The fact that SR-72 looks very much like the famous SR-71 tells a lot of how far ahead of time the SR-71 was. It even had a low radar signature!

In 1964 while in high school and a member of the "Air Scouts", an offshoot of the boy scouts, we took a special tour of Edwards AFB. While riding on a bus between stops at a couple of gigantic hangars, I caught a view of an SR-71, on the ground between two smaller hangars. What a sight !

So because there is speculation and rumour of the SR-72 existing, that means the USAF publically stated it's in service? Click bait title.

Click bait title

The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird in the 80s and 90s , always put on an awesome flying display at USAFE airshows in the UK. I saw it flying at RAF Mildenhall, RAF Alconbury and Farnborough. You really can't imagine how it felt, standing right right there by the runway looking at the SR-71 getting ready to roll. Just to say the experience was completely out of this world, and when it finally did get rolling, the actual physical effect you got from the power of those huge afterburning J-79 engines, was simply mind blowing! My ears took some battering, but hey, what a great sound that sure was! The USAFE always put on some great airshows in the UK back then, they were fabulous times as I remember!

The SR71 Blackbird will always be my favorite aircraft of al time. She is so fast and so elegant. Such a oeaky mess on the ground but she wasn't built to be wheels down. She was built for ripping the sound barrier! We built that monster in the 50s and 60s! It really makes you wonder what they are building as we speak.

The SR-71 does not “literally fly under the radar”. Nor is it in any way “similar” to the U-2.

The SR-71 Black Bird will ALWAYS be one of my favorite aircraft of all time!

Some years ago I worked at Grumman Aerospace building F-14 Tomcats, A-6 Intruders, and the lunar modules. Back then Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine was only available to people in the industry, no on-line versions or newsstand copies were sold. They had nearly an entire issue dedicated to the SR-71's successor, complete with specs and photos. Rather than "Darkstar", the code name they were using at the time was "Aurora". Kelly Johnson and the whole Skunk Works team were visionaries. They did all that design work with slide rules, no CAD/CAM involved. We owe them a debt of gratitude.

While in private pilot training at the U of I, I loved the stories about the pilot of the SR-71 asking for landing instructions in California while flying over New York.

Calling the SR-71 and U2 as "similar" is like calling a Corvette and VW Van similar.

It's funny to think that the SR72 is a descendant of a plane which first flew 60 years ago! Especially when realizing that 60 years before the SR71, the only plane around was the Wright brothers'...

Saw the SR-71 in the late 1980s when it "Displayed" at Farnborough Airshow UK... It just landed and then after a short stop-over took off again..... Huge red braking parachute was used on landiing.. . and on take-off the engine note was amazing... Overwhelming powerful and crackly.

While being stationed in the United States Air Force, I was stationed at Mt. Home AFB from 1969-1971 The SR-71 landed at our base, you couldn't get within 100 yards of it but it was an incredible flight when it landed and took off. before you know it was gone and the speed was so incredible it took off and went straight up in the air like a rocket and it was gone before your eyes.. I believe we as Americans should always stay ahead of the Chinese and Russian in technology... We are still doing it. today.

I wish I still had my Top Trumps 1976 ~ Military Planes Series 1. As a kid and a grown up SR-71 is still my fave plane ever.

The "Darkstar" thing came from back in the early 1990s someone monitoring military communications in, I think, Nevada but could have been California, recorded communication between either Edwards AFB or Nellis AFB and 2 planes with call-signs "Darkstar Mike" and "Darkstar November" and the rumor was that these were the "Aurora" spy planes. I remember art Bell talking about it back in the '90s on Coast to Coast AM lol.

The SR-72 was on the Lockeed website and in presentations until Russia announced the (now debunked) "hypersonic" Kinzhal. There is one teaser of an SR-72 prototype in a hanger in an US Air Force video. It's very dark, but if you adjust lighting settings, you see SR-72 on the aircraft. The engine has been in tests since 2013, 2017 a single engine technology demonstrator was spotted multiple times over Palmdale California. Skunkworks has promised speeds of 2-3 times of the SR-71. A Lockeed VP talks about it like it already exists = how the engine was partially 3D printed to manage cooling or that the craft is "agile" at hypersonic speeds. *Shout out to Alex Hollings for all this amazing research!

