SR-71 Replacement Announced

[Noha307]

Guy Norris of Aviation Week broke the story on the first of the month that Skunk Works is working on a successor for the SR-71 - Aviation Week's website was brought down by the overwhelming amount traffic as a result.

What we know so far:

• Being referred to as the SR-72
• Optional weapons carriage and strike capability
• Top speed of Mach 6
• Powered by a combination military OTS turbine and scramjet engine
• F-22 sized, optionally piloted demonstrator planned to be built by 2018

I can only imagine what the pitch to the possible test pilots for the demonstrator is going to be like: "Okay, we built a plane that goes twice as fast as the next fastest manned air breathing aircraft - which had a loss rate of 38%, using technology never before tested on this scale and most of the unmanned aircraft we have launched at this speed have failed - many due to vehicle break up. Who wants to fly it?"

[Kyleb]

I think it is planned as an unmanned platform. The test pilots will be guys sitting in air conditioned rooms on the ground looking at video monitors.

[miles47]

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[Happydays]

Will this be another UAV controlled from Creek AFB as are the current drones over Afganistan?