Blackbird SR-71 did not survive through concealing but through escape. Lockheed had constructed the Skunk Works of the SR-71 in the wake of the 1960 U-2 shootdown in the belief that, once spotted, the ...

Summary – The SR-71 Blackbird remains the fastest acknowledged crewed, air-breathing jet, a Cold War icon that relied on Mach 3-plus speed and extreme altitude to outrun threats. Since its 1990s ...

Military aviation history is filled with aircraft that achieved extraordinary performance yet never became widely fielded.