National Security Journal on MSN

Mach 6 SR-72 Darkstar Could Soon Be the ‘Fastest Plane on Earth’

SR-72 Could Soon Replace SR-71 As Fastest Plane Ever? Yes, the SR-71 Blackbird officially remains the fastest acknowledged ...
Jalopnik

The U-2 Spy Plane May Be Old, But It's Celebrating Its 70th Birthday By Setting New Records

Not many 70-year-olds can set endurance or distance records. But the U-2 spy plane did both on July 31. It took off from Beale Air Force Base in California and flew a zig-zag lap around the ...
Aviation Week

Lockheed Martin U-2

The U-2 is a single-engine, high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft. Development began in 1954, and a prototype flew the following year. Lockheed built 49 aircraft in the initial configuration, but as ...
National Security Journal on MSN

‘It Can Outrun Everything’: The SR-71 Blackbird Mach 3 Spy Plane Had 1 Job

Born from the need to replace the vulnerable U-2 spy plane, the SR-71 Blackbird was an engineering marvel of the Cold War. We ...
The National Interest

When America Successfully Flew a U-2 Spy Plane from an Aircraft Carrier

The carrier-based U-2 concept was workable, but it never gained much momentum. This article is the second in a two-part series on “Operation Whale Tail,” the CIA’s ambitious project to reformat a U-2 ...