[Venturer]

I thought they retied the blackbird because they didn’t need it any longer.
What with drones and sattelites, why invest in something this expensive?

[ltc8k6]

Yeah, I can’t see the need, and we are well past broke already.

[tanknetter]

I thought they retied the blackbird because they didn’t need it any longer.

My understanding is that former SR-71 pilots believe that the program was killed out of spite/vindictiveness by the USAF Chief of Staff at the time (Gen. Welch, I think). Apparently the General had, earlier in his career, applied for the SR-71 program but wasn't accepted. And bore a very nasty grudge. Not something unheard of in the higher ranks of the military.

[FAA]

“What with drones and sattelites, why invest in something this expensive?”

What they’re proposing here does seem to be a drone or unmanned aircraft. No drone, that we’re aware of, today flies at the speed of this proposed design. While satellites have become more maneuverable as tech has allowed they still have a degree of predictability to them that the “enemy” can learn. A stealth hypersonic aircraft, that you cannot predict or track or target, has a place in the world of spy-craft.

You wouldn’t need, and probably couldn’t afford, a lot of them but a few would be very handy. Ten or twelve such fully operational aircraft could be a reconnaissance coup. Take it another step and 30-40 such operational aircraft with offensive capabilities could be an “enemies” absolute worst nightmare. Almost SSBN like.