in about thirty minutes.

The benefits of hypersonic speed run deeper than merely being able to cross large amounts of territory in short amounts of time; hypersonic speed will allow the SR-72 to simply outrun surface-to-air missiles – which would permit the aircraft to operate behind enemy lines with limited consequences.

Allowing the SR-72 to achieve hypersonic speeds is the turbine-based combined cycle (TBCC) engine. The TBCC “combines a traditional turbojet engine for subsonic and supersonic speeds with a scramjet engine designed for hypersonic travel,” Simple Flying reported. “The integration o these two systems allows seamless transitions between different speed regimes, making the SR-72 highly versatile.”

The scramjet is distinct for its lack of moving parts. Whereas a traditional jet engine compresses air with blades, the scramjet relies simply upon high-speed airflow for combustion.

End of the Piloted Era

Possibly the most significant aspect of the SR-72’s design is the removal of the pilot. Unlike the predecessor SR-71, the SR-72 will be designed to operate autonomously, underscoring the emergence of unmanned systems in war fighting. While most airframes are still dependent upon an on-board, human operator, the days of traditional pilots are likely numbered. The future of military aviation is clearly unmanned. The currently-under-development Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) sixth-generation fighter will likely be the last Air Force fighter designed to operate with an on-board human pilot. The SR-72 is ahead of the curve, however, and will likely rely exclusively on artificial intelligence.

The benefits to unmanned aircraft are: a reduction in risk to human life; the ability to run longer missions, without needing to consider the biological needs of the pilot (sleep, food, bathroom breaks); and the ability to maneuver in a way that the human body could not withstand. The end result should be a faster, more maneuverable, longer-lasting platform with zero risk of pilot fatality.

If all goes as planned, the SR-72 prototype should fly in 2025, and enter service sometime in the 2030s. But don’t expect Skunk Works to keep the public fully informed of the SR-72’s progress.

Harrison Kass is a defense and national security writer with over 1,000 total pieces on issues involving global affairs. An attorney, pilot, guitarist, and minor pro hockey player, Harrison joined the US Air Force as a Pilot Trainee but was medically discharged. Harrison holds a BA from Lake Forest College, a JD from the University of Oregon, and an MA from New York University. Harrison listens to Dokken.

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