The SR-72 is REAL — And we can prove it

Recent hints that Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works division may have already delivered an advanced new spy plane to the United States Air Force have prompted a resurgence in speculation about a secretive aircraft known to many as the SR-72.

This program was once not only publicly disclosed, but being developed under sporadic bouts of media attention and general fanfare, that is, until March of 2018 when the effort suddenly fell silent... At least, almost silent.

Here's the true and untold story of Lockheed Martin's legendary hypersonic spy plane, the SR-72.

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Citations:

[justandy]

A former F117 pilot put it very well. "What I'm allowed to talk about today is typically 20 - 30 year old tech"
Puts it into perspective!

[petergerdes]

The problem is that a genuine program is hard to distinguish from an attempt to mislead the enemy.

[pdexBigTeacher]

Last year I attended the Edwards AFB airshow, where the Darkstar was on static display.
I know it was a movie, but damn that movie prop made too much aerodynamic sense.
I still got the 'hiding in plain site' vibe from that so-called movie prop.

[MrDangerUXO]

I talked to a USAF boom operator at an air show a couple of years ago and asked him what are the most amazing planes he has refueled, he mentioned F-22, B-2, and another he couldn't talk about.

[actionjksn]

I've seen an SR71 Blackbird in person and it is an incredible sight to behold. It's hard to believe that it is so old. Actually I've seen two different Blackbirds, one in Ohio and also the one in Arizona. I go to a lot of military airplane museums.

[BravoCheesecake]

Baiting a Chinese spy satellite to irreversibly change it's orbit to above a movie site is next level trolling.

[scottsmith]

I always say, if this tech is allowed (maybe encouraged) to be published, imagine what USAF is working on behind closed doors!

[onerimeuse]

This entire video is impressive so far, but the bit about the hermes using an entire engine as a blocking body is so cool. I'm floored by the fact that, one, someone came up with that, and two, that we can make materials that can survive that. Ah man, science and engineering are

[monkeybarmonkeyman]

What impressed me the most in this video was the reference to 3D material printing. Indeed - being able to integrate cooling (and likely heating) passageways into an engine smacks of building engines like a living body. Imagine what might trickle down to consumer level technology. Wow.

[BinauralBae]

"You don't actually think they spend $20, 000 on a hammer, $30, 000 on a toilet seat, do you?" is a quote that lives rent free in my head constantly

[mburgnon]

Excellent work on this one, Alex! This is a great summary of all the facts up to today. Thanks for all the hard work you put into your reporting.

[AK.]

Fantastic reporting, Alex!

A possible Mach 10 reconnaissance aircraft with the capability to carry conventional or even nuclear weapons is an absolute game changer!

[jkull]

I interpreted the project needing to go through “rescoping” as likely a reduction in the demanded capabilities. Most likely of them being that they had to forego the “Strike” role of the project and focus on producing a functional ISR platform. Another possibility is rescoping the project from a manned platform to an unmanned platform.

[MrJest]

As a USAF veteran and decades-long worker in the DOD contracting community, I said when the SR-71 was officially decommissioned, that there was _no way_ they would do that without a replacement aircraft already at least being in the works. Sats can't do it all, and can't be "real-time" in all circumstances at any particular place. At the time, the project was rumored to be called "Aurora" (and even this vehicle may well have been) but regardless of the project moniker, it was absolutely going to have existed.

[DeanIllinger]

Alex, had I not seen dozens of your episodes where you cleanly divide Fact from Speculation and humbly confess when there's insufficient evidence to conclude something, I'd have just smiled to myself and thought 'yes, would be nice if it were true'. Thanks for all your efforts to be an honest broker and laying the SR-72's case out so straightforward (including all of LM's nuanced hints) that we can trust the US isn't bringing up the rear in the superpower hypersonic arms race. Deano

[robertandrew]

Mu Uncle just retired from Lockheed Martin, he has always said, the average person cannot handle what we can actually do.

[Trojan]

Asked a relative who works at Skunk Works, he just smiled. My dad worked on F-117, after it went public, said it works

[misterjones]

I would be very, very surprised if there aren't several next generation aircraft in operational service that remain unknown to the public. USAF have been good at doing this over the years.

[AnthonyEvelyn]

I remember hearing about the Aurora high speed spy plane back in the early 90's. I wonder if the SR-72 is an offshoot?

[orbitalrocketmechaniccain]

There is a lot to consider, especially if these will be manned aircraft. There are so many dangers for a pilot at that speed and also human reaction may be too slow. But also you don’t want a computer alone to fly some of the most essential missions in the most sensitive areas. I feel like the biggest challenge will be to have an AI system that can give pilots info far enough in advance for them to make decisions at human speed.