What Is The Top Speed Of The SR-71 Blackbird, The Fastest Jet Ever Made

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The SR-71 Blackbird is arguably one of Lockheed Martin’s most important supersonic jets, and it set a number of records in its time. Even today, it remains the fastest jet ever recorded. With the afterburner engaged, the Blackbird broke an absolute speed record of 2,193 mph, faster than Mach 3. This was made possible by the two Pratt & Whitney J58 axial-flow turbojets that each produced 32,500 pounds of thrust. However, according to a NASA report those engines provided less than 20% of the total thrust used to reach that speed — the rest came from the unique design of the engine inlet allowing air into the plane’s afterburners, functioning like a ramjet.

The Blackbird was so fast it could evade anti-air missiles by simply throttling up, outrunning a total of 4,000 missiles during its tenure. If a surface-to-air missile had a chance to lock onto a Blackbird, the spy plane would already be out of the missiles range by the time it fired. Jets like the MiG-25 and MiG-31 could also hit Mach 3, but they weren’t able to sustain that velocity for very long unlike the SR-71, which could hold Mach 3 for around 90 minutes. Former SR-71 pilot Brian Shul recounted a 1986 mission over Libya where he pushed the Blackbird beyond its speed limits, exceeding Mach 3.2 in his book “Sled Driver.” While some Blackbirds went down from accidents, none were ever shot out of the air by enemy fire.

The SR-71’s operational ceiling was just as impressive

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The SR-71 Blackbird is rightfully praised for its maximum cruising speed, but its no slouch when it comes to reaching astronomical heights either. When the Blackbird made its maximum speed record, it also broke an absolute altitude record, making it to 85,068.997 feet, where the air is thin and the view is (literally) breathtaking. That maximum altitude required a specialized life support system and the crew had to wear suits that resembled something astronauts wear. Few aircraft can reach the same altitude. This service ceiling served the Blackbird well, being a reconnaissance aircraft charged with flying over areas of interest and snapping surveillance photos.

At 85,000 feet, well within the stratosphere, the Blackbird could view roughly 100,000 square miles every hour. However, as legendary as it was, the cost of flying and maintaining the jet gradually became too high justify, prompting the U.S. Air Force to retire it near the end of the Cold War. When the LA Times reported on the decision in 1989, the reasons given also included growing vulnerability to Soviet SAM-5 surface-to-air missiles, and the increased survivability of reconnaissance satellites.

There has been no need for an official Blackbird replacement since then. These days, the Air Force and other government bodies rely on surveillance from spy satellites and drones that have a better chance of going undetected.