......until this little lady came along. This is the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird. The SR-71 was a triple-sonic recon aircraft, designed and built in the late 1950's and early 1960's. Along with the rest of the Blackbird family-the A-12, the YF-12, and the D-21 drones-there has never been anything built since then that has even come close to matching the Blackbird's performance.
It was taken out of service due to 'cost considerations' and the fact that orbiting satellites are just as effective. I disagree....when a hotspot flares up somewhere in the world an SR-71 can get intelligence far faster than a satellite can. More importantly an SR-71 is far more flexible in routing than a satellite is. A satellite moves in a fixed orbit, an SR-71 can overfly any spot on the globe. But what do I know.....
It was taken out of service due to 'cost considerations' and the fact that orbiting satellites are just as effective. I disagree....when a hotspot flares up somewhere in the world an SR-71 can get intelligence far faster than a satellite can. More importantly an SR-71 is far more flexible in routing than a satellite is. A satellite moves in a fixed orbit, an SR-71 can overfly any spot on the globe. But what do I know.....
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