Thanks to SquareSpace for making this video possible and for helping launch my
new Mustard store. More on that after this video. In the midst of the Cold War,
two Mig-25s race to intercept a threat along the Soviet border. They're the
fastest interceptors ever built, and if they really push their engines, they can
reach an incredible Mach 3.2. But it's not enough. Because what they're chasing
can outrun and out-climb any threat. A plane engineered to be invulnerable.
The Cold War locked the United States and Soviet Union into a tense a struggle
for global influence and control. Both sides poured enormous resources into
military technologies. But getting an upper hand means knowing your opponent's
next move. And in the 1950s, little was known about facilities deep within the
Soviet Union. An extensive network of radar stations, surface-to-air missile
sites, and interceptor air bases kept the Americans away. Until 1956, when U-2
spy planes began flying over the Soviet Union. Neither fast nor stealthy, the U-2s had
one critical advantage. At 70,000 feet, they could fly above Soviet air defenses.
U.S. President Eisenhower was even assured, Soviet radars couldn't detect
the U-2 at such high altitudes. But it turns out, the Americans were wrong. The
Soviets had tracked the U-2 since day one, and it was only a matter of time before
they'd be able to shoot one down. Simply flying high wasn't enough. Even before
the U-2 began its surveillance missions, there were already plans underway to
replace it. Because true impunity over Soviet airspace would need a combination
of incredible speed, altitude, and stealth. And this led the Americans to explore
some pretty radical spy plane concepts, like a ramjet powered aircraft that
would be deployed from the bottom of a supersonic B-58. But in 1959 the CIA
chose Lockheed to develop the next generation of spy plane.
Meanwhile, the U-2 continued to fly over the Soviet Union. But not for very long,
because in the spring of 1960, a Soviet surface-to-air missile finally managed
to bring one down. The captured pilot and wreckage were paraded around the Soviet
Union used as proof of Western aggression. As tensions rose, now more
than ever the US needed a replacement for the U-2.
And what Lockheed developed, would be unlike any aircraft ever built. A plane
that nearly 60 years after its first flight, remains the fastest air-breathing
jet to ever fly. Lockheed's highly-classified spy plane would be
known as the A-12. Originally used by the CIA for reconnaissance, the A-12 was also
developed into an interceptor prototype, armed with air-to-air missiles, along
with a variant that could launch an unmanned reconnaissance drone. But it was
the SR-71 Blackbird, a variant developed for the Air Force that would go on to
serve for decades, while earlier versions were quickly retired. The Blackbird could
cruise at Mach 3.2 right near the edge of space, and do it for hours on end.
To achieve this, Lockheed's engineers had to innovate pretty much everything from
scratch. To sustain such incredible speeds the SR-71 and its predecessors
were powered by engines often described as turboramjets. Below Mach 2 they
functioned like conventional after-burning jet engines. But above that,
they behaved more like ramjets, as an inlet cone adjusted to bypass air around
the engine and directly into the afterburner. At mach 3.2 the SR-71's
exterior would heat up to beyond 500 degrees Fahrenheit, easily hot enough to
soften aircraft aluminum. Lockheed engineers used titanium for 92 percent
of the aircraft, and in the 1960s this required inventing entirely new
fabrication technologies. It's unusual shape did more than just spook UFO
enthusiasts, it helped reduce its radar signature as did its special black paint,
which earned the SR-71 its Blackbird name.
The A-12 and SR-71 were first deployed over North Korea and Vietnam, where they
were unsuccessfully targeted by over 800 surface-to-air missiles. But the spy
plane never flew into Soviet airspace. At least not officially, because another
shoot-down over the Soviet Union would be catastrophic.
So instead, the SR-71 flew along its borders, using its powerful side-looking
radar and cameras to peer hundreds of miles into Soviet territory. And that
frustrated the Soviets. In 1976, Viktor Belenko defected to the west, by escaping
the Soviet Union in his Mig-25. He described the frustration of trying to
intercept Blackbirds. The MiG's were Mach 3 capable, but only for a few
minutes at a time. Not for hours like the Blackbird. Nor could they climb to reach
the SR-71's incredible altitude. Even their enormous R40 missiles lacked the
guidance needed to strike the SR-71 head-on. For years, the Blackbirds were
practically invulnerable. They could out fly and out-climb any threat. But by the
1980s, Mig-31s were roaming the skies, equipped with sophisticated radar
and long-range R33 missiles. They posed a legitimate threat, as did a new
generation of Soviet surface-to-air missiles. But the greatest threat to the
Blackbird wasn't an enemy missile or jet. It was itself. No Blackbird was ever lost
on a mission, but more than a third of the 50 built were destroyed in accidents.
One literally disintegrated around its pilots. They were also enormously
expensive to operate. Each one siphoning about 300 million dollars a year out of
America's defense budget. A fleet of special aerial refuelers and a small army
of support and maintenance staff were needed just to keep these planes mission
ready. And advances in spy satellites aerial drones and the SR-71 s inability
to deliver surveillance data in real time, diminished some of the plane's
utility. Add to that, politics and infighting for defense budgets and by
the late 1980s, the SR-71's days were numbered.
They were officially retired in 1998, with two sent to NASA for testing. The
technology behind the A-12 and SR-71 is now well over fifty years old. Yet
somehow these incredible planes still speak to us. Not about the past, but
the future. Leaving us with a sense of wonder unlike any other in aviation
history. A few months ago, I launched my Mustard site with SquareSpace. It was fun,
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Be sure to check out the store, and let me know if you have any requests for
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first purchase.