At Mach 3, friction with the atmosphere raised the SR-71’s skin temperatures to a searing 500 degrees Fahrenheit—hot enough to make the fuselage glow red.

How do you fight the heat generated when a plane can go three times the speed of sound? Lockheed's engineers found a one-of-a-kind solution to the problem.

The legendary SR-71 Blackbird retains the record for America’s fastest manned aircraft—ever. While almost everyone has heard of the American-made F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II platforms, many are ...

CC0 Usage Conditions ApplyClick for more information. No reconnaissance aircraft in history has operated globally in more hostile airspace or with such complete impunity than the Lockheed SR-71 ...

The SR-71 is perhaps the most iconic Cold War spy aircraft, famous for many record-setting flights. Seemingly impervious to loss by enemy defenses, a dozen Blackbirds were lost to accidents. On July ...

The SR-71 may be a retired Cold War-era enterprise, but the infamous aircraft retains several world records, beating out even the more advanced fifth-generation jets in service today. Back in the ...