Posted on 01/12/2021 6:13:51 AM PST by Onthebrink
It was over twenty years ago the Lockheed SR-71 “Blackbird” was retired by the United States Air Force, and while surveillance satellites can provide that eye in the sky for intelligence gathering there is still a need for such high flying, ultra-fast aircraft.
Such a platform would complement other manned aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), providing flexibility in how intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) is gathered.
Back in 2013, Lockheed Martin proposed a follow-up to the SR-71. Fittingly, it was the SR-72, which has also become known as the “Son of the Blackbird,” and it was suggested that the vehicle could fly by 2023 – that is unless it has already taken flight.
(Excerpt) Read more at 19fortyfive.com ...
Indeed.
“It’s not fast, but the Global Hawk can loiter all day long and gather tons more data than a speedy bird.”
But can it “get there” in a few hours as things unfold?
Right tool for the right job.
“Is the P51 more complex to fly than and F-35? F-22? The mythical SR72 would be way more complex than either of those two.”
Yes, it actually is more difficult to fly. Those modern jets have flight control computers to keep them in the air.
I agree the story is bs. You said Tom Cruise couldn’t fly. Yes, the P-51 is much more demanding to fly than any modern fight. I flew F4’s and F16’s. I teach in tailwheel equipped aircraft now. The P51’s take off and landing characteristics are far more difficult than any modern fighter. The P51 also has some funky flight characteristics that has been engineered out of the modern fighters. Take a competent P51 pilot and put him into a F22, he could fly it no problems. Take a typical F22 pilot and put him into a P51 and they would crash it within the 1st pattern. Hell, they probably couldn’t even taxi it to the runway...
I’ve been told that Kelly Johnson ran a lean operation.
That was long long ago.
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