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Lockheed announces development of a MACH 6 capable successor to the SR-71

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The SR-71 Blackbird has had an almost immeasurable effect on the world we live in today.  Its record as the fastest aircraft ever to take to the skies speaks to the incredible engineering and problem solving employed by Lockheed Martin in the 1960s, and the reconnaissance missions it carried out over the Soviet Union and other potential enemies of the United States in the decades since have helped keep the U.S. one step ahead of potential threats, and 50,000 feet above commercial airliners.

Testing the SR-71 and its predecessor, the A-12 Oxcart, over Groom Lake, Nevada (also known in some circles as “Area 51”) added to the mystery surrounding the facility and likely contributed to reports of UFOs in the skies within 2,500 miles of the airstrip.  Our love affair with this aircraft continues in pop-culture to this day, as even the X-Men seem to be flying a version of the SR-71 that allows for vertical takeoffs and landings in Fox’s movie series.

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  • Bud

    I would disagree about Ben not being accountable, I met him in the 80’s back when production had ceased on the F117 at Burbank but was not yet announced to the public. Ben ran the F117 which was a CIA program and only handed over to the AF at the end of production. We had gone there for one thing or another and we spent alot of time with the ADP people. Ben was always under pressure and was constantly having to go from Burbank CA to DC for some meeting or another. He had big shoes to fill. Kelly who was still coming into the office once a month or so by then was even more awnry , the key was to be friends with his secretary, who later became his wife, she ran things.

  • tim e

    Hopefully the technology will not end up on Wikileaks……

  • Chris H

    This isn’t the first manned vehicle to approach that speed. The X-1 I believe is purported to have gotten close to Mach 5 on a couple of flights.

  • Alan t

    No pun intended lol

  • WayTooMuchGear

    Kelly Johnson and Ben Rich were giants, but theirs was the era of self-accountability. Their reputation was all the accountability and you could take it to the bank. They’d finish the projects on time and actually give the government money back. Now we have entire departments dedicated to accountability, although I’m not sure how far they go in the black world. In the grey world, once we had a civilian Marine Corps bean counter wanting us to log toilet time in our timesheets. Shit you not.