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The SR-71 was the second operational aircraft [44], after the Lockheed A-12, [44], designed to be hard to spot on radar. Early studies in stealth technology indicated that a shape with flattened, tapering sides would reflect most radar energy away from a beam's place of origin, so Lockheed's engineers added chines and canted the vertical ...
Clarence Leonard "Kelly" Johnson (February 27, 1910 – December 21, 1990) was an American aeronautical and systems engineer.He is recognized for his contributions to a series of important aircraft designs, most notably the Lockheed U-2 and SR-71 Blackbird.
28 December 1962: Lockheed signs contract to build six SR-71 aircraft. Earlier in the month, on 17 December the 5th A-12 arrived at Groom Lake and the Air Force expressed an interest in obtaining reconnaissance versions of the Blackbird.
SR-71 Blackbird: Dec 22, 1964: USAF supersonic spyplane YO-3A Quiet Star: 1966: Reconnaissance LASA-60: Sep 15, 1959: Light Utility Sport Aircraft X-26B: Have Blue (XST) Dec 1977: stealth technology testbed F-117 Nighthawk: Jun 18, 1981: stealth attack aircraft Flatbed: 1980 s military transport aircraft project, cancelled P-7: 1980 s
Some stealth aircraft have skin that is radar transparent or absorbing, behind which are structures termed reentrant triangles. Radar waves penetrating the skin get trapped in these structures, reflecting off the internal faces and losing energy. This method was first used on the Blackbird series: A-12, YF-12A, Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird.
The aircraft incorporated features that were later referred to as low observables or stealth technology. When SR-71 crews became upset that engineers were not putting enough effort into solving a constant problem with violent engine unstarts in flight, Rich considered taking a flight in the SR-71 to experience the phenomenon himself, which ...
As of December 2020, the only combat-ready stealth aircraft in service are the Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit (1997), the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor (2005), the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II (2015), [15] [16] the Chengdu J-20 (2017), [17] and the Sukhoi Su-57 (2020), [18] with a number of other countries developing their own designs. There ...
Today reconnaissance aircraft incorporate stealth technology; the newest models are piloted remotely. The mission of reconnaissance pilots remains the same, however. The United States became a leader in development of aircraft specifically designed for the reconnaissance role; examples include the Lockheed SR-71, Lockheed U-2, Republic XF-12 ...