Lockheed Martin hints at existence of aircraft faster than SR-71 Blackbird

I smell skunks at work!

It seems improbable that the SR-71 would be retired if there was not an operational replacement for the mission.

Color me "not surprised". It's LM, there is no reason to think they have not been working on a replacement for the SR-71.

Nice... If anyone can do it.. they can... I look forward to seeing what they come up with.

I remember when the SR71 was retired. Was a disappointment. As an Air Force radar ops guy I used to watch it zoom across my screen. That is one fast toy.

Compared to most posters on this site I am ignorant. But, I am a U. S. citizen who happens to have a relatively high interest in flight and the business of aviation. To read that Lockheed-Martin is working on a replacement to the SR-71 is good news. It is also worrisome that I now know about that possibility.

I met a gentleman about 15 years ago that worked on the SR-71. He was there for the final trips and the California to Washington DC flight. Shortly thereafter he was TOLD that HE was being retired. I asked if it was true that the AURORA project replaced the SR-71 and if it was real? He took out a picture and said, "You mean this? Yeah, it's real."
Now, I am not sure how Darkstar fits into this... as he said Aurora was the name of the aircraft.
For what it's worth, that's all I know. He had some really neat stories about the SR-71.

A vehicle of this description probably exists. Question is if it's manned. In SoCal there were significant sonic booms over the region each Thursday AM in the early '90's attributed to military testing. These sonic booms were WHOPPERS, not usual impulse. Everyone sensed something significant was going on at Edwards AFB.

Some cool numbers: At +65,000 feet MSL, the speed of sound is about 300 meters/second. If fuel capacity is not limiting for this exercise, traveling at hypersonic speeds (usually considered Mach 5 or above) at that altitude you would cover about 15 football fields per second. You would cover the air distance of Boston to San Francisco in about 48 minutes. Half that time at the max speed in Top Gun: Maverick (before the flight was cut short). Pretty cool.

Probably would already be in production if Kelly Johnson were still around. He would probably be designing hypersonic interceptors.

Per a source who was involved with an advanced stealth aircraft in the Nevada desert in the late eighties, we had an aircraft that would “shed” metal as it flew at… Mach 30. Not a typo… Mach 30. The metal was tantalum. My Air Force time was also spent in the Nevada desert however my time well preceded his so I knew nothing of this “aircraft”.

Per a source who was involved with an advanced stealth aircraft in the Nevada desert in the late eighties, we (U.S.) had an aircraft that would “shed” metal as it flew at… Mach 30. Not a typo… Mach 30. The metal was tantalum. Seems it was almost common to find heat distressed pieces, less than 2” long, laying on the ground. My Air Force time was also spent in the Nevada desert however my time well preceded his so I knew nothing of this “aircraft” firsthand. Just thought I’d share.

When everybody thinks that the military is purchasing $100 hammers and the like, that is just what the public accounting shows. In reality, they procure items much cheaper than we do and the balance subsidizes DARPA and "other projects" that must be kept secret.

of course - it's what mav was flying the last top gun movie... 😂😂

Darkstar made a forced "landing"? You mean Mav ejcted as the aircraft broke up, come to think of it how do you do that at Mach10?

Forced landing?! Did you watch the movie?

This web site has an interesting definition of "forced landing".

You know with the Russian running long range hypersonic missiles you know they have pilotable crafts being toyed with. Why waste the surprise in Ukraine while the US and Europe would be funner for them.

Clickbait

I'm more inclined to believe the US Airforce (military subcontractors such as Lockheed, etc.) have products that have evolved from unknown non-human vessels recovered in 1947 and from technology initially researched, discovered and presented by Nicola Tesla. I believe there are aircraft with incredible maneuvering capabilities and speed. I also believe there is technology to control to certain degree weather and major earth events such as earthquakes and hurricanes.