Mark Megahan
The special engine packed into this jet can “scram.” Advanced technologies crafted in secret by Lockheed Martin’s spooky “Skunkworks” allow the SR-72 “Darkstar” to zip anywhere in an hour at Mach 6, or so. When it gets there, it can do a lot more than just take pictures as it’s Mach 3 predecessor did. It’s designed for fully automated unmanned strike missions deploying onboard hypersonic weapons.
Mach 6 strike jet
Until recently, the whole SR-72 jet project was kept tightly under wraps. We don’t want the sneaky Chinese getting the drop on us.
At the same time, it’s helpful to let Vlad Putin and Iran’s Ayatollah know that the Pentagon has a serious way to back up State Department diplomacy.
If you listen to the experts, there’s still work to be done before the jet can be put on full public display. It’s supposed to be ready by 2030 for sure.
Rumors say the real target is the end of 2025. Still more rumors say the target’s already been hit and the Darkstar project is screaming toward home, mission accomplished.
Mach 5 is a major milestone for aviation. Because of turbulent airflow at high speed it’s next to impossible to push a jet that fast without the engines blowing up. With the SR-72, Mach 5 is only getting the engine lit. Lockheed Martin is used to accomplishing the impossible so they built what’s called a “scramjet.”
In order to take off from a cold start on any runway, yet still be able to zip in and out before anyone can shoot back, they had to build an engine inside another engine.
Son of Blackbird
Darkstar’s manned predecessor, the SR-71 Blackbird, cruised along over America’s enemies snapping photos at Mach 3.6. That’s 2,731 miles per hour. “The Soviet Union launched around 4,000 missiles at the SR-71, and they never scored a hit.”
The SR-72 blazes along at between 4,000 and 4,600 mph. The microprocessor controlled jet can also launch equally hypersonic missiles while traveling at top speed.
Observers of military hardware point out that “this would overwhelm Russian and Chinese air defenses that feature S-400 and S-500 surface-to-air missile launchers.”
While equipped with “stealth” technology to avoid radar, the SR-72 relies on speed. The idea is for the jet to be somewhere else long before even automated systems can get a bead on it.
With “the fastest operational airframe ever conceived,” human pilots are too frail to fly it. Part of the design specification was the ability to launch from any ordinary runway. That meant fully redesigning the power plant. “The aircraft is expected to feature a turbine-based combined cycle propulsion system, merging a traditional turbofan engine with a supersonic combustion ramjet.”
They call that “scramjet.” This “dual-mode propulsion is essential as no single engine can efficiently operate across the full subsonic-to-hypersonic flight envelope.” One thing’s for sure, the new jet “aims to redefine how the United States projects power in denied-access environments.“
