The Lockheed SR-71 is an advanced, long range, Mach 3 strategic reconnaissance aircraft developed from the Lockheed A-12 and YF-12A aircraft by the Lockheed Skunk Works as a Black project. The SR-71 was unofficially named the Blackbird, and called the Habu by its crews, referring to an Okinawan species of pit viper. Clarence "Kelly" Johnson was responsible for many of the design's innovative concepts. A defensive feature of the aircraft was its high speed and operating altitude, whereby, if a surface-to-air missile launch were detected, standard evasive action was simply to accelerate. The air inlets were a critical design feature that allowed cruising speeds of over Mach 3.2, and yet at the same time could maintain subsonic Mach 0.5 airflow into the turbojet engines. At the front of each inlet was a sharp, pointed movable cone called a "spike" that was locked in the full forward position on the ground or when in subsonic flight. During acceleration to high-speed cruise, the spike would unlock at Mach 1.6 and then begin a mechanical travel to the rear.] It moved up to a maximum of 26 inches (66 cm). There were a number of features in the SR-71 that were designed to reduce its radar signature. The first studies in radar stealth technology seemed to indicate that a shape with flattened, tapering sides would avoid reflecting most radar energy toward the radar beams' place of origin. To this end, the radar engineers suggested adding chines (see below) to the design and canting the vertical control surfaces inward. The aircraft also used special radar-absorbing materials which were incorporated into sawtooth shaped sections of the skin of the aircraft, as well as cesium-based fuel additives to reduce the exhaust plumes' visibility on radar. Crews flying the SR-71 at 80,000 ft (24,000 m) faced two main survival problems: With a standard pressure demand oxygen mask, human lungs cannot absorb enough of 100% oxygen above 43,000 ft (13,000 m) to sustain consciousness and life, and the instant heat rise pulse on the body when exposed to a Mach 3.2 air flow during ejection would be about 450 °F (230 °C). To solve these problems, the David Clark Company was hired to produce protective full pressure suits for all of the crew members of the A-12, YF-12, MD-21 and SR-71 aircraft. These suits were later adopted for use on the Space Shuttle during ascent. The SR-71 line was in service from 1964 to 1998, with 12 of the 32 aircraft being destroyed in accidents, though none were lost to enemy action. [READ THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE]
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