SR-71 the best reconnaiscence aircraft ever built?

Question

I believe that the the SR-71 was the best reconnaiscence aircraft ever built. What do you think?

Answer 1

i agree it is but the military probally has better planes now that are unknowen

Answer 2

Unless there's something that's still top secret, you're absolutely right. It's fast, high flying and has amazing photo reconnaissance capability.

Answer 3

OH the observation balloon was FIRST and still the BEST!

Answer 4

I would think it would be the Aurora  for getting there fast, take the pics then getting back fast

Answer 5

The SR-71 is a fantastic aircraft, but the truth is that it is surpassed by the U-2. Sure the U-2 isnt supersonic, but it was supposed to be replaced by the SR-71, but ended up outlasting its own successor. The U-2 is still in service, was used in Serbia, Iraq, and Afghanistan and is currently being upgraded for another 25-30 years of service.

It is capable of altitudes as high as the SR-71, which is the real reason the SR-71 was invicible in the first place, nothing can intercept an aircraft flying at any decent speed at an altitude that high.

Just think of it like this, if a U-2 flew directly over a airfield of a Mig-31, even if the aircraft did not require any time to start up, the U-2 would be over 20 miles away by the time the Mig-31 reached its service ceiling of 67,000ft, but even if it could reach 80k feet, It would take the Mig-31 an additional 18 minutes to catch up to the U-2, which the Mig-31 is not capable of sustaining. It is simply not possible to intercept an aircraft at that height.

Oh, and the SR-71 was not built with titanium from the Soviet Union. The United stated has been producing Titanium since 1928, and was the only major power capable of producing it for several decades after WW2. As an example, the Famous Mach 3 capable Mig-25 was not composed of Titanium, it was composed of Nickel-Steel, since there was a huge shortage of Titanium in the Soviet Union throughout the 60's and 70's. The newer Mig-31 is built from titanium, and it is significantly better than the Mig-25 in all ways operationally.

Answer 6

I think it is. It was capable of flying at more than mach 3 at altitudes exceeding 80,000 feet. That's fifteen miles in altitude. Other aircraft have approaches those speeds, but only in short sprints. The SR-71 could cruise that fast spent much of it's missions at mach 3. It could photograph huge swaths of the Earth's surface in a single pass and from incredible distances while completely invulnerable to interception. The engineering feats needed to build it were equally amazing. Titanium construction (a funny side note: the titanium was bought from the USSR), special fuel, special hydraulic fluid and oils, expanding joints, fuel circulation systems for cooling, heat resistant tires, and one of the most complex and sophisticated jet engines ever built. Amazingly, this was all designed and built before electronic calculators, with slide rules, and at a very low cost compared to equally ambitious projects like the B-2. The SR-71 is definitely the greatest reconnaisance aircraft ever built and, some would argue, the best airplane ever built. After all, aircraft were first used for that mission so many years before and have always been the best high ground to track and engage them. The invulnerable,fastest, highest flying plane in the world just might be the perfect airplane.

Answer 7

I agree. It did the job, and photographed virtually every square foot of this planet.

Kelly Johnson did a real bang-up job with this one.

Regards,

Dan

Answer 8

probably your right but there are concept planes from nasawhich can be better,...

Answer 9

What you are asking is an opinion, and I would agree the SR-71 is/was the best ever, and still is. You will see more on the Blackbird as quite a bit of information on it has recently been declassified. Look for some recently published books by the crews to get the straight story on what an incredible machine this is.

The "Aurora" was bust,  the U-2 is still being flown for weather trends. No aircraft yet built can perform the mission that SR-71 did and is still capable of doing. Some types of satellite imagery can be limited by weather and any school kid with a laptop knows when the satellite is overhead. Saddam Hussein proved that by moving his scuds everytime there was not a satellite in position.  Khadafi never knew when the SR-71's were going to appear, and even though they could be detected, there was absolutely nothing he could do about it. They could fly their mission untouched.

awesome aircraft.

Answer 10

I agree

Answer 11

Greatest ever built? Im guessing we have never seen the sr-71's replacement.  Ill agree that the SR-71 is the greatest spy plane we know about.

Answer 12

I think you're right!

Answer 13

While it certainly the sexiest ever built I would have to go with the U-2 as the best as it is still going and SR-71 is in the museum. Keep in mind the U-2 came out way before the SR-71 did and yet it still patrols on. though now adays the drones will take over this duty with such planes as the global hawk that way if it is shot down no biggy just stiff the taxpayers for a new one. the pilot of the drone lives to learn from his mistake.

Answer 14

I like it but it is retired now

Answer 15

It used to be, but it's not now.  It's retired.  Better reconnaissance tools like more powerful satellites and high-flying UAVs have arrived.