Reaching for the Heavens: The Legendary Blackbird

Everyone is familiar with the concept of cause and effect.  For every action, there is a reaction of the same or lesser magnitude.  Sometimes the resulting reaction is just the first in a chain of events that leads up to something else.  A chain reaction, that's what one might call the programs that led us to today's reconnaissance gathering mission in the U.S. military.  The gathering and collection of intelligence and information has always been a key element in the grand art known as war.  Even the great military philosopher Sun Tzu emphasized the importance of intelligence gathering and various forms of espionage.

But our tale today takes place far more recently than the fifth century BCE.  Instead it takes place in 1951, when the U.S. military defined it's need and requirements for a way to collect intelligence on Soviet assets well inside Soviet territory.  The Cold War, by this time, was well underway and the race to the next new piece of technology was on.  Double agents, spies, and espionage were old hat, but that didn't make these techniques or professions any less valuable.  However, there surely had to be an effective and more direct approach to the problem of gathering information.  From the skies, seemed to be a practical means to acquire this information.  After all, two World War's had provided a wealth of insight into the effectiveness of this method - regardless of how successful.

As time wore on, technology changed as does everything else.  Planes were able to get heavier, fly faster, and punch higher into the skies.  1951 was, for all intents and purposes, the birth of the Spy Plane Renaissance.

While it is true that the first aircraft to adopt the role of reconnaissance gathering in addition to it's role as a high-altitude bomber was the RB-36 in 1948, the first widely produced, purpose-built reconnaissance aircraft was the RB-47 in 1951.  In fact, the RB-36 and RB-47's served with each other through 1956, when the RB-36 was permanently retired.  About 100 or so RB-36's were produced, and most of those were converted from existing B-36 airframes.  The RB-47 remained in service well into the 1960s, with partial activation documented through at least the 1970s.

The first flyover by a Stratojet of the Soviet Union was in 1952 however, this was a converted B-47B that was equipped with a camera cluster in it's bomb bay.  Because of the nature of their mission set, the RB-47 variant was the most likely to see combat-relative conditions.  The service history of these aircraft included three that were shot down, and two others that managed to evade Soviet anti-air defenses.  Unlike their successors, RB-47's were in fact bombers that were equipped with armaments.  Gun turrets were present on these aircraft, meaning that their missions did include some form of insurance in the event that they were intercepted.    However, the majority of techniques used by RB-47 crews to evade the Soviet responses was by way of maneuver and speed.  This was the case in numerous interception with Soviet MiG-15's and 17's.

The role of purpose-built aircraft that were based on existing air frames was passed to the KC-135 family of aircraft in 1965.  Most of those aircraft were then relegated for the sweeping of international airspace, weather, battlefield reconnaissance, and anti-submarine warfare.  By 1953, however, the game of spy aircraft was already in the process of being transformed into something much more fluid and special.

By 1953, defense contractor Lockheed had understood the growing need for a dedicated system to collect information on national and international interests.  Kelly Johnson was the one to design the aircraft (he also worked on the P-38, SR-71, the C-130, and the F-117).  In 1954, the Department of Defense approved the design and plan.  By 1955, the first U-2A was ready for flight.

The need for such an aircraft was defined by Soviet missile defenses and interception capabilities of the MiG-17 - the most advanced Soviet fighter at that time.  This Air Force defined the limitation of the MiG-17's ceiling at 45,000 feet and specified that an aircraft flying over about 60,000 feet would be virtually untouchable by the interceptor.  In actuality, the MiG-17 was capable of achieving altitudes near 50,000 feet.  Likewise, limited radar capabilities meant that if an aircraft exceeded 65,000 feet - it may be undetectable.  Johnson and the rest of his team at Lockheed, however, were two steps ahead of the requirements.

Johnson's design, called CL-282, was a modification on the then-testbed XF-104 Starfighter.  While the concept was met with resistance by GEN Curtis LeMay, other members within the Department of Defense were much more optimistic.  The project was then forwarded to the CIA, where it was almost immediately accepted.  However, by the time a buyer had been lined up, Lockheed had since moved on with work on the XF-104 and other projects.  The CIA eventually persuaded Lockheed into producing the aircraft (after the USAF changed their minds on the usefulness of the aircraft as well), which bore fruit in 1955 with the first test flight of the U-2A.  Johnson, in anticipation of eventual need for a replacement, had already begun design on a more advanced reconnaissance  aircraft by this time.  The CL-400, known to many as the Suntan, would have been capable of flying just as far, with over six times the speed, and fifty percent higher than the U-2.  However, the overall success of the U-2 program among other budget constraints cancelled the program in 1958.  The technological advancements in the CL-400, however, were not lost nor forgotten - especially on the eve of 2 May 1960.

On 1 May 1960, a CIA U-2 piloted by Gary Powers was shot down over Soviet airspace by Soviet surface-to-air missile.  While Powers was generally unharmed, this was a revelation for both the CIA and the USAF.  The solution to this concern had already been placed on the table, however, a year earlier in 1959 with Project GUSTO.  By the time Powers had been shot down over Soviet airspace, another much more vicious beast was already in the queue within the USAF.  The Archangel's of Oxcart had already selected the prototype that was to be built.

