SR 72 Stealth Unmanned Spy plane, Fighter, Bomber, All In one Aircraft SR-72 Could Change Everything

The SR-72 comes and goes off the internet military radar year after year as very little information is known about it. However, one thing seems pretty clear: if it does come to fruition, it could be a real game-changer for the US military. The SR-72 also called “Dark-Star” is a spy plane that is a little bit of a mystery. What is the US Air Force planning? In the late 1990s, the SR-71 Blackbird the world’s fastest, highest-flying plane ever was retired. Perhaps preemptively. Nonetheless, there has been a steady stream of reports that a SR-72 is in the works. Here is what we know. Although satellite reconnaissance has largely overtaken the role of spy planes, they are not always a perfect solution, particularly when intelligence information is needed very quickly. Satellites can take up to 24 hours to get into the correct place in their orbit, which is considerably slower than the SR-71 Blackbird. Never fear, Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works has an answer and its twice as fast as the SR-71. Much of what is known, or thought to know, about the SR-72 platform is speculative in nature. It’s likely that the SR-72 would be capable of Unmanned hypersonic speeds that is, Mach 5+ and above. While the SR-71 was a beast to prepare for launch (it required a Cape Canaveral-like countdown), the SR-72 successor will likely require considerably less pre-launch support to get it into the air. The SR-72 program was mentioned by Orland Carvalho, the Executive Vice President of Aeronautics at Lockheed Martin during an aerospace exhibition in Fort Worth. “Although I can’t go into specifics, let us just say the Skunk Works team in Palmdale, California, is doubling down on our commitment to speed.” He continued, saying “hypersonics is like stealth. It is a disruptive technology and will enable various platforms to operate at two to three times the speed of the Blackbird, Security classification guidance will only allow us to say the speed is greater than Mach 5.” Hypersonics are currently a hot category and the Department of Defense considering China’s recent hypersonic test. That likely means if a project has the word hypersonic attached to it, the U.S. government will likely throw money at the SR-72. Skunk Works had much success with the original SR-71, it created a prototype in under two years. So, the Son of Blackbird could get approved and come to fruition. It would be an outstanding technological marvel. The Son of Blackbird could make its Dad, the SR-71, a proud Father.
via YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PGi2JfSyOY