The SR-71 Spy Plane Was So Fast, It Outran Every Missile Fired at It

Until Lockheed Martin finally builds the SR-72 Mach-6 spy plane it announced in November 2013 — and which reportedly appeared in plain view for the first time in July 2017 — the iconic SR-71 Blackbird, capable of flying three times the speed of sound, remains the fastest warplane ever flown operationally. Not only were SAMs unable to catch the Blackbird, even the the fastest Soviet fighter jets lacked the necessary speed to intercept the SR-71. Moreover, Belenko’s missiles would have not worked because “most air- to-air missiles are optimized to maneuver in the thicker air below around 30,000 feet in order to shoot down an enemy plane,” former Blackbird pilot Col. Richard Graham explained in his book SR-71: The Complete Illustrated History of the Blackbird.

Source: nationalinterest.org