Even before the first operational flight of the legendary Lockheed U-2 spy plane, aircraft design genius Kelly Johnson began work with his team at the company's "Skunk Works" plant on the type's replacement. The result was the SR-71. First deployed on March 9, 1968, this tri-sonic 'hotrod' flew its first operational sortie over North Vietnam just 12 days later. On that debut mission, the Blackbird overflew surface-to-air missile sites with complete impunity, collecting the detailed intelligence that led directly to the end of the siege of Khe Sanh in the process.
Thereafter, the...
Even before the first operational flight of the legendary Lockheed U-2 spy plane, aircraft design genius Kelly Johnson began work with his team at ...
An icon of American military might during the Cold War (1946-1991), the Lockheed SR-71 'Blackbird' had covered itself in glory during the aircraft's debut in over-flights of North Vietnam and North Korea. When the US intelligence community realized that the aircraft could fly faster and higher than any Soviet fighter, and outrun most surface-to-air missiles, they instructed the United States Air Force to establish a European detachment of the aircraft.
In 1976, SR-71 Det 4 commenced operations from the Royal Air Force base at Middenhall in the United Kingdom. Its mission was to monitor...
An icon of American military might during the Cold War (1946-1991), the Lockheed SR-71 'Blackbird' had covered itself in glory during the aircraft'...
