Lockheed has hinted that a potential SR-72 Darkstar prototype could be finalized by this year.
While the legendary SR-71 Blackbird remains a fan favorite among aviation enthusiasts and military experts alike, its lesser-known “offspring” may be even more impressive. Designed to be the hypersonic successor to the iconic Blackbird, the SR-72 “Darkstar” is allegedly under development by Lockheed Martin’s highly secretive Skunk Works team. The Darkstar was first revealed publicly in the blockbuster film Top Gun: Maverick. Though the aircraft that actor Tom Cruise flies is fictional, Lockheed’s social media remarks surrounding the platform encouraged speculation that the Darkstar is in fact a reality. Several months after Top Gun 2 debuted, Lockheed tweeted that “the SR-71 Blackbird is still the fastest acknowledged crewed air-breathing jet aircraft,” which some believe implies that there is a faster aircraft.
The Blackbird
The SR-71 may be a retired Cold War-era enterprise, but the infamous aircraft retains several world records, beating out even the more advanced fifth-generation jets in service today. Back in the mid-1970s, the Blackbird set two world records for its class in speed and altitude after flying roughly Mach 3.3 (times the speed of sound) at an altitude of more than 85,000 feet. The SR-71 was designed as the Cold War was heating up and was meant to fulfill the reconnaissance/surveillance “spy plane” role U.S. intelligence agencies required. Built around two leading concepts, the Blackbird was conceptualized to prioritize a reduced radar cross-section and high speeds. In order to excel in this area, the Blackbird was constructed with a unique sharp edge running around its fuselage. Additionally, the shape of the SR-71 was tailored to incorporate large wedges of radar-attenuating material.
The Darkstar: Myth or Reality?
Despite the SR-71’s truly unmatched capabilities, the aircraft saw a short-lived service life and was relegated to retirement in the late 1990s. However, Lockheed’s recent hints suggest that a successor aircraft perhaps mirroring some of the capabilities of the Darkstar featured in Top Gun 2 may become a reality. As a successor, the SR-72 would undoubtedly be even faster than the Blackbird. In order to outpace the most advanced modern-day air defenses, the successor aircraft would need to be able to reach hypersonic speeds at over Mach 5.0.
Though this may seem like an unimaginable capability, leave it to the geniuses at Skunk Works to figure it out. Lockheed’s program manager Brad Leland noted that “Hypersonic aircraft, coupled with hypersonic missiles, could penetrate denied airspace and strike at nearly any location across a continent in less than an hour,” adding that “Speed is the next aviation advancement to counter emerging threats in the next several decades. The technology would be a game-changer in theater, similar to how stealth is changing the battlespace today.”
While Lockheed has hinted that a potential Darkstar prototype could be finalized by this year, any other information surrounding the Blackbird successor remains highly under wraps or simply not existent. Only time will tell if Lockheed’s hypersonic aircraft will reach operational capacity anytime soon.
About the Author: Maya Carlin
Maya Carlin, National Security Writer with The National Interest, is an analyst with the Center for Security Policy and a former Anna Sobol Levy Fellow at IDC Herzliya in Israel. She has by-lines in many publications, including The National Interest, Jerusalem Post, and Times of Israel. You can follow her on Twitter: @MayaCarlin. Carlin has over 1,000 articles published over the last several years on various defense issues.
Image: DVIDS.