6:33 I loved the maintenance crew! Great history lesson, with a dash of fun!

If a bomber version of the SR72 is made, it could possibly have a bomb ejection system similar to the A-5 Vigilante from the early to mid 1960’s. Those planes were very fast, mid Mach 2+ speeds and actually quite maneuverable. The bombs were carried in the center rear of the fuselage and were ejected out of the tail in between the engines. In practice, it did not work well. The Vigilante was then converted to a reconnaissance aircraft. They were extensively used in Vietnam. However, due to the flight profiles used for their missions, and the need to fly straight at specific altitudes and course routes, they pretty much became sitting ducks for the anti aircraft gunners because they knew when they were coming and where they were going to fly, so they had high attrition rates. The navy even reopened the assembly line to build additional planes to replace losses. The A-5 Vigilante is a really very good looking airplane. In some ways, comparable to the look of the movie Dark Star SR-72.

It would make sense that technology has come this far since the 60's. I live near an air force base with a VERY high security scientific lab, and I've twice seen a dark triangular shaped plane flying out in a mostly uninhabited area at dusk. Wouldn't be surprised if it was something like this.

We have had, for sometime now, missels that can target themselves once launched. The Darkstar would not need to do anything but get within range, slow down, and drop one. Yes, one. As they said, it would be a challenge to house these missles. But if they needed to get within serious range of a single special target, I think the Darkstar would work well for such a mission.

@5:04. -GOSH I LOVE THAT PHOTO! I remember having it as one of my wallpapers on my laptop in like 2010-2011.

The previous SR 71 model was nuke delivery capable,modeled A12. There was the M21 model that launched a D21 drone from its spine. I was stationed at Kadena AFB for a time,where the Habu was based.

My old time favorite aircraft the SR-71!! My father was a Tool and Die Maker for General Electric Aerospace back in the 1950's and on. He built a lot of the tooling fixtures that made the SR-71's parts- how cool is that for a family heirloom?? Will be glad to see the big-brother DarkStar in the air...

Everybody, skip to 4:32 to get to the title of the video.

Just because there are no windows does not mean that it’s pilotless. There are currently cameras in use that allow pilots to actually look thru their aircraft by the use of their helmets. This does seem to be the natural progression of things to come. Don’t ever be surprised by skunkworks and what they are able to achieve. The numbers given by Skunkworks are really short in comparison to the actual capabilities of that aircraft, after all why would we want to tell our adversaries the truth ?

SR 71 was a masterpiece

The original rumor was called Aurora. I even met controllers who swear they caught it on radar. Honestly though, I have my doubts it really exists. For the type of recon this sort of plane does, a satellite is as good and doesn't risk an international incident if it gets shot down or has an accident.

still blown away that the SR-71 was built in the early 60s lol its just remarkable a bomb bay might not be like our typical concept of one. it might be that bombs get ejected out the back of the plane rather than from a bottom mounted internal bombay like we see in almost every bomber

There are lots of planes I love, and lots more than look cool, but wayyyyyy up at the top of the list, now and forever, there's the SR-71. I love it so much I'd marry it if I could.

For the record there already has been a Darkstar. One can be seen at the Museum of Flight in Seattle. It flew in the 1990s, was a collaboration between L-M and Boeing. Working on it in the latter half of the 80's was very challenging.

Love the SR-71. Can’t wait to see the 72

first there was the A-12 followed by the YF-12 then the SR-71, all 3 were designed by Lockheed. Also 3 A-12s were built as Yf-12s.

When in Quam, I watched an SR71 take off. As soon as it left the runway it just headed straight up & out of sight -- WOW!!!

We really need Clarence "Kelly" Johnson, rest his soul, now more than ever. Genius like his rarely comes along. P38, U2, SR-71...

