(Photo : Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
The SR-72 Darkstar is the successor to the ultrafast SR-71 Blackbird, which has no equal and has never been shot down due to its immense speed. Dark Star will incorporate the newest technologies as a 6th generation plane capable of Mach 3+ to hypersonic speeds like its former speedster Blackbird. No other airplane has ever intercepted it except a Soviet fighter, the MiG-31, to date.
Black Bird's last flight was two decades ago when it was pulled out of service, as more overlook and surveillance satellites took over its dangerous mission.
Did the Darkstar already take its maiden flight?
The Darkstar teaming up with other piloted planes, or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), should add to the intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities as another mission for it, reported the National Interest.
Way back in 2013, Lockheed Martin suggested a successor to the famed SR-71. Called the SR-72, one number lower than its ascendant to the Son of the Blackbird, it is rumored the airframe will be ready by 2023, or it has flown secretly.
Speed is the new stealth. More on SR-72, Son of the Blackbird: http://t.co/pS5UTCOmW7 pic.twitter.com/nMARn0iZgR
— Lockheed Martin (@LockheedMartin) November 1, 2013
Eurasian Times had published a report that the lead actor for the movie Top Gun: Maverick could have been the first to pilot the super-secret plane. It was seen flying in the film's trailer; anyone military-knowledgable would not miss it in the scene. One question is whether it is the real SR-72 Darkstar or CGI that took flight in the scene.
The real SR-72 Darkstar exists
Darkstar is not fiction or fantasy, and it is one of the notable projects of the Lockheed Martin 'Skunk Works'. The F-117 and F-22 were built here, as well as the famous Blackbird was built in the 60s with its analog technology.
Until defeated by its descendant, the SR-71 will be the only plane of its generation with the fastest and highest operational ceiling, almost touching space. Practically all the unreachable aviation records it has achieved in twenty-four years. The 6th generation sire of the Blackbird might exceed it and be one of its generations.
The new technology that Americans may only possess like the SR-71, the Darkstar has a new jet engine, a guarded secret, note Rebellion Research. Propelling it is a turbine-based combined cycle, with scramjet or dual-mode ramjet. Scramjets could drive up to speeds of Mach 6, enabling speeds to get to any point faster. Practically a spaceplane, it has a bomb bay that can launch an attack in the borders of space immune from attack.
Another detail about the Darkstar is that it's a platform for hypersonic flight for the new 6th generation plane if it will be heading to be built. It can become a crewed flight research vehicle (FRV) that serves in ISR and hit targets. So far, that is most of what is known, but the rest is shrouded and classified. If it did fly undisclosed, it would beat the 2023 date for its maiden flight, but no one could tell if the systems are ready and tested; the SR-72 Darkstar will fly in the 2030s when ready. When it does, the Blackbird's son would be astonishment.
Related Article: SR-71 Spy Plane Shows Off Farewell Flight As It Hurtles from Coast to Coast in the US at Mach 2.2
