There is nothing impossible is Sr-71 the Soviets couldn’t make at the time. The article correctly points at the fact that the system was considered absolete with the appearance of ICBMs and space reconnaissence.
I never said it was impossible for them. After all, they did build deployable nuclear weapons.
Their flaw is that they considered it obsolete. Which could not have been further from the truth.
So, given the shortcomings of their government and decision making process (which was decidedly leftist in nature, and that isn’t a compliment) it was of course, wrong.
So they never made one.
We got decades of vital and important use out of those we built.
Well, in a way that is correct- if one is thinking only about delivering a nuclear weapon....
On the other hand, being able to zip over unfriendly territory at will, unhindered by AD of any sort, to snap a photo/image of a critical site ( unlike most SAT sensors even today- they zoom around a predetermined orbit, needing NCA authorization to change position) in the here and now was invaluable.
Finally, having the technology ability and will to use such a platform was a tremendous asset to the cold war effort on the part of the US and NATO.
The Russians tout the hypersonic missiles they claim to have/had (oops they blew up the whole facility) while we are keeping such stuff rather quiet.
Some dogs don’t hunt.