#sr-72

Lockheed SR-72 Aurora hypersonic Mach 6 scramjet spy plane.

SR-72 Darkstar Hypersonic Jet for Top Gun: Maverick.

awright here’s my opinion (not an expert)

the darkstar is canonically a Lockheed Martin “skunk works” (super duper secret) surveillance and reconnaissance (SR) spyplane, as evidenced by the skunk works logo on the vertical stabilizer (left is darkstar, right is me with the SW logo on the SR-71 blackbird at the udvar-hazy museum this summer).

we can look to see how long other SW projects have taken to develop in the past. the SR-71, for instance, was first suggested as an “undetectable spyplane” idea in 1957. the lockheed A-12 oxcart, which would provide the framework for the SR-71, had its first flight in 1962, five years later. the finished SR-71 was introduced into USAF and CIA service in 1966. so a 9-year development for the fastest-ever air-breathing jet, with 4-ish of those years being flight testing (ish because the A-12 had to be heavily adapted into the SR-71 which had its first flight in 1964).

Lockheed’s been teasing its blackbird successor, the unmanned aerial vehicle the SR-72 “son of blackbird,” on its socials recently. i saw someone say: “soft-launching its new death machine like an instagram influencer with a new boyfriend”

leading many to believe this is what happened

note however that the SR-72 son of blackbird is an UNMANNED aerial vehicle (UAV) which is why in my fic I specifically said this

Bro can reach mach 10

Lockheed Martin’s SR-72, known as “Son of Blackbird,” is reportedly set to have its maiden flight in 2025.

The uncrewed hypersonic aircraft, believed to be a top-secret project for the U.S. Air Force, aims to reach speeds over 4,000 mph (6,437 kph), making it the fastest plane ever developed.

There seems to be growing evidence that Lockheed Martin's long-rumored SR-72 hypersonic spy plane may be headed for production.