The Enigmatic SR-72 And the Palmdale Sightings

The Enigmatic SR-72 And the Palmdale Sightings: What Do They Tell Us About America’s Secret Hypersonic Program?
Oct 12, 2017

https://theaviationist.com/2017/10/...-us-about-americas-secret-hypersonic-program/

Hypersonic SR-72 Demonstrator Reportedly Spotted at Skunk Works
A subscale demonstrator was reportedly spied at Lockheed's facilities in California as the aerospace giant touts the imminent coming of hypersonic aircraft.
Sep 28, 2017

https://www.popularmechanics.com/mi...monstrator-reportedly-spotted-at-skunk-works/

What's The Deal With Lockheed's Gabbing About The Secretive Hypersonic SR-72?
Could the exotic and shadowy jet concept be much further along in development than Lockheed is letting on?
June 7, 2017

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zo...t-the-secretive-hypersonic-sr-72?iid=sr-link1

Meet the SR-72

https://www.lockheedmartin.com/us/news/features/2015/sr-72.html

That they are talking about probably means it has been in use for 10 years.


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markkoelsch said:

That they are talking about probably means it has been in use for 10 years.

Click to expand...

And they're already working on the SR74

could also mean that they are about to do longer test flights.
Rex

It's a good bet the demonstrator is already flying and the full size bird is close to it if not already in the air. That said, I don't buy the report. A bunch of unnamed witnesses saw something fly into Palmdale with a couple of T-38's in tow sometime in July in the early morning hours==HUH-WHA-HUH? And no pics? Description?

markkoelsch said:

That they are talking about probably means it has been in use for 10 years.


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Click to expand...

There is probably a grain of truth here. Left to their own devices, Skunk Works tends to turn out operational aircraft(articles) quite quickly compared to the normal bureaucratic way of doing business--P-80---U-2---SR--F-117--. For example, a quick story. My father worked for Lockheed, He was good friends with Kelly Johnson and Ben Rich and his wife were close family friends. My father was asked to leave advanced designs and move to Skunk works to head up a project. While being welcomed on board by Kelly , he was toured through the F-117 production line. Dad asked if they were new test aircraft. Kelly replied that's our new radar invisible attack plane for the Air Force and they had been in squadron service for over two years.He told us that after it had been disclosed to the public. He retired from the Skunk Works and "never" mentioned to any of us what he was working on. He took his secrets to the grave with him. In his final two years or so he was in assisted living with the same nurse 24/7 until he passed.So, at least from my perspective, it's out of nature for the Skunk Works to let the cat out of the bag unless it's time to do so. One note--when developing an "article" the follow-on product was already being thought out!

hornet driver said:

He retired from the Skunk Works and "never" mentioned to any of us what he was working on. He took his secrets to the grave with him.

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While that's the proper thing to do, I'll bet the Russians know a great deal about much of what we do in the black project world. Many of the projects are probably just too large to avoid a "leaky" mistake somewhere. Hell, it is believed the Chinese stole the designs for our most advanced nuclear warheads years ago:

BREACH AT LOS ALAMOS: A special report.; China Stole Nuclear Secrets For Bombs, U.S. Aides Say
MARCH 6, 1999

https://www.nytimes.com/1999/03/06/...stole-nuclear-secrets-for-bombs-us-aides.html

I truly do believe that we have multiple advanced classified aircraft that are operational. There is solid evidence to back that up, going back as far as Desert Storm. That being said, however, I'm not sure I believe the reports of the sighting at Palmdale earlier this year. There are many parts of it that just do not add up. For example, on the various black world forums and websites, there was no mention at all. Usually those forums are active around the times of moonless night, and there has been nothing of note so far this year. As for the T-38 chase aircraft, Ty Rogoway makes a good point in his article on the sighting: https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zo...ing-of-a-skunk-works-hypersonic-test-aircraft. T-38s have not been used for front line test support chase in some time, that role usually being used by F-16s. In fact, when the first KC-46 flew, two USAF F-16Ds were used for the chase mission, in place of Boeing's own T-33s and T-38s.

I have been a watcher of black programs for nearly two decades now, and when reports like this come to light, I look at them with great interest, however, this one just has several holes that do not make sense.

The Future Of Stealth Is "Morphing Wing" Technology, But Will The B-21 Feature It?
The cutting-edge technology's benefits read like a wishlist for stealth aircraft designers.
BY TYLER ROGOWAY - OCTOBER 24, 2017

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zo...hing-wing-technology-will-the-b-21-feature-it

And the SR-72?