P-71 Aircraft - SR-71B trainer over California's Sierra Nevada Mountains in 1994. The raised second cockpit is for the trainer.
Lockheed SR-71 "Blackbird" is a long-range, high-altitude, Mach 3+ strategic surveillance aircraft developed and manufactured by the American aerospace company Lockheed Corporation.
P-71 Aircraft
The SR-71 was developed by Lockheed's Skunk Works division in the 1960s as a black project of the Lockheed A-12 surveillance aircraft. American aeronautical engineer Clarce "Kelly" Johnson was responsible for many of the aircraft's innovative concepts. The shape of the SR-71 was based on the A-12, one of the first aircraft designed with a reduced radar cross section. Initially, a bomber variant of the A-12 was claimed by Curtis LeMay, before the program focused solely on reconnaissance. Mission equipment for the surveillance role included signal intelligence sensors, side-view weather radar, and a camera;
Lockheed Sr 71 Blackbird
The SR-71 was both longer and heavier than the A-12, allowing it to hold more fuel as well as a two-seat cockpit. The SR-71 entered service in January 1966.
During aerial surveillance missions, the SR-71 operated at high speeds and altitudes (Mach 3.2 and 85,000 feet, 25,900 meters), allowing it to evade or narrowly avoid threats.
If a surface-to-air missile launch was detected, the standard avoidance action was simply to accelerate and pass the missile.
On average, each SR-71 was able to fly once a week due to the extended turnaround required after mission recovery. A total of 32 aircraft were produced; 12 lost in crashes and none lost against emy action.
Scale Models Of Military Aircraft In The Technik Museum Speyer....bv P 194 Stock Photo
In 1989 the USAF retired the SR-71 mainly for political reasons; many were briefly reactivated in the 1990s before retiring the second in 1998. NASA was the last operator of Blackbird to use it as a research platform and was retired in 1999.
Since its decommissioning, the SR-71's role has been taken over by a combination of surveillance satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs); The SR-72, a proposed UAV successor, is being developed by Lockheed Martin and is scheduled to fly in 2025.
The SR-71 holds the world record it set in 1976 for the fastest air-breathing manned aircraft previously held by the respective Lockheed YF-12.
Lockheed's previous surveillance aircraft was the relatively slow U-2 designed for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). In late 1957, the CIA enlisted defense contractor Lockheed to build an undetectable spy plane. The project, called Archangel, was led by Kelly Johnson, head of Lockheed's Skunk Works in Burbank, California. Work on the Archangel project began in the second quarter of 1958 with the aim of flying higher and faster than the U-2. Out of 11 consecutive designs prepared in a 10-month period, "A-10" took the lead. However, its shape made it vulnerable to radar detection. After a meeting with the CIA in March 1959, the design was modified to achieve a 90% reduction in radar cross section. On February 11, 1960, the CIA approved a $96 million contract for Skunk Works to build low-dose spy planes called "A-12s." The downing of Francis Gary Powers' U-2 (1960) underlined the aircraft's vulnerability and need. For faster notification. Aircraft such as the A-12.
Lockheed A 12
The A-12 first flew to Groom Lake (Area 51) in Nevada on April 25, 1962. Three were built; Two variants were also developed, including three of the YF-12 interceptor prototype and two of the M-21 drone carrier. The aircraft was intended to be powered by the Pratt & Whitney J58 engine, but development fell behind schedule and was instead initially supplied with the less powerful Pratt & Whitney J75. The J58s were upgraded as they became available and became the standard engine for all subsequent aircraft in the series (A-12, YF-12, M-21) and the SR-71. The A-12 flew missions over Vietnam and North Korea before being retired in 1968. The cancellation of the program was announced on December 28, 1966.
The SR-71 designation is a continuation of the pre-1962 bomber series; The last aircraft produced using the series was the XB-70 Valkyrie. However, a bomber variant of the Blackbird was briefly given the retained designation B-71 when it was changed to the type SR-71.
In the later stages of its testing, the B-70 was proposed for a reconnaissance/attack role with the designation "RS-70". When it became clear that the performance crucible of the A-12 was much larger, the USAF ordered a variant of the A-12 in December 1962.
