This was a single-person airplane and carried as principal sensor, one very high-resolution optical camera.Ī differently capable aircraft was the YF-12, the Mach 3+ fighter/intercepter version of the Blackbird’s basic design. The first version was the A-12 aircraft, built for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Clarence ‘Kelly’ Johnson, the genius designer of all ‘Blackbirds’, was diligent in assuring that the Mach 3+ Blackbird aircraft could fulfil several roles, if needed for national contingencies. The SR-71’s potential versatility is not widely known. We advertised that the SR-71, within 24 hours notification, could be over any target on earth and be capable of surveying 100,000 square miles of terrain each hour. The SR-71 also carried electronic intelligence (ELINT) systems which are still classified. I’m no photo interpreter, but even I could tell what was pictured. This was the Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar System (ASARS), which could deliver readable radar pictures night or day, bad weather or clear. We also had radar imagery capable of one-foot resolution. We carried an array of sophisticated sensors and recorders which could glean reconnaissance data with cameras capable of high-quality photographs horizon-to-horizon. Attempts to shoot down an SR-71 continued until August 25, 1981, which was the last time an enemy (North Korea) fired a surface-to-air missile at an SR-71 that mission was flown by Maury Rosenberg, pilot, and Ed McKim, Reconnaissance Systems Officer (RSO). No surface-to-air missile could out-turn, thus hit, an SR-71, a fact demonstrated many times, especially during the Vietnam War. Detectors on board would alert the crew of a missile launch instantly and, since the SR-71 did not normally fly at its maximum speed or altitude, the aircraft’s defense was simultaneously to jam the missile’s guidance while accelerating, climbing, and turning with 45º of bank. It had a state-of-the-art electronic defensive system which would defeat an incoming missile’s homing and steering. The SR-71 was never successfully intercepted by surface-to-air missile or aircraft. During this time of sparse reconnaissance satellite coverage over potential enemy targets, the SR-71 could sneak up, gather vital information, and leave the area without warning, and often without notice.
Its speed and altitude also cloaked its presence. The aircraft was one of the first to employ stealth technology, thereby ensuring that the airplane was almost invisible to radar.
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It was the primary strategic reconnaissance asset for the Free World during the latter 25 years of the Cold War. The SR-71 could sustain continuous Mach 3+ flight for over an hour while obtaining the highest quality reconnaissance information from multiple sensors, and with aerial refueling, the aircraft could have circumnavigated the Earth in one flight. No other could fly as fast, as high, or carry thousands of pounds of equipment above 80,000 feet. The SR-71 has the deserved reputation of being the most unique air-breathing aircraft ever built.
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