LostCosmonaut Posted October 27, 2014 Report Share Posted October 27, 2014 Before the SR-71, there was the A-12. Before the A-12, there were many other concepts proposed for Mach 3 reconaissance aircraft. Many of these concepts were assigned 'Archangel' designations, and as a result, were known as the A-1, A-2, etc. Here's an example of one of them; As you can see, it's quite different from what would eventually become the Blackbird. Here's another; Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sturgeon Posted October 27, 2014 Report Share Posted October 27, 2014 Weren't these all related to F-104 and U-2 development? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostCosmonaut Posted October 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2014 Weren't these all related to F-104 and U-2 development? Yes. It's described in more detail in this book, but what ultimately evolved into the Blackbird originally started out as a project to reduce the U-2's RCS. One of the early concepts involved attaching wires of various lengths to the U-2 to cancel out returns from Soviet radars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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