Could we at least bring back the absolutely badass color scheme for the NGAD or as an alternative coat for F-35? That black and red is aggressive as heck and needs to be revived :D

The SR-71 actually DID FLY IN SPACE. A few of its pilots were awarded astronaut wings.

Well at least it'll be cool in 20 years to hear pilots talk about their version of the LA speed check!

Awesome. I worked next to the SR71 Hanger we always watched as it came and went.

The SR-71 didn't 'literally fly under the radar', it flew incredibly high up.

Many years ago an aircraft flew over my house at about 20mph and 300 feet AGL. It was dead silent and covered a good bit of the cloudless night in the north end of Seattle. The weird thing is that it was shaped exactly like this SR-72. My son , then in college, and I observed it at 1AM while standing out in the yard; I told my wife about it the next morning and she said bulls**t. So my son and I went to opposite corners of the house and drew what we saw. The pictures matched. All three of us were impressed. I have no idea what we saw, but if it was ours I don't mind my tax money being used to develop such a machine.

The only airplane in the world that could intercept the SR-71 was the MIG-25 foxbat, now called the mig-31. However, the window from detection was only 13 minutes due to the SR's speed.

Thought the designation was the "NX-01" ? Top speed: you don't have clearance.

What is absolutely incredible is the fact that the SR71 was designed and built WITHOUT the use of computers!

SR-71… that long ago! Just imagine what they are working on now in secret…

This plane needs to be built yesterday.

Remember. When Skunkworks says mach 6 thev mean mach 8. They never disclose the actuall max cruise speed and max altitude of the plane. Its highly classified. Only the pilots and the command staff know its true capabilities

This is the same way they introduced the SR-71. All eyes here while they perfect what they are really working on and have been since Roswell.

The SR 71 was an engineering marvel! Just think about it was developed at a time when CAD and such were just getting started.

Most beautiful planes in existence! Only the B2 gets to share that role. But LOVE!!!! 😍😍

Its hard to believe that the plans to build the SR-71 were done in the late 1950s so in like 65 years we all knew that more advanced Tech would be on its way , but then one can only wonder what else is out there.....

It would not be necessary for the aircraft to "open up" to release the bomb. It could be released through a tube at the back of the aircraft and could be winged, allowing it to maneuver on its own. If it was satellite controlled, or guided, it could hit with accuracy from an aircraft that was miles away from the release point. That was one of the idea floated for the yf12a. They would still be carried in the center line to avoid messing up the balance, but "jettisoned" out the tube. Imagine that you are a radar specialist and you see what could possibly be a stealth aircraft, but it is not going near anything important, and then it disappears. Many minutes later, a bomb goes off taking out the radar control center.

There's an SR-71 on display at the Ellsworth AFB Museum in Rapid City. I can't tell you what will run through your mind when standing next to one of those birds, I can just say I'll never feel the same about military aircraft again. It's intimidating and exciting at the same time.

The sole purpose of the SR-72 is to request to buzz the tower. Failing that, Dominoes will at least be able to get your pizza delivered in less than 30 minutes.

Ive always loved the SR-71 since i was a kid. I already love the SR-72 sight unseen.😊

Omg, this is the NGAD. Look at the top view of the Darkstar taxing down the runway... that's the Lockheed press release outline of the NGAD. They built an American Firefox.

A long time ago, I went to an air strip “show” if you want to call it that but one of the hangars had a long wall of model planes and it had every single plane there, I found the black bird in the case and the old man working there asked me if it was my favorite and I told him it was, he said to follow him and I kid you not, he showed me the actual documents for the sr-71 blackbird pilot records that were going to be transported to a museum

when we were kids in the 80s. my cousin and I were at the pool one hot summer day. we heard a very loud sonic boom and looked up at the sky and saw a blackbird. although it came and went quick, we were able to see the black delta wing shape from the ground. it was the coolest day ever. we went to the pool to go swimming and saw a blackbird zip by. at the time, I had a fastest military planes book, so I knew as soon as we looked up at the sky.

