The SR-71 Blackbird, designed over fifty years ago by Lockheed Martin, still holds its spot as the world’s fastest plane ever built. The aircraft reached Mach 3.2 at an altitude of 85,000 feet. But its successor, the SR-72 Darkstar, will set a new definition of airspeed and reconnaissance.
In development, the SR-72 will reach Mach 6.0—more than tripling its predecessor and more than doubling the SR-71 in capability. If developed into service, such a hypersonic aircraft would give the U.S. Air Force the capability of penetration against advanced air defenses, a significant strategic advantage in modern aerial warfare.
The secretive, ambitious project has been in development at a Lockheed Martin Skunk Works team. In 2007 there were rumors of the SR-72 and in 2013 Aviation Week & Space Technology published, in detail, an account of the development work. It is made of high-performance, temperature-resistant ceramic, carbon, and metal materials; the SR-72 will have to withstand extremely high temperatures generated by hypersonic speeds.
It was the exotic Pratt & Whitney J58 turbojet—popularly known as a “turboramjet”—that endowed the original SR-71 Blackbird with its astounding velocity. This first production engine to fly continuously on its afterburner was flight-qualified at Mach 3.0, and the SR-72 will carry on the tradition with a next-generation engine developed in conjunction with Aerojet Rocketdyne and will aim to go over Mach 5.0 efficiently.
While what exact payloads the SR-72 is going to carry remains classified, one can only imagine the potential of an aircraft able to outrun even the most advanced modern air defenses. The program manager at Lockheed Martin has detailed how a hypersonic aircraft, coupled with hypersonic missiles, can penetrate any airspace and strike nearly any point on a continent in under an hour.
The SR-72 Darkstar became more widely known after its appearance in the blockbuster movie “Top Gun: Maverick.” While the jet flown by Maverick, played by Tom Cruise, in that film, was not real, the model is remarkably similar to Lockheed Martin’s actual concept, complete with the Skunk Works logo on the tail. Indeed, the presentation is so realistic that it is said to have duped Chinese intelligence into reorienting a spy satellite to take photos of the model used in filming.
The list does not include aircraft alone; it also encompasses hypersonic missiles, similar to Russia’s Kinzhal or China’s advanced missile systems. These weapons are highly maneuverable and able to avoid defenses while flying above Mach 5.0, thus posing a serious challenge to existing defense systems.
The Lockheed Martin SR-72 will be the most far-reaching and radical advancement in hypersonic capabilities the U.S. Air Force will have taken so far. Next-generation aircraft to bridge the gap between the fleet of surveillance systems operating at present and the need to rapidly retrieve information from the battlefield and conduct strike operations. Having a scaled demonstrator expected to fly by 2023 and full operational capability expected in 2030, the SR-72 Darkstar will dramatically change aerial warfare and ensure the technological superiority of the U.S. military.
With tensions between world powers still rising, the SR-72 brings home a point: never to allow any nation to take over the skies. The unrivaled speed and advanced capabilities of the Darkstar no doubt will forge a different future for air reconnaissance and combat.