This USAF version was longer and heavier than the original A-12 because it had a longer fuselage to hold more fuel. The R-12 also featured a larger two-seater cockpit and redesigned fuselage chins. The reconnaissance equipment included signal intelligence, side-view weather radar, and a camera.
Points). Consider Again The Sr 71 Blackbird.
The CIA's A-12 was a better photo-reconnaissance platform than the USAF's R-12 because the A-12 flew slightly higher and faster, and had only one pilot and enough room to carry a superior camera.
The A-12 flew on covert missions, while the SR-71 flew on open missions; the latter had USAF markings and pilots carried Geva Convtions Identity Cards.
During the 1964 campaign, Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater repeatedly criticized President Lyndon B. Johnson and his administration for lagging behind the Soviet Union in developing new weapons. Johnson decided to counter this criticism by revealing the existence of the YF-12A USAF interceptor, which also serves as a cover for the still-secret A-12.
And USAF surveillance model since July 1964. USAF Chief of Staff Geral Curtis LeMay preferred the designation SR (Strategic Reconnaissance) and wanted the RS-71 to be named SR-71. Prior to his July speech, LeMay lobbied to change Johnson's speech from "RS-71" to "SR-71". The media transcript given to the press at the time carried the earlier designation of the RS-71 in places, creating the story that the president misread the name of the plane.
Squadron/signal Aircraft In Action
Johnson revealed the existence of a high-speed, high-altitude surveillance aircraft by only referring to the A-11 to disguise the A-12's presence.
In 1968, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara canceled the F-12 intercept program. Special equipment used to manufacture both the YF-12 and the SR-71 was also ordered to be destroyed.
The SR-71 is designed for flight above Mach 3 with a two-man flight crew in tandem cockpits, with the pilot in the front cockpit and the surveillance systems attendant operating the surveillance systems and equipment from the rear cockpit and managing the navigation in the rear cockpit. mission flight path.
The finished planes were painted dark blue, almost black, to increase internal heat emission and to act as camouflage against the night sky. The dark color led to the aircraft's nickname "Black Bird".
Antonov An 71
While the SR-71 carried radar countermeasures to evade interception efforts, its greatest protection was the combination of high altitude and very high speed that made it nearly invincible. These qualities, combined with the low radar cross section, gave the emy surface-to-air missile (SAM) field a very short time to radar and track the aircraft. By the time the SAM site was able to track the SR-71, it was often too late to launch a SAM, and the SR-71 was out of range before the SAM could reach it. If the SAM site were able to track the SR-71 and fire a SAM in time, the SAM would spend nearly the entire delta-v of the boost and sustain phases to reach the SR-71's altitude; at this point, it could do little more than follow the ballistic arc, aside from propulsion. It will often be difficult for an SR-71 to simply accelerate to avoid a SAM;
The changes made by the pilots to the speed, altitude and heading of the SR-71 were also often difficult to destroy any onboard radar locks from SAM sites or emy fighters.
At sustained speeds above Mach 3.2, the aircraft was faster than the Soviet Union's fastest interceptor, the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25, which could not reach the height of the SR-71.
On most aircraft, the use of titanium was limited to associated costs; it is generally only used in compositions that are exposed to the highest temperatures, such as exhausts and leading edges of wings. Titanium and most of the remaining polymer composites were used for 85% of the structure in the SR-71.
Republic P 47d Thunderbolt
The challenges presented prompted Lockheed to develop new manufacturing methods that were later used to manufacture other aircraft. Lockheed discovered that flushing welded titanium requires distilled water because the chlorine-prest in tap water is corrosive; Cadmium-plated tools could not be used either, as they caused corrosion.
Metallurgical contamination was another problem; 80% of the titanium delivered for production at one point was rejected for these reasons.
The high temperatures that occur during flight required special designs and operating techniques. Large sections of the skin of the inner wings were not flat but corrugated. Aerodynamicists initially opposed this concept, calling the aircraft a Mach 3 variant of the 1920s-era Ford Trimotor, known for its corrugated aluminum finish.
The heat could cause the smooth skin to crack or curl, while the corrugated skin could expand vertically and horizontally and increase the longitudinal strength.
Scale Wind Tunnel Model Of Sr 71 Showing Lasre Attachment
The fuselage panels were built to fit only loosely with the plane on the ground. Correct alignment was achieved as follows:
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