Built in total secrecy under the CIA’s Project Oxcart, the Lockheed A-12 Archangel was the direct predecessor to the SR-71 and, in many ways, its superior. Designed as a single-seat reconnaissance ...

The SR-71 Blackbird, the world’s fastest air-breathing manned aircraft, held its speed record not because of its airframe’s ...

The SR-71 is perhaps the most iconic Cold War spy aircraft, famous for many record-setting flights. Seemingly impervious to loss by enemy defenses, a dozen Blackbirds were lost to accidents. On July ...

What You Need to Know: The fastest airframe to ever fly the skies is surprisingly not a twenty-first-century invention. Nearly half a century ago, the SR-71 Blackbird set the record for highest ...

The SR-71 could cruise at speeds exceeding Mach 3 and at altitudes exceeding 80,000 feet—both of which represent performance extremes. At such extremes, the airframe generated heat, which posed ...

The SR-71 Blackbird was the world's fastest jet. Capable of of flying as high as 85,000 feet at Mach 3.3 (2,193.2 mph), the Blackbird was used for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance. It ...

Watch the impressive engineering in this in-depth tour of the SR-71 Blackbird's jet engine and you'll see an extraordinary reconnaissance aircraft that still impresses despite taking its first flight ...

The SR-71 Blackbird is easily one of the world's most iconic aircraft. They first took to the skies in the 1960s, and by the turn of the century, they were retired. Nowadays, you can only find SR-71s ...