Lockheed A-12 and SR-71 projects

[SOC]

SR-71Bx

 

[SOC]

SR-71Bx part 2

 

[SOC]

SR-71I proposal 1

 

[SOC]

SR-71I proposal 1 part 2

 

[SOC]

SR-71I proposal 1 part 3

 

[SOC]

SR-71I proposal 1 part 4

 

[SOC]

The second SR-71I proposal should still be available at the bottom of page 2 as a PDF (image files for that one are TIFs).

 

[sublight_]

What is the aircraft in figure 1 that goes Mach 6 @ 120k feet?

 

[Ian33]

What is the aircraft in figure 1 that goes Mach 6 @ 120k feet?

The one that was flying way higher and and far faster than the SR71 as it was doing a sprint run across the USA would be my guess.

The crew mused iver the fact that their last high speed flight was indeed a cover for a classified airframe test.

 

[Sferrin]

What is the aircraft in figure 1 that goes Mach 6 @ 120k feet?

The one that was flying way higher and and far faster than the SR71 as it was doing a sprint run across the USA would be my guess.

The crew mused iver the fact that their last high speed flight was indeed a cover for a classified airframe test.

What? Do you have anymore details on this? Which crew? Book? Interview?

 

[GeorgeA]

What is the aircraft in figure 1 that goes Mach 6 @ 120k feet?

Pretty sure it's just there for comparison purposes.

 

[sublight_]

What is the aircraft in figure 1 that goes Mach 6 @ 120k feet?

Pretty sure it's just there for comparison purposes.

I doubt its notional of Ben Rich fantasy. He was definitely in a position to know otherwise.

 

[TomS]

What is the aircraft in figure 1 that goes Mach 6 @ 120k feet?

Probably just notional.

But there were some studies. Anyone know what projects these models belong to?

https://crgis.ndc.nasa.gov/historic/1251_Models_M-P#Mach_6_Bomber

 

[Orionblamblam]

What is the aircraft in figure 1 that goes Mach 6 @ 120k feet?

Almost certainly "notional concept."

 

[SOC]

Figure 1 is almost certainly a notional concept intended to show a performance regime capable of entirely ignoring the ground-based SAM/AAA threat.

 

[sublight_]

What is the aircraft in figure 1 that goes Mach 6 @ 120k feet?

Probably just notional.

But not if the whole point of the presentation was an attempt to keep the SR71 platform relevant in the wake of the new Mach 6 program.

 

[Ian33]

What is the aircraft in figure 1 that goes Mach 6 @ 120k feet?

The one that was flying way higher and and far faster than the SR71 as it was doing a sprint run across the USA would be my guess.

The crew mused iver the fact that their last high speed flight was indeed a cover for a classified airframe test.

What? Do you have anymore details on this? Which crew? Book? Interview?

In a nutshell, the crew were doing a sprint across the USA, down to the South West. The crew were in contact with a ground control team for the effort. When they asked for altitude and airspeed, the controller replied with a mach 4+ airspeed and 20,000 feet above them. When they queried the height and speed they got a flustered response with tbe Blackbirds correct details. They basically then said 'our last run, our bow out, was just a cover for a covert high speed test going on high over the tops of us.

 

[LowObservable]

Ben Rich would argue a case forcefully for or against an idea, but I never heard him promote anything based on consecutive miracles. I would conclude that when he wrote that memo, he did so with a reasonable level of confidence that M=6.0/120 kft was attainable.

Some years later (1983) he felt able to talk publicly about some of the concepts discussed in the paper, notably the "high-fast sanctuary" and the long potential standoff range, but he talked in terms of a lost opportunity - "giving up the high ground". By that time, the B-1B/B-2 bomber plan was under way and ATF was already moving in a different direction from the high-Mach battlecruisers.

Whether everything really stopped there is another question altogether.

 

[danwild6]

I seem to remember a post around here that detailed air force proposal to develop an SR-71 variant that was faster with longer range and more maneuverable. Lockheed came back saying that faster and longer range were feasible but more maneuverability would be very difficult.

 

[TomcatViP]

 

[damurphy]

Hi! F-12B.

Lockheed YF-12

Keith Thomson ...

lurch2.blogspot.jp

Photobucket

s36.photobucket.com

And YF-12A 1/12 scale wind tunnel test model.

Lockheed YF-12

Thanks to Blackkite for posting the SR-71 or R-12. F-12B and YF-12A.jpg.

In looking at this, the top image appears to be the A-12 as it only appears to have One Seat.

Does anybody know of higher resolution images that were used in this composite?

Thanks in Advance

 

[Orionblamblam]

Does anybody know of higher resolution images that were used in this composite?

Why... yes I do. That's "Air Drawing 33," available here:
http://www.aerospaceprojectsreview.com/catalog/drawndoc.htm

 

[damurphy]

Thanks!! I found them and have them now.

 

[blackkite]

Hi!

View topic - Lockheed Blackbird Family • F-16.net

Military aviation forum since 2003, with high quality discussion focusing on the F-16, F-35 and F-22 jet fighters and the C-130.

www.f-16.net

 

[blackkite]

LOCKHEED BLACKBIRD FAMILY A-12,YF-12,D-21/M-21 & SR-71 PHOTO SCRAP BOOK Compiled TONY R. LANDIS Specialty Press

https://books.google.co.jp/books?id=77oeBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA59&lpg=PA59&dq=Lockheed+fb-12&source=bl&ots=Jbe6FqVWqM&sig=ACfU3U2xeuSxa4LeKH8AnXoWAtQTbbri_g&hl=ja&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwislfWvn7roAhWQMN4KHfRVDscQ6AEwAXoECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q=Lockheed fb-12&f=true

 

[blackkite]

Hi!

