Latest news with #SR-71Blackbird
India.com
13-05-2025
- India.com
Meet SR-71 Blackbird, world's fastest jet ever built, can fly at the height of..., its built by..., was used during...
Meet SR-71 Blackbird, world's fastest jet ever built, can fly at the height of..., its built by..., was used during... During the height of the Cold War, the United States built a plane so fast and so advanced that even today, decades later, no one has broken its records. This incredible aircraft was the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird. First taking to the skies in 1964, the SR-71 was built for high-speed, high-altitude reconnaissance missions, meaning it was used to gather crucial information by flying over enemy territory, often so fast and so high that no missile or enemy aircraft could touch it. It could soar to 85,000 feet, far above commercial airliners, and travel at speeds up to 3,530 km/h (Mach 3.2) over three times the speed of sound. The mastermind behind this engineering marvel was Clarence 'Kelly' Johnson, the genius who led the team at Lockheed's Skunk Works, a top-secret division known for creating some of the most revolutionary aircraft in history. What made Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird so unique What made the SR-71 so unique wasn't just how fast it could go, but how long it could maintain that speed. While its Soviet rival, the MiG-25R, could hit similar speeds, it could only do so briefly pushing its engines to the limit and risking damage. In contrast, the Blackbird could cruise comfortably at Mach 3+ for hours, thanks to its powerful Pratt & Whitney J58 engines, which cleverly blended turbojet and ramjet technology. In 1966, the SR-71 officially joined the U.S. Air Force and went on to serve as the backbone of American aerial intelligence for decades. Silent, swift, and sleek, it gathered vital intelligence without ever having to fire a single shot. why the name Blackbird? While the SR-71 Blackbird wasn't truly invisible to radar, it was the first aircraft to be designed with stealth in mind. Engineers gave it a sleek, flat shape and coated it in black radar-absorbing paint, which helped reduce its visibility on enemy radar to about 0.1 square meters roughly the size of a small bird. That's how it earned the name 'Blackbird.' As one military official once put it, 'By the time enemy radars spotted it, it was already gone.' During its service, the SR-71 flew numerous high-risk missions and was targeted by more than 4,000 missiles. Not a single one ever struck it. Its incredible speed, extreme altitude, and carefully planned flight paths made it nearly impossible to catch or shoot down. In total, 32 Blackbirds were built, and while 12 were lost, none were shot down in combat. Most accidents happened during testing or due to mechanical issues. The only recorded fatality was Jim Zwayer, a Lockheed engineer involved in a tragic incident during a test flight. Why did US air force retire SR-71? By 1998, the U.S. Air Force officially retired the SR-71. The reasons? High operational costs, the increasing use of spy satellites, and the rise of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that could do some of the same work, just slower and cheaper. Today, 20 of these legendary aircraft survive and are on display at museums around the world. You can see them at places like the Smithsonian's Udvar-Hazy Center, the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, and even at the American Air Museum in Duxford, England. Even in retirement, the SR-71 still holds the crown as the fastest and most awe-inspiring jet ever built.
Yahoo
15-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
What is Area 51? What we know about the military installation
(NewsNation) — Area 51 has long been a base shrouded in secrecy, and now, veterans who served near the site are fighting for recognition after claiming exposure to dangerous radiation. The U.S. Air Force military installation, located at Groom Lake in southern Nevada, isn't open to the public and is under 24-hour surveillance. Very little information is available from the government. Area 51 is a highly classified United States military installation within the Nevada Test and Training Range, reports. Located 83 miles from Las Vegas, built in 1955, it was initially built to serve as a test facility for the Lockheed U-2 Spy Plane. The origin of the name is unclear, according to The general belief is that Area 51 was part of an Atomic Energy Commission numbering grid. However, Area 51 does not belong to this system. Area 51 veterans getting cancer as DOD denies they were there Over the years, other well-known aircraft has been tested at Area 51, including the Archangel-12, the SR-71 Blackbird and the F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter. Area 51 was not officially acknowledged by the CIA as a military base until June 2013. Conspiracy theories about Area 51 began in the late 1980s, when a man who allegedly worked at the installation claimed the U.S. government was auditing recovered alien aircraft. Other theories include Area 51 being used for weather manipulation, the development of energy weapons and exotic propulsion systems, as well as the storage and reverse engineering of alien spacecraft. The creator of a website collecting information on all things Area 51 believes the future of military tech is still being tested in the Nevada desert, with the most enigmatic activities occurring inside a top secret base tucked inside the secret base. The more secrecy surrounding Area 51, the more insatiable the public's appetite for information on the secret Nevada base becomes. '[If] they don't want you to see it, you're not going to see it,' said Joerg Arnu, creator of a digital gathering place for aerospace enthusiasts, aviation watchers and some who have worked at the best-known secret base in the world. 'They have years and years and decades of experience hiding things.' NewsNation's Natasha Zouves spoke directly with the Area 51 veterans fighting for benefits. They say they were exposed to radiation near Area 51, and many are now suffering from severe health issues, including deadly cancers. The DOD refuses to acknowledge their service on the secretive range. Natasha Zouves has more on the Area 51 veterans fighting for benefits. Tune into 'NewsNation Prime' this Saturday at 7p/6C. NewsNation affiliate KLAS contributed to this report. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
South China Morning Post
31-01-2025
- Science
- South China Morning Post
Smart turbine engine for China's Mach-4 ‘Blackbird' completes ground test: study
Published: 6:00am, 1 Feb 2025 China's aerospace industry has made significant strides in the development of a superfast turbojet that can add heat in the global race for new-generation military aircraft. Scientists at Taihang National Laboratory, a leading aerospace engine research institute in southwest China, have completed ground tests of an unnamed turbine engine with advanced artificial intelligence technology that enables it to operate efficiently and stably at speeds of up to Mach 4. The engine meets the military's requirement for '100 per cent supply chain localisation', according to the project team led by researcher Ji Chunsheng in a peer-reviewed paper published on January 16 in the Chinese journal Propulsion Technology. The laboratory, known for its innovative work on the Taihang series engines that power advanced fighter jets like the J-20 , is at the forefront of China's aerospace technology advancements. This is the first official confirmation of the existence of China's high-Mach military jet project. The project aims to build a plane faster and more advanced than the legendary American SR-71 Blackbird. The Blackbird reconnaissance aircraft could reach speeds of Mach 3.2 but was retired in 1999 due to its high operating expenses.
