swilliam@dtoa1.dt.navy.mil (Williams) (10/18/90)
From: swilliam@dtoa1.dt.navy.mil (Williams) Blackbird Family Tree In 1955, advances in aeronautics, radar and missile technology were thought to be quickly making the U-2 CIA spy plane vulnerable to new Soviet anti-aircraft systems. Though it was the highest flying plane of its day, the single-engine U-2 was relatively slow. A follow-on aircraft was needed. Lockheed's Skunk Works, with its enviable record of having designed, built and flown the original U-2 in only eight months and 20% under budget, was a favored contender. In the end, Lockheed won out over Convair and the Navy and got the contract. The need for such a follow-on aircraft was hammered home on May 1, 1960. On that day, Gary Powers and the U-2 he was piloting was shot down while overflying the Soviet Union. By April 26, 1962 the first of these follow-on aircraft, designated an A-12, was test flown. Designed for and funded by the CIA, Lockheed eventually provided the agency with eighteen A-12s. In 1976, it is widely believed that the CIA retired its fleet of A-12s to a series of sealed hangers in Palmdale, CA. This model was the first of the Blackbirds, so nicknamed for their heat-dissipating black paint schemes. The second and shortest-lived model was the YF-12, a proposed Mach 3 interceptor with the mission of guarding American shores from incoming aircraft. It was equipped with Hughes ASG-18 radar and GAR-9 missiles but never deployed. Most experts agree that the Blackbird was originally intended to be a covert surviellance platform, not an interceptor. The final and most well-known model of Blackbird is the SR-71. The first of these was delivered to the Air Force in December of 1966. Since then it has been used to gather information on most world trouble areas, including Vietnam, Cuba, the Middle East, and Libya. Prior to President Nixon's trip to mainland China in 1971, SR-71 are said to have made hundreds of overflights mapping the Chinese interior. Beijing reportedly registered over 500 official protests of the overflights with the U.S. government and repeatedly tried to stop such flights with their fighter aircraft. One of the differences between these models is that both the YF-12 and SR-71 carry a two man crew. The YF-12 carries a Fire Control Officer and the SR-71 a Reconnaissance Systems Officer. The A-12 is a single-seat aircraft with equipment taking the place of the second crewman. The public first became aware of the Blackbird program in February of 1964 when President Johnson revealed some of the aircraft's capabilities. The public then got its first official glimpse of a Blackbird in the fall of 1964 at a public showing at Edwards AFB, six years after the initial contract was awarded and two years after its first flight. NOTE: this information and previous article on Blackbird was copied from MACHINE DESIGN, July 20, 1989.