This is the successor to the SR-71 Blackbird, and it is gorgeous

[MADem]

I have to say, up close and personal, the Habu (SR-71) was a pretty impressive piece of machinery. I wonder what this thing looks like IRL? The picture does have some 'wow' factor associated with it...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2013/11/01/this-is-the-successor-to-the-sr-71-blackbird-and-it-is-gorgeous/?wpsrc=AG0003247&clsrd

More than a decade after the last SR-71 was decommissioned, Lockheed Martin has unveiled the gorgeous-looking SR-72. It flies just as far and twice as fast as its predecessor — and, in a twist, it's now lethal, according to Aviationweek:

The SR-72 is being designed with strike capability in mind. “We would envision a role with over-flight ISR, as well as missiles,” Leland says. Being launched from a Mach 6 platform, the weapons would not require a booster, significantly reducing weight. The higher speed of the SR-72 would also give it the ability to detect and strike more agile targets. “Even with the -SR-71, at Mach 3, there was still time to notify that the plane was coming, but at Mach 6, there is no reaction time to hide a mobile target. It is unavoidable ISR,” he adds.

The jet accelerates by way of a two-part system. A conventional jet turbine helps boost the aircraft up to Mach 3, at which point a specialized ramjet takes over and pushes the plane even faster into hypersonic mode.
From Lockheed's mock-ups, there doesn't appear to be a bubble for the pilot — which suggests a windowless cockpit or fantasies about a future unmanned version of the plane. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

[PoliticAverse]

1. "and, in a twist, it's now lethal". n/t

[MADem]

4. On paper, anyway. They've got a ways to go, yet. nt

[longship]

2. The Skunk Works still lives?

Last edited Sat Nov 2, 2013, 02:58 AM - Edit history (3)

Look it up.

[MADem]

3. Skunk (singular) Works.

Yes, this project has made it to their wiki page, even.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skunk_Works

[longship]

6. Mea culpa, the dreaded iPhone typo. Fixed.

Thanks.

[pkdu]

5. Minor point, shouldn't first sentence say SR72 after habu?

[MADem]

7. No, the SR-71 was the Habu.

This one:



The SR-72 is the thing imagined in the picture in the OP.

[unhappycamper]

8. Nice jet.

How are we supposed to pay for this? With our Social Security? Medicare?

[MADem]

11. Who knows? It looks like a drawing and maybe a scale model at this

stage of the endeavor. I honestly don't know how much of it -- if any -- has actually been budgeted. It's a concept at this stage of the game.

The technology has applications beyond those used for this particular endeavor, but we may never see this thing on any tarmac. It could remain just a concept, depending upon funding priorities.

[Scuba]

9. Funny, I don't feel safer. Strengthening Social Security would make me feel safer.

[MADem]

10. Well, it's a sketch on paper at this stage. nt

[Scuba]

12. I'll be we've already spent a $1m on sketches and the final price tag will be hundreds of billions.

[unhappycamper]

13. +1 n/t

[MADem]

14. Could be. Hard to know.

The technology has utility beyond "SR" applications. If they get this thing up and running, we might not see it doing "successor to Habu" work at all.