I remember a case when allegedly the SR71 was targeted by 2 missiles and its counter measures system allowed the pilot to create two false radar images of itself, and the two missiles locked onto and went after the those instead, just like a human seeing a marage in the desert.

Junior is already flying. I worked on initial scramjet tek in 1967.

Lockheed tested pulse engines for the plane too. But they were not usable above a certain altitude.

SR-71 and SR-72...WOW!

two beautiful birds

To date the SR72 Dark Star has made successful flights.

I worked on Habu back in the early 80's. Took me back to watching a night time launch from Beale :) The SR-72? ..........................

Windows... these days I would have thought a few mini cameras fed to internal monitors would give lower radar signature, maybe with an emergency backup for landings if that fails.

Great technical skill to show the reality of what does look like a Tic Tac - very interesting

Opening a bomb bay door at those speeds would be an incredible strain on the airframe but deploying the ordinance aft like the A-5 Vigilante might work for this design. Either way seeing how the engineers overcome those stresses would be quite interesting.

I would be surprised is a darkstar exists since satellites made aerial reconnaissance completely obsolete overnight. Cloud cover was the only limiting factor, but high altitude aircraft suffered the same issue anyway, so low altitude drone surveillance became the norm. A hypersonic fighter or bomber craft however.....

The aircraft was actually designated the RS-71 with a host of blue-prints labeled as such that all ordered to be destroyed subsequent to President Johnson having publicly referred to it as the SR-71 and re-designated as such on all blue-prints. Equally interesting is the fact that the titanium grades needed to withstand the temps and that were available to the US at the time were deemed too brittle to be used at which point the Agency sets up shell companies that bought and imported the necessary titanium from of all places....Russia.

For bomb use. A rear deployed bomb is logical. Computer, gps linked fins w/small chute as needed. With 80k feet the bomb could be steered to target. So smooth torpedo rear eject Mach speed by small chute to slow, get orientation down. We have had deployable fins for decades, self guiding as well.

Spoke to a SR-71 pilot while on tour at Beal AFB. Said they started their approach to Beal while over Montana. From their three bases in the world, they could photograph the entire world in four hours.

They could carry a small payload internal bay nuke with GPS guidance...get to the target and slow down just enough to release it and then gun it back. Depending on how small you could make them , it could possibly carry multiple tactical nukes for one massive attack run

There some interesting data that strongly suggests that the real DarkStar is referred to as the SR-91 which has a ceiling of 130,000 feet and in capable of March 15. The combined-cycle engines incorporate a turbo jet, a turbo ramjet, a liquid methane fueled pulsed detonation scramjet and a rocket. Given the altitudes it can reach odds are that the manned SR-91 has attitude control thrusters in the front and rear of the craft as well as on the edges of the blended-body wings. If this type aircraft experiences inertial decoupling it would be torn apart and the crew would not survive, e.g. Tom Cruise would not have survived.

Bomb release at Mach 6 could follow mechanism used in the Navy's Vigilante - eject the weapon out the rear, between the engine exhaust. GPS, or other terminal guidance could targeting.

The troubles of using such things as bombers can be solved, you'll just have to think a bit outside the box. No bay door needs to be opened if you just specialize and adapt. Think guided glide bombs that act as an extension of the fuselage until released. They could make up a tail, for example and having their own wings they can just follow their "tow boat" until time is ripe to find the target.

You'd release the bomb out the back and also you don't need to drop it accurately, the bomb has TONS of energy to correct.

I feel like I'm seeing 2 different planes in top gun 2 like one shot the plane looks square, thick, and straight but the other it's rounder, skinnier, and has camber

I remember the sonic booms rattling our house windows back in the day.

Nothing will be able to destroy the SR-72 If it is built.

even Mach 6 is hard on pilots, so needs to be unmanned, specially now that GE has a new RAM jet that they say will do Mach 10

I would thoroughly recommend getting hold of 'Skunk Works', by Ben Rich; he was Kelly Johnson's right-hand man and it's a fascinating account of the creation of many iconic planes, including the SR-71 and F-117.

