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 ...

Before the SR-71 became the face of American spy planes, there was the A-12 Archangel—faster, lighter, and more secretive. Capable of Mach 3.2 and altitudes near 95,000 feet, the A-12 was constructed ...