Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird Spy Plane CIA Files

Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird Spy Plane CIA Files

2,039 pages of CIA files and 1,009 pages of Defense Department reports.

The SR-71 reconnaissance aircraft was the world's fastest jet-propelled aircraft and the most advanced member of the Blackbird family developed by Lockheed Aircraft Corporation’s clandestine “Skunk Works” division.  According to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, which prominently features an SR-71 at its Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, the aircraft was designed to fly deep into hostile territory, avoiding interception with its tremendous speed and high altitude.

American aerospace engineer Clarence "Kelly" Johnson was responsible for many of the design's innovative concepts. The shape of the plane minimized its radar profile. It was covered in paint embedded with ferrite particles to absorb radar energy. The SR-71 was constructed almost entirely out of titanium, because of its heat resistance properties and because it was lightweight. In the early 1960s, it was also hard to find. One of the best sources was the Soviet Union, so the CIA, which also oversaw development of the SR-71’s predecessor, the A-12 Oxcart, set up shell companies abroad to purchase the metal from the very nation it was spying on.

The SR-71 was powered by two Pratt & Whitney J58 ( JT11D-20) axial-flow turbojet engines. The J58 was a considerable innovation of the era, capable of producing a static thrust of 32,500 lbf (145 kN). The engine was most efficient around Mach 3.2, the Blackbird's typical cruising speed.

Test flights began in 1964, and the first operational flight took place in 1968. A total of 32 aircraft were built; 12 were lost in accidents with none lost to enemy action. It could operate safely at a maximum speed of Mach 3.3, faster than a bullet, at an altitude more than sixteen miles above the earth.

On July 28, 1976, Maj. Gen. Eldon Joersz, the pilot, and Lt. Col. George Morgan, the reconnaissance systems officer (RSO), set the world absolute speed record for jet-powered airplanes with a speed of 2,193 mph. The record still stands today.

During its operational lifetime, the SR-71 provided intelligence about Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War, the Yom Kippur War in 1973, the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, the American air forces raid on Libya in 1986 and Iranian Silkworm missile batteries in 1987.

The SR-71 was expensive to maintain and operate. Its rival in reconnaissance was ever improving satellite technology. It also had to compete for limited funds with other high budget defense projects such as the B-2 bomber. The last SR-71 mission was in the spring of 1995.

 
CIA Files

2,039 pages of CIA files dating from 1963 to 2019,  covering the inception and use of the SR-71. Includes information about Groom Lake (Area 51) where the SR-71 operated; Battles over funding for the plane; Development and deployment; Accounts of accidents; The phasing out of the A-12 and information on BLACK SHIELD reconnaissance missions over North Vietnam.

 
Department of Defense Material

1,009 pages of Department of Defense material covering High Altitude Radiation Exposure in the SR-7; The Development of  Strategic Air Command; Sonic booms; Biography of SR-71 pilot Lt Col Jerry O’Malley; A proposed unmanned version of the SR-71 and information about ramjet intake engines.