The only time the SR71 was spotted on radar, was by Iraq. Iraq fired a couple of ground to air missiles at it but they couldn't catch it. The missiles had to get up to 85,000 feet, then catch up to it, which they could not do.

In the 60s, I built a plastic model of an early version, I guess. I thought it looked really boss! Did a good job on it, too. After a while, that "Super Tape" gave way on the ceiling, and it crashed on the floor. Probably in the middle of the night, scaring the sonic boom outa me! On shelves, my planes got all dusty, and I was growing, so I chucked'em all but the model B-17G that kept Pop alive to see the 21st Century (and help make me). What Pop liked better, 20 years after, was the poster I put up. A silhouette of kids on a jungle gym, and it read: ~~~~~ "It will be a great day when our schools have all the money they need, and our air force has to hold a bake sale to buy a bomber" (a quote by Robert Fulghum, author from Waco, TX) ~~~~~ With Flag, Faith, and Friendship, I remain adamant

Whatever it is has been in service for at least5 years, going by history.😊

Unbelievable speedy😮

If the SR72 is a bomber it will just slow to open a hatch & release its missile or glide vehicle. Then it'll be back to warp drive.

Anyone here because of the X- Men?

Amazing how much like a scaled down refined shape SR-71 it appears.

In case some of you do not understand the almost archaic term "bespoke", bespoke means the same thing as tailored... made to order specifically for someone or something with special details or features.

Awesome 👍

awesome!

The YF-12A had zero bombing capabilities, it was designed purely as a high speed/altitude air to air interceptor. Thus YF, not YB as a prototype bomber would have had. It had one and one only planned, implemented armament and that was the GAR-9/AIM-47 air to air missile (which led into the development of the AIM-54 Phoenix used on the F-14). Now, a bomber variant wouldn't have been too hard to make, was certainly discussed and at least considered to some degree, Gen Curtis LaMay is said to have wanted one. But he wanted every kind of weapon he could imagine and if left to his own designs he would have pre-emptively nuked the Soviets to rubble, no matter the global catastrophe that would have been. Putting unguided nuclear bombs in the bays made for the AIM-47 probably would have been trivial. The air to air AN/ASG-18 may or may not have been adaptable to find, track ground targets, but for dropping unguided nuclear bombs radar might not have been needed. However I'm not aware anything like that ever started actual design work, much less ever had parts made for a prototype. I'm not sure it really existed much at all beyond LaMay's war mongering fever dreams. I've been a serious blackbird nerd for nearly 40 years and I've never caught the slightest credible indications a bomber variant of the blackbird ever got beyond conceptual stages. Certainly the YF-12 as built was never planned or configured to be a bomber of any sort. If anyone has actual information on the subject that's contrary to my views, please reply with links!

I thought it was funny in the Top Gun Maverick movie the test version aircraft had Navy written on it. These are Air Force aircraft. I mean the Air Force period is about the command of the air.

It really makes me wonder how much more technologically advanced we are 60 years later.

You guys remember the "Aurora" in Jane's Anthology? Yeah, I do.

Going mach 6 and dispursing a bomb at that speed could cause damage the best way to do that at its cruising speed and altitude is not have bay doors but shutes like a sub angled down 30 degrees, so when the pilot hits on a bomb it will shoot out like a torpedo downwards with a delayed start on the bomb or missle rocket and guide it to its destination....that way there will not be any drag on jet at mach 6 or any speeds.. the only doors the plane will have is the landing gear jets.

Bring it on!

If it's incapable of dropping bombs at those speeds, it would either A: have to slow down to a reasonable speed to do so, and possibly open itself up for attack in that window, or B: it would be an unarmed recon plane. But if it's B; I'm curious as to what advantages it would have that a satellite wouldn't? My only guess is that our enemies probably have an idea when our satellites are overhead, whereas this thing could fly over with their pants down and get info before they can adjust.

Our CGI Air Force is undefeated! The SR 72 will hence be known as that SOB (Son of Blackbird)