Summary: The SR-71 Blackbird is renowned as the fastest aircraft ever ... After the Second World War, the U.S. Air Force wanted a replacement for its F-106 Delta Dart interceptor.

Conceived in the late 1950s, as the Cold War was underway, the SR-71 was designed to fly faster than any known aircraft. At that time, Soviet air defenses were becoming more complex and could do more ...

In 2013, Lockheed Martin announced development of the successor to the SR-71 Blackbird spy plane ... The jet will be an unmanned hypersonic aircraft. Lockheed claims it will reach speeds topping ...

The termination of operations caught most observers off guard, although several aircraft were briefly reactivated before their second retirement in 1998. The SR-71 first flew in 1964 and remained ...

As the Cold War between the United States and USSR was heating up, U.S. policymakers desired new aerial platforms that could circumvent the Soviets’ advanced air defense systems. The resulting ...

Chinese scientists have tested a turbojet engine, capable of touching Mach 4 speeds, sparking rumors of a new SR-71-like spy ...