| Some quick facts the article didn't mention about the SR71: - In order to save gas, the plane actually sped up. This was due to the "turbojet-assisted ramjet" design of the Pratt and Whitney J-58. Ramjets can't operate at slow speed therefore it uses a turbojet design to get it going. Then at high speed, the J-58 transitions from a turbojet to a functional ramjet. You can see the transitions here: [1] - The SR-71 was actually preceded by the CIA's A-12 OXCART program. The A-12 was slightly smaller, had only 1 pilot and was a bit faster. Since stealth wasn't fully understood yet and wasn't a primary design parameter, the design thinking at the time was centered around either flying high or flying fast to combat the Soviet Union's anti-aircraft systems as well as to intercept bombers. As more and more research went into stealth as well as intercontinental ballistic missiles, the "flying fast" design thinking began to dwindle due to its expensive flight and maintenance costs. This eventually led to the creation of the United States' nuclear triad: submarines, ICBMs, and strategic bombers: Submarines are the stealthiest of the three and can survive a first strike attack, ICBMs can be launched from a friendly controlled area and are difficult to intercept once launched (especially MIRVs), and strategic bombers such as the B-2 Spirit can be used for a stealthy first or second strike but can be recalled whereas with the other two, once fired there's no calling them back. - The SR-71 was designed completely using only slide rules and paper. [2] [1] http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/SR71_J58_... [2] http://www.lockheedmartin.com/us/news/features/2013/sr-72.ht... |