The CIA, as early as 1955, had been trying to reduce radar cross-section of aircraft.  The concept that we now call stealth was rooted in Project Rainbow - the CIA directed project to reduce this cross-section.  Johnson was of the opinion that one to possibly two generations of aircraft would be needed before satellites could replace aircraft in the reconnaissance role.  Lockheed responded to the requirements of both Project Rainbow and Project GUSTO with the Archangel designs.  It was Archangel-12 that caught the attention of both the CIA and eventually the Air Force.  In 1960, twelve of these aircraft were ordered.  Due to the nature of Archangel 12's design, technology had to be invented for it to function properly, while other components were selected to simply fill roles intermittently.  This would not be the last time something like this would happen, as it also occurred in the A-X Program that produced the A-10, and the ATF Program, which produced the F-22.  New aircraft materiel proved to be the most challenging obstacle to overcome for the manufacturing of the aircraft.

The A-12 was a smaller aircraft than the SR-71, it was capable of achieving higher altitudes and higher speeds.  However, by the time the Vietnam War peaked in 1968, the program had been cancelled due to rapid advancement in Soviet missile and radar technology.  By 1969, all of the aircraft were grounded and put into storage.  The SR-71 had entered service before the last A-12 retired.  However, the function of the SR-71 remained in question for many years, and at least one A-12 variant was still in operation into the 1970s.

The YF-12 was not only the cover-story for the A-12's reconnaissance mission, but was also the aircraft GEN Curtis LeMay was really after for the Air Force - one of them, anyway.  The YF-12, a two-seater version of the A-12, was designed to be a high-altitude, high-speed interceptor aircraft with an internal weapons bay that carried three AIM-47 Falcon air-to-air missiles.  The AIM-47 had previously been designed for the XF-108 Rapier, a by-product of the Valkyrie Program.  Future revisions resulted in the AIM-54 Phoenix missile, which is still in use today.  The two-seat YF-12, meanwhile, served two additional functions: the testbed for what would become the SR-71, and a bomber that would adequately salvage research from the Valkyrie program.

The early 1960s presented a number of technological advancements in aviation and weapon systems.  The Valkyrie Program and the Blackbird Family are examples of this.  North American Aviation and Lockheed were grappled with each other in a major bidding war for the next weapon systems platform with these two projects.  North American was presenting it's XB-70 and XF-108, while Lockheed was presenting the SR-71 and the YF-12.  Reconnaissance, fighter-interceptors, and bombers were the chief matter within this competition.  Ultimately, Lockheed was the winner of the contest, but not in such a way that all of the product displayed would be built.

The YF-12 Interceptor would never make the leap from it's prototype stage, and instead the project was scrapped with the introduction of the F-15 Eagle, which provided a much more natural approach at interception.  The B-71 concept, a "Bomber Blackbird", was scrapped by budget restraints, and then eventually totally sunk with the development of the B-1 Lancer.  Still, none could fulfill the role of the reconnaissance quite like the SR-71 Blackbird could.  Thus, the thirty-two aircraft that were produced prior to the destruction of the manufacturing tools to build them were left in service.  The SR-71A is the most commonly referenced variant of the program, with the SR-71B functioning as the trainer for new pilots.  The SR-71B features a second cockpit located above a trainer cockpit.  In the second, elevated cockpit, an instructor has full control of the aircraft.  The SR-71C was a hybridized aircraft that attempted to merge the YF-12 Fighter Prototype with the SR-71 Production Variant.

The SR-71 served along with the U-2 in it's reconnaissance capacity throughout the remainder of the Cold War, providing support to Allied forces in multiple smaller scale conflicts.  In the 1990s, NASA began limited operation of the SR-71 to test various new technologies and sample high-altitude conditions for other research.  In 1999, the SR-71 flew officially for the last time - although there are mixed reports about NASA still operating an aircraft.

Many aircrews who had worked on the project described the aircraft's last flight as "surreal" and "impossible."

Brian Shul described his last glance at the Blackbird (also referred to as "Habu" or "the Sled") in his book Sled Driver:

As the SR-71 taxied by, I knew I was witnessing the passing of an era. This era began with the fateful flight of Gary Powers in a U-2 and the resulting embarrassment to the Eisenhower administration. An order was issued to proceed with the development of a more advanced plane that  couldn't be shot down. The SR-71 was the result. For three decades it performed its mission untouched by the other side. As it swung its long nose into the run-up area, the jet took on that proud look I had seen before.

 

I watched the support people scurry beneath the jet, carrying out their normal procedures. The familiar scene felt different because I watched with a heavy heart. The distinguished roar of the engines assaulted my hearing one more time, and I felt the jet defiantly telling all who could hear that it did not want to go away; it could still do the job. The airplane was still the best. The sound thundered across the airfield with the cry of one still undefeated, issuing its final challenge. When the run was completed and all the maintenance people had moved away, the jet sat alone, waiting to take the runway.

 

I saw her then as I had the very first time and tears welled in my eyes. I knew her better now and loved her more. How could I not love her, after all she had shown me? She had not changed, and she had not aged. She was a bit of the past and the future rolled into one, the hottest of hot rods, and a technological wonder built to last. As she sat there dripping fuel, leaning slightly forward on a sloped ramp, she embodied purpose and elegance. I knew I would always remember her that way, the elegant Lady in Black, superior in design and performance. Some people said that the continuous heating incurred at high speeds had caused the metals of the jet to weld tighter over the years, and she now flew faster than when she was new. I had flown her and I believed them.

 

I watched the last SR-71 pull two fiery plumes down the runway and climb steeply away, her voice echoing proudly across the foothills. My eyes strained to follow her, hoping somehow to keep her alive, but soon she was swallowed by a bright blue sky. Though the jet was miles away and out of sight, I could still hear the faint rumble of the J-58s.