RAeS Lecture: BLACK SHIELD - Mach 3+ reconnaissance before the SR-71

Noted author and speaker Paul Crickmore explores the history of the Lockheed CIA A-12 Oxcart program, which preceded the more famous SAC SR-71. Using newly declassified documents, Crickmore recounts specific BLACK SHIELD missions over North Vietnam, the military and political benefits of each sortie, operational security and its exploitation by China, and the lessons learned that would affect subsequent SR-71 operations.