FLASHBACK: Triplesonic Interceptors: The F-103, F-108 & YF-12A

"Speed is life," is a phrase used by fighter pilots and it was never more prevalent than in the late 1950’s when post-war technology was advancing at a rapid pace. The technological advancements in

www.aflcmc.af.mil

 

[RipSteakface]

Were there ever any plans to modernize/overhaul the SR-71 fleet before they were retired?

 

[In_A_Dream]

What is the aircraft in figure 1 that goes Mach 6 @ 120k feet?

Who knows?

 

[Archibald]

LOCKHEED BLACKBIRD FAMILY A-12,YF-12,D-21/M-21 & SR-71 PHOTO SCRAP BOOK Compiled TONY R. LANDIS Specialty Press

https://books.google.co.jp/books?id=77oeBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA59&lpg=PA59&dq=Lockheed+fb-12&source=bl&ots=Jbe6FqVWqM&sig=ACfU3U2xeuSxa4LeKH8AnXoWAtQTbbri_g&hl=ja&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwislfWvn7roAhWQMN4KHfRVDscQ6AEwAXoECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q=Lockheed fb-12&f=true

(was quietly perusing that thread, and then...)

https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/attachments/a-12cb-jpg.629842/

Whaaaaaaaaaaat da fraaaack ? are you freakkin' kidding me ?

This blew my mind and made my day. You know what ?

Everybody knows about those videos of U-2s landing on a carrier.

Every time I watched them, I thought "easy, the U-2 is a subsonic, straight-wing, glider look alike. Imagine, if they tried the same trick with a Blackbird: a carrierborne SR-71, ha ha ha..."

Well... they proposed it.

Damn you, Lockheed !

 

[Basil]

Yes, hard to believe.

 

[blackkite]

Hi!
https://modernwartech.blog.hu/2015/...a_kepes_elfogovadaszunk_3_lepesben_2_resz_146
"Excellent but complex weapon system for complex interceptors
The AN/ASG-18 was the first coherent pulse-Doppler radar in the United States. According to the specifications, the carrier, which flew 21 km, was able to conduct missiles from zero to 30.5 km, i.e. it had a full downward view. (It is much more difficult to detect targets flying against the background of the earth's surface, as radio waves reflecting from the ground are quite disruptive to the radar.) It detected a B-47 target from 185 km and was able to track one target at a time according to the computing capacity of the time (i.e. its trajectory is constantly calculated so that it can be launched with a rocket). The 41-unit radar was 950 kg and naturally reached a high range with high radiated energy, so it was cooled liquid. The infrared sensors were parallel to it. The antenna was 101.6 cm in diameter, so it was huge in size. Navigation and fire control were provided by a digital computer, while the manoeuvres needed to get into the firing position were provided by an analog computer. It was a huge step forward for the radar to be able to self-check both on the ground, both in the air and in the air, and to detect inappropriate components. This was a very important feature compared to the previous MX-1179. In principle, during the last pre-missile test, if the radar is dropped by an error signal, it will be sent to SAGE's command centres as an encrypted message and therefore immediate action can be taken to replace the fighter jet. According to the statistics from experience, the delicate electronic units were exchanged individually before their expected time of failure, so that the fighter on the take-off had to always be in working order at all times. This, of course, meant a warehouse-like component base for the fleet of hundreds of machines in every municipal location."

 

[uk 75]

Back in the 1960s the American Toy Company Bachmann produced this 2 in long plastic toy YF12A..It even has missiles in the bay under the fuselage but Ebay did not show them

 

[Orionblamblam]

Back in the 1960s the American Toy Company Bachmann produced this 2 in long plastic toy YF12A..It even has missiles in the bay under the fuselage but Ebay did not show them

I've got one. It's spiffy, if a bit small.

 

[uk 75]

could you show us the missiles? I had one years ago, but the tailfins broke

 

[Nick Sumner]

Whaaaaaaaaaaat da fraaaack ? are you freakkin' kidding me ?

Well... they proposed it.

Damn you, Lockheed !

Yeeeeaaaaahhh, this has got "Sure we can make the F104 an efficient ground attack aircraft" written all over it.

 

[Archibald]

I would think it is far worse. Sticking iron bombs on an interceptor was pretty straightforward business - add some bomb racks here and there, tweak the sight a little, and here yah go. As long as there are 30 mm guns of course, to straff and anihilate anything standing...
The Israelis who were not rich enough to get Mirage III-E (and were screwed of their Mirage V later) did exactly that with their Mirage III-C - and we all know how well that worked against the Arabs a day of June 1967.

But throwing a SR-71 off a carrier with JATO bottles... ??!! really ?

 

[Archibald]

Hi!
https://modernwartech.blog.hu/2015/...a_kepes_elfogovadaszunk_3_lepesben_2_resz_146

And they said the MiG-25 radar fried rabbits ? Geez, that monster would simply vaporize them - Dr. Manhattan Rorschach style...

 

[Yellow Palace]

But throwing a SR-71 off a carrier with JATO bottles... ??!! really ?

I could see it as a special purpose application, like the WHALE TAIL U-2Gs, to get an A-12 into position for a sortie that wouldn't be otherwise possible.As a routinely embarked naval aircraft, in any role, not so much. It would be interesting to know exactly what Lockheed were proposing.

 

[Archibald]

I agree with this. As suggested upthread, closer from the JATO-Neptune-nuclear bombers. A one-shot, silver bullet but jury-rigged contraption.
But really, risking an A-12 and a supercarrier this way...

 

[Orionblamblam]

could you show us the missiles? I had one years ago, but the tailfins broke

Shazam: