How F-14 and F-15 pilots trained to take down the SR-71
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- čas přidán 2. 11. 2023
- Throughout its three decades of service, the Blackbird famously had over 4,000 missiles of all sorts fired at it, and managed to outrun every single one. But no aircraft is invincible and the Blackbird was no exception.
With looming concerns about high-speed Soviet fighters closing the capability gap, the Air Force decided to pit its Mach 3+ Blackbird against America’s own best fighters, both of which have also become legends in their own right: the U.S. Navy’s Grumman F-14 Tomcat and the U.S. Air Force’s McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle.
But even for these incredible airborne predators, the Habu was no easy meal.
Thanks to Hector Tinoco for editing this video!
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Original Write-Up:
www.sandboxx.us/news/how-f-14...
Colonel Richard H. Graham's books:
www.amazon.com/Complete-Book-...
www.amazon.com/SR-71-Revealed...
Other Citations:
www.sandboxx.us/news/how-hype...
theaviationgeekclub.com/sr-71...
theaviationgeekclub.com/tomca...
/ habubrats71
www.sandboxx.us/news/the-f-14...
theaviationgeekclub.com/f-14-...
theaviationgeekclub.com/sr-71...
www.key.aero/article/legend-s...
www.globalsecurity.org/milita...
theaviationgeekclub.com/the-s...
www.popularmechanics.com/mili...
www.thesr71blackbird.com/Airc....
theaviationist.com/2013/12/04...
theaviationgeekclub.com/vigge...
theaviationist.com/2018/11/29...
I love the estimation of the SR71's radar cross section being that of a Cessna 172 because it makes me imagine some ATC somewhere going "Hey, that looks like a Cessna on radar...but what's it doing at 80,000 feet....and it's going HOW FAST?!?!?"
If you look around online you'll find the story of a civilian Cessna checking in with atc air traffic control, for a speed and altitude check overheard by a marine f4 phantom 2, the marine pilot asked for the same from atc, atc replied to the marine pilot I have you at altitude blah blah, speed 640 knots, an SR-71 returning from a recon mission broke regulations, and radioed to the atc requesting the same, received a reply I hold you at 80,000 feet moving at 3,000 mph😂😂😂
The proudest portion of my AF career was being part of the cadre of the SR-71 wing at Beale AFB (9th SRW). I was there 9 months before we received the first bird. I even had the honor of meeting its designer, Kelly Johnson.
I saw a 15 zoom climb at an airshow.
It just disappeared in to the upper atmosphere in what was probably the most unruly magic trick I've ever witnessed.
In the late 70's I dated a girl whose stepfather flew 100+ mission over North Vietnam in F-105's including some of the first Iron Hand missions. Then he transitioned to the SR-71 and flew out of Okinawa and Beale until he retired. I was looking some his pictures and awards at the ranch and noticed his 'Mach 3' and '300 Hour' pins. I asked about the '300 Hour' pin because that didn't seem like a lot of hours in a particular aircraft? He grinned and said "At Mach 3+ it doesn't take all that long to get, well, anywhere." He had some great stories.
Thumbs down. More STORY! PLEASE! A SENIOR SR-71 pilot? Does he have a book? He should
@@stonecut4u2now Sadly Bob passed away some time ago. There is a FB page run by a woman whose father was an SR71 RSO and who grew up on Beale AFB in the 70's-80's. She posts a lot of cool stories and pictures! It's called "Born into the Wild Blue Yonder Habubrats."
the Blackbird will probably always be my favorite aircraft. the way it was built and designed, its capabilities, just being able to outrun missiles and bullets, and to think she was designed so long ago and was still a marvel of engineering even today, it boggles the mind what aviation engineers are capable of with the tools and materials we have now.
I’m in the same boat. It’s my favorite aircraft overall. The look, performance, and era of service was all top notch.
Yup!
I still remember stumbling across it in an Encyclopedia Britannica, in my elementary school's library in the very-early 90s. I just happened to pick up that book, at random, and was paging through it, when there she was... A photo of the Blackbird, set against a mountain range! 😳 🥹
That was all it took! ❤
From then on, whenever we had 'library time'... I was over there trying to find that same book, trying to find that same page!
Don't forget that it was designed without a calculator, but a slide rule
@@someguy95981and it will never be used to that degree again..... Human precision I think everything will be ai generated it will be absolutely superior but won't hold the magic of the BB
does anyone know why its called HABU? or what that stands for?
I refueled the Blackbird for almost six years. The crews were amazing and their mission planning was stellar. Their routing either in Europe and Asia limited their speed to meet the exact routing. It was a great mission before we built and fielded outstanding satellites. The cost of continuing the program became too costly compared with modern imagery capabilities. A single training mission would run $1M a piece. It was an awesome aircraft before stealth even existed. .
I used to maintain and operate a system called the MIST. It was primarily used with U2s for microwave links to transfer data. When I was at the L3 West plant in SLC back in the day, I saw a reply of the MIST system tracking a SR71. I guess they managed to stick the articulated dish somewhere in there. Anyway, the system acquired the black bird and tracked it. When it flew over, the system moved so fast to track it, it hit mechanical limits and had to spin around quickly to catch it on the other side of overhead. It really put into perspective how fast those things are.
🤣🤣👍👍
@@justachipn3039 Tall tales right?
@@SaltyMeatHook Well, I'm an old retired Navy Carrier Vet that loves aircrafts. I've heard a lot of really cool stories about the SR-71. Yours is one of many... there's more stories similar to yours. Thx... If you have any more, I'd love to hear them.
@@justachipn3039 Thanks for your service. My Beale days were the best of my career.
@@SaltyMeatHook some people just can't accept that military or defense industry workers due to t heir interests end up in the comment sections of videos in that same genre of the jobs they worked or served our country in.
The Blackbird is hands down my favorite aircraft ever built.
I am commenting here so that this post doesn't disappear. Everything in the 60's was incredible. Landing on the Moon 1969 and today, we can't even leave orbit.
A story about the SR71 that broke apart at M3+ is a story that needs to be told. The piolet that passed and the one that lived through an ejection above 80k and moving at over 2,100 mph deserve to be reminded.
That sounds worse than a potus election.
James - Election? I am assuming that you meant elevation?
@pike100 thanks. No, it was supposed to be an ejection.
That was he one where the drone collided with the 71, correct? I don't think the crew ejected right away. They stayed with the nose section until they'd descended to a safer altitude and slower speed. Both crew survived the ejection and came down safely, but they landed in water and the RIO opened his visor....letting water in and drowning him.
@samsignorelli No, the one I'm talking about is the only one at altitude. They had an engine shutdown, and it ripped part of the left wing off. We still don't know how the crew got out the piolet died the reo survived. But he was knocked out and woke up somewhere around 30k feet falling to the ground.
I believe it was over west TX.
This is one of your all time BEST presentations, Alex. Highly informative and even more Highly Entertaining. Don't ever stop doing this.
I couldn’t agree more
I could be wrong about this but I think the viggen actually saved the blackbird. What I mean is if I’m remembering correctly the SR-71 had an engine out just after leaving Soviet airspace. With Soviet interceptors closing in two viggens intercepted them first and the Soviets backed off. That is if I’m getting the story right.
Your correct, the SAABS escorted the SR71 to safety from Russia fighters
@@kevinroark5024 ok just making sure I’m not going crazy 🤣
100% correct
heh Indeed!
I do believe Alex included that story in one of his other Blackbird videos ☺️
And if *_I'm_* also remembering correctly, they were giving thank-you medals from the US, but also that it's officially still classified... Or that it was, up until only recently...
Yes the got the medals in 2018 , a couple nof years before the sr-71 was delivered to Duxford for the help the UK did with det4...where the plane in that story flew out from.
As a Swede I'm glad you mentioned SAAB JA37 Viggen being the only foreign aircraft with confirmed radar lock(s) on the SR71
in ordinary mission flight. And several times to that.
What you did not mention was the fact it was Swedish Viggens that in 1987 escorted a SR71 stricken with engine trouble
out of a MiG25 wolfpacks range - and on into Danish/WestGerman airspace - something that rendered the four Viggen
pilots US Air Medals for bravery. Worth mentioning I think...
Radar lock is easy to achieve. It's getting the missile to catch it that's the problem.
@@kinte1870 No, it's not. While modern radar absorbing surfaces were not available at the time, the designer(s) of the SR-71 put composite-honeycomb areas on the nacelle inlet spikes, the nacelle chines and on the wing and elevon edges, as well as on the fuselage chines. This, along with the round engine compartments and curved surfaces on the fuselage, reduced the radar cross sections tremendously. In addition to all these design measures, the max. speed of the Blackbird made it very difficult to achieve a lock that was needed to guide a mid- or long-range (air-to-air) missile to the target. And even if such a lock would have been achieved, the missile still needed the (constant) guidance/reflection of the interceptor's radar, until it reached the terminal path (where it could use its internal radar or IR). And that's where the low radar profile and the high speed of the SR-71 kicked in. Quotes/pilot statements mentioned in this video prove that interceptors needed to know the exact flight path and that the SR-71s even had to dump fuel to highlight their positions, during these training sessions. Large stationary Soviet radar sites on the ground may have detected SR-71s in Soviet airspace occasionally, maybe even regularly, but the Blackbirds' ECMs, speed and altitudes made it impossible to intercept them with ground-to-air missiles. Dispatched Soviet interceptors had to be guided by large ground stations (as the radars of the S-75 AA-systems were usually jammed or suffering of drop-ins caused by the ECMs and the SR-71s low radar profile), as their on-board radars struggled with the SR-71's low profile and speed, but the interceptors were usually unable to find and/or chase the Blackbirds, let alone getting sufficient lock/guidance time. The crippled SR-71 over Warsaw Pact territory was a different matter, obviously, I am guessing that it could be chased and maybe even be tracked visually for some time, at least.
@@kinte1870 Yes, and that's why the Viggen is alone to have _confirmed_ radar lock "kills" among non-US airplanes. And several confirmed locks to that...
As an American with family in Sweden, I appreciate your telling of that story. I think the creator of this video told it in an older video of his. The Swedish pilots are true heroes and I hope the US continues to honor their bravery through support and cooperation.
Most countries are only as strong as their allies. History has shown us that the US is no exception. I thank my ancestors, family, you, and your countrymen for keeping the Blackbird safe in such a dangerous era.
@@kinte1870Now the blackbird couldn't evade anything we have lazers now, no matter how fast it is it can't surpass the speed of light. Still my favorite aircraft like the biggest troll aircraft to the world. 😂
The SR-71 is an icon that will live on forever. How quickly it was developed with slide rules and hand built, creating new machining and forging, creating new engines, and all delivered mostly on time and at or under budget and performed better then expected.
An aircraft like this puts every manufacturer to shame, as the platforms they are developing now are all over budget, underperform, and late never mind the fact that none of the modern aircraft will have anywhere near the service life of the aircraft built in the 50’s and 60’s. I don’t care how “advanced” or “stealthy” they are, they are expensive junk that are flying money pits that will have to be replaced in a decade….
Great vid Alex. Many J58 parts went through my fathers hands at PWA during those years. An EXTRORDINARY jet but remember....any aircraft is only as remarkable as it's powerplant. Long live PWA!!!
I was just ranting about this very thing in on another comment. Those engines made that jet from my POV. It sort of just barely worked, but it consistently and constantly worked at the new limits it unlocked. We need a new type of engine that does a similar thing with our jets. One that unlocks new fuel efficiency and power capacity by expanding the range of the engine capabilities with a hybrid engine. We could have had one now if there was the budget and urgency for one. It's time to start focusing on new tech that truly changes the options available to fight with and shores up the weaknesses we have with fuel transport.
Possible enemies have much greater capabilities now. Our advantages have been countered. We need jets that have much longer legs and we also need a lot more missiles. Like, a lot a lot more more missiles. We truly lack the capacity for a sustained fight and the ability defend and deliver fuel for the weapons we have. More fuel and ammo please. If an enemy overwhelms our defense capability and destroy our refueling ability we will suddenly be in a situation where a force multiplier gets divided and we end up in a far more bloody battle. The refueling capability we have is much weaker now for both jets and ships.
The engine makes the jet.
You could have gone on for another 60 minutes and not lost me. Great history!!
Fact: The SR-71 used an astro - intertial navigation system that could determine position with GPS - like accuracy within minutes of departing the hangar, midday.
In other words, it mapped its position using the stars above along with forces of acceleration, and could do so with the sun shining above. Come to think of it, that's a star, too!
Celestial navigation aided with inertial reference is still only good for about a quarter mile accuracy, even with the SR71's R2D2. It was nowhere close to GPS accuracy but it didn't need to be any more precise than that anyway.
@@Skinflaps_Meatslapper I read that it was better than 300 ft accuracy. Translating that to English, it was probably within 30 feet.
@@LostAnFound 1300ft, you're missing a digit. And that's already in English.
my dad did the software for the celestial navigation system, working at Eglin AFB i the 1960's. It was also used on icbm's because they didn't have GPS then.
@@Skinflaps_Meatslapper I'm translating from publicly available military number to probable, actual numbers.
When they give a number followed by a plus sign, the plus, or better than, is a big plus and much better than
The F-14s and F-15s are hot rods. Combined w/advanced radars + missiles for strong BVR capes and it’s not even mildly surprising that they could intercept the SR-71 with current generation radar and BVR ordinance. The fact they could barely get kills with HABUs throwing the game. The F22 having more power than the SR71 seems crazier. But, yes, I know the SR71 gets much of its speed from the ramjet at high speed.
F-22 has more RADAR power than the F-14, that's what was said in the video.
It also has a properly pressurized cockpit (and so does the F-35), so if it could make it's way up to 60k feet and stay there, the pilot wouldn't have a problem.
I'm quite certain that the FB-22, had it been developed, would have likely been able to attain a higher ceiling still than even the F-22, due simply to the fact that that design had significantly more wing area with the same engines.
F22 is Just mind blowing. A true Apex predator. Props to American aeronautical engineers.
@@44R0Ndin I didn't catch it in this video either, but Alex has stated before in other videos (correctly) that the F-22 has more thrust per engine than the SR-71 did. So OP is actually right. It obviously has a more powerful radar than the F-14... the Tomcat's radar is pretty iffy by modern standards.
@@collander7766yeah major difference is the sr-71 is most efficient above Mach 3.
@@collander7766the raptor engines make more thrust at sea level and well below 1,400mph. A blackbird makes far more thrust than a raptor at 60,000 feet and above Mach 2.
Imagine how hectic it was inside the cockpit of a Foxbat making the one-way, engine - ending sprint.
Terror in the air
I genuinely enjoy the way you convey information. And I genuinely love the Blackbird.
I'd love to see an episode dedicated to "The Red Hats" 4477th, 65th and so on.
And the "HAVE" programs.
This was excellent. I've read hundreds of pieces on the Blackbird over the last 35 years and this is among the best I have ever enjoyed.
SR-71 Is the greatest piece of technology ever built imho.
Fell in love with this thing as a child barely old enough to understand the concept of planes and now, over 3 decades later, I still feel like a little girl at a Taylor Swift concert when watching a video about the SR-71.
I watched an interview with a Skunk works engineer. He said the SR 71 top speed was actually mach 4.4 which I can't confirm, but a lot of other things he said I can, and he was correct on everything else. I tend to belive that's probably true, too.
Would make sense that it could hit that speed, given that it's published cruising speed is mach 3.2 and top is 3.3, that seems too close together.
If it pushed all out it definitely could go faster
Nope, the engine shock cones couldn’t handle that
The issue is surface heating at those speeds in that era for those prolonged times the plane would borderline liquify some of its parts lol. I suspect that xit could prolly push up close to Mach 4 in a pinch but would need a lot of TLC on the ground after it did it.
@@mattadams7922 and only in short a burst so the skin doesn't get to full temperature
@@mcamp9445they could and did. They were more at risk for an un start at those speeds, but were achievable and by many accounts achieved.
The HABU ( a family of venomous snakes) is what I called it as a Marine on Okinawa in 1980.
Yes, we had them at Kadena!
Loving that the SR-71 guys acknowledged the Tomcat did better than the Eagle for a long time in the attempts.
This was probably said already: the f-14 Phoenix missle originated as a missed for the SR-71's intersepter cousin, the YF-12. I like the symmetry of it being the one most likely to down an SR-71.
Isn't it the same airship just set up with missles and bombs?
@nadewitt-yf6ng
If I understand your question, essentially yes.
The YF-12 was a modified A-12. The SR-71 was also a modified version of the A-12.
IIRC, the A-12 was a CIA reconnaissance airplane and was the first to be ordered, designed and built. Then, to cover up this covert operation, the YF-12 was submitted as an intercepted to the US Air Force. The modification to the YF-12 were not trivial, and I understand it. And the modifications for the the SR-71 were extensive.
@@bmobertthank you!
Just a great story about my favorite Jet ever, State Route 72, Habu. Kelly Johnson was a hero, patriot and a genius. great show Alex.
The interesting thing is the Phoenix missile system was originally designed for the very first blackbird..... Myself my wife both worked at Hughes aircraft company who designed the avionics foremost all of the military aircraft including the blackbirds, f15 & f15 and the weapon systems.. My dad was the original engineer who designed the wings of control surfaces for the Phoenix missile and was later one of the program managers. The Phoenix was first flight tested around 1961
The program was cancel after everything was flight tested and ready to go. US Air Force continued with development on the Phoenix missile system which was later taken over by the us navy. The intercept blackbirds were then requested after production for the surveillance aircraft was already in place. To avoid major structural changes in the mass production assembly line, the falcon and gar9 missiles were then select to be used on the fy12 interceptors
Three of my favorite jets of all time... Add the B58 hustler and you have all of my favorites. Great video... I knew the F14 was super special and was really disappointed when they decided not to upgrade it instead of taking it out of service... Really good information. The F15 is really the "GOAT". The F15 has evolved into an amazing platform and really has become the heavy hitter of fighter jets due to the amount and diversity of ordinance and the state-of-the-art aviation systems.
This reminds me of the trouble early RAF fighters had trying to intercept the EE Canberra where the Canberras had to come in at lower and lower altitudes until the Gloster Meteors (I think this was before Hawker Hunters) could even hope to intercept!
A rebuilt blackbird with modern stealth coatings and ECMs would new so nice to see
Further reasons why the NGAD won't sacrifice speed for stealth. You just can't deny the power of speed.
Alex, I can’t thank you enough for the creativity of your content, both what you present and how you present it. A lot folks simplify regurgitate old content. Keep up the good work.
For education purposes, I would love to have the SR71 come out of retirement so the F22 can have a crack at it
I have a feeling the the top speed of the F22 was not disclosed properly for good reasons. I remembered reading that F22 could walk away from F15 & F18 if they didn’t want to engage. But what was more impressive was F23 could do the same to F22 when they were testing out both planes. So I don’t get it when the top speed of F15 is 2.5 Mach and F22 was only 2 Mach. I used to spent a lot of time at Nellis flight line. It takes 16 secs for A10 to take off from stop to wheels up. 14 secs for F16. 12 secs for F15. But only 7 secs for F22. 🤔
The AIM-260 might make a difference too…
Sadly there were too many sole-source things like the fuel for it to come out of retirement. There’s no KC-135Q either…
I don’t know myself, but to shed some light on your experience, stop to wheels up time is also affected by stall speed, and top speed vs acceleration don’t always match very cleanly
F-22 top speed is limited to Mach 2 due to damage done to the low observable coatings.
What we were told is that its cross-section was low from the front and sides while flying straight and level. However, when it made a turn (probably mostly from the side as it flew borders to take photos), it lit up on the scope
great post. I have new found respect for the venerable f14. I appreciate the insights!
@sandboxx I was talking to Steve Grzebiniak and David peters who done these eagle bait runs flying the sr-71..I posed the question
of the F-14 chances.... Steve said "I never flew the Blackbird against the Tomcat, but considering that the fire control radar on the F-15 was even better than that of the F-14, (and we could easily defeat the F-15) I would have to surmise that the only way the Tomcat could score a kill against the Blackbird is if we were on a very short leash"
David peters said " the F14 had the serious search and overall fire control radar but as Steve pointed out none of them had any chance unless we slowed down came down and hung out a big sign Here I am !!!"
I was a DS responsiblefor thecomputer systems for NTDS (in CIC) on the USS America (CVA-66), and in 1970 we met up with an SR-71.
While on Yankee Station (off North Viet Nam), while not actually flying combat sorties, a Bogey was tracked at Mach 3 at an undetermined altitude violating the airspace of the carrier. The alert 5 F-4 phantoms wer launched, but as expected, the Bogey was long gone by the time they launched.
The capain didn't like anything violating the airspace, and the 2 F-4 aircraft remained on station, and were kept fueled. Everyone 'knew' that the aircraft that overflew us had to be an SR-71, but rules are rules, and they expected the plane to return, and it did.
I assume that they Phantoms did a zoom climb to about 80K feet, and both planes visually saw the SR-71. Procedures for intercepting an unknown aircraft require visual ID before shooting, and the first Phantom did a Tally-Ho to signal the second Phantom that was behind it for a 'shoot'.
I don't think that it would have actually fired because of the requirements for a radar lock, plus it obviously was an American plane.
The SR-71 pilot apparently saw the first plane, and started to communicate on the radio. A breaker had been pulled, so he hadn't heard any attempts at communication before he saw the Phantom.
We (CIC) had a short conversation with the pilot, and he was overflying a large oriental country, and was returning to his base someplace in Idaho, I think, but that part is fuzzy in my memory.
So, this sort of confirms what a less capable aircraft would need to do to get close to an SR-71. obviously, in a circumstance different than assuming a return flight, any form of intercept would have been impossible.
Phantom zoom climb to 80K?
it's part of how the Swedes did it. They knew where the plane would be, and their radar was all "pull up now" to tell them when to climb. They then had mere seconds to get a lock, and if the Blackbird changed course at all during the climb, there would be no lock.
@@brucegoodwin634 I said that and then took it down. After a Google search an F-4 back in 1959 climbed to 98,xxx feet. I was totally suprised.
Whoa! Thank you for that! At the "edge" of space!@@nadewitt-yf6ng
Great, great show Alex! Like another commenter stated, this was probably (most definitely) one of your best yet! You’ve really got a knack for keeping people at the edge of their proverbial seats with this series. Good stuff! 👍
Not every Blackbird was nicknamed the HABU. Those were only the ones stationed in Japan.
That was fascinating Alex. Thanks.
Outstanding video Alex!
Thanks cat. Very well done.
Lot a of data in here that I either didn’t know, or had forgotten.
Great, great info man.
Thank You!
😎👍
The father of the SR 71 was the YF 12. The YF 12 was in itself designed to be an interceptor aircraft. Which would have been the fastest interceptor aircraft ever.
length! it took 40 achers to turn it around because of wing length!
one thing that you left out about the phoenix missile was it was originally designed for the interceptor version of the black bird.
The US has probably some secret aircraft we don't know about probably better than the SR-71.
How do you think modern F-35s and F-22s would fare against a blackbird?
My guess would be pretty well given their sensor performance and weapons capabilities. You don’t have to catch up to the target as long as your radar and weapons can
@@wtbanation6268the missiles still would need speed, range and maneuverability if an SR71 was aware it had been fired upon. So sensors and stealth alone isn’t sufficient. But they certainly ought to be able to blow the Swedish Baltic Express intercept away. Put yourself ahead of a predicted SR71 track. Then fire a good IR guided missile so the SR71 doesn’t realize there is a radar lock to evade. Ought to work. But good mission planning on the intercept or lazy SR71 planning is essential for successful kill.
@@randomgeocacher literally could not have said it any better myself. Thanks for the more detailed explanation 👌
That Phoenix Missle was very heavy and created drag as well. Plus, in a combat situation, the F-14 wouldn't be clean. Or would have other external missles and drag/weight creating armaments and other accoutrements.
If a Tomcat was set up specifically for a Blackbird intercept, and it happened to be in exactly the right place, altitude, and direction, and an AWACS or ground radar station had a good track and guided it in, and if the Tomcat driver did his bedtime prayers the night before and was carrying his lucky egg and the RIO had his four-leaf clover, it could have a chance. The physics of the F-14 and AIM-54 are at least in the right ball-park.
@@gregiep The AIM 54 has a closing speed of Mach 5! The Blackbird would have been toast.
The SR having the altitude advantage and the beat sensors and electronic countermeasures of the era, It would have been fine. 4,000 missiles were fired at it with no hits, let alone losses.
If the SR changed heading of 5 degrees upon noticing an F-14 directly ahead climbing to intercept, the SR would end up 50-100 miles laterally offset. Impossible to catch.
And the blackbirds countermeasures are known to intercept the inbound missiles radar signal, copy and repeat it back to the missile off-time to make the jet appear somewhere else... And it worked close to 4000:0 (infinite) odds.
@gregiep Exactly, so in a real world scenario, no chance. I still don't know why the F-14's radar could see farther than any until the F-22. Navy, heavier and necessity? F-16 was a dogfighter..etc etc. I'd like to know the scenario under which the Viggen "obtained a lock" on a SR-71. Was it employing countermeasures/jamming and did they know exactly when it was overlying, were they at attitude and mach cruising speed over friendly skies and why a Viggen would try to lock it? Anybody know?
@tumslucks9781 No. I know the speed of the missle. I see what social media now calls a "fan boy". Besides Top Gun being an sll time great movie and that dogshit Top Gun Maverick being one of the worst movies ever, besides the F-14A stalling, being very heavy and designed in the early 1960s and the SR-71 in the 1950s, the SR-71 would be long gone before even a Phoenix was fired at over a million dollars per missle and the extreme weight of it. My father worked for Raytheon. They made missles and textbooks for children. ;) Also, the first microwave/radar ranges I believe. I PREFER THE CONVAIR KINGFISH!
This was good! Very well put. Reminded me of Tyler Rogoway type of detailed material! I hope to see more content on the SR. 👍💪🏻
That Viggen with the lock, wasn’t that on the bird which had an engine failure? She was flyings in one engine, less than M1, and had two Soviet fighters closing in. She flew into “neutral” airspace of Sweden, to keep the soviets from taking her down.
I’m pretty sure that’s the single lock.
Nope. They had special missions aimed to lock on to the Blackbird. Those Viggens that escorted the damaged Blackbird was only on ordinary patrol when they got the call.
Jupp, there were 4 Viggens in the air that day, the first pair responding to help and the second pair taking over when the first had to go refuel, I don't know about the first pair, but the second pair was from F10, the same airbase hyoercar maker Koenigsegg use today and Koenigsegg agreed to keep the logo, so the ghost that brought that Blackbird home is still worn by Swedish powerhouses to this day
Still my favourite plane, ive seen loads of documentaries on the design and building challenges and one of nany that stuck with me was they had to build all the panels, frame, fixtures all too small while sat on the ground, due to the high heat at top speeds the jet would grow a couple of inches all over as metals expand at those kinds of heat, the fuel tanks would leak gallons of fuel while it was parked up as it was full of gaps, but once it was at speed and tge heat made the metal expand it would all come together to be air tight and aerodynamic which was needed to be able to reachthose high mach speeds, imagine having to build something all out of sinc from the start
Sync, not sinc
I'm from Nicaragua and when I was a kid in the early 80's I had the pleasure to hear the Blackbirds' sonic boom.
Not to mention the materials the Blackbird was made of. How the heck does an aircraft increase its size by stretching due to heat ?
It was and is beautiful.
Skunk works.
F-14 and the mighty Phoenix!
Nice 👍 I didn’t know this about the Blackbird. Can you talk about the original dog fights at Top Gun between the F8 Crusader and the F4 Phantom II as a result of the findings in the Ault report? I think that would be definitely worth a listen and thanks for making this upload:).
I believe it was Stalin that said “The west will sell us the rope with which we will hang it.” I bet the CIA was laughing itself silly as it was buying Soviet titanium to build the SR-71.
In 1999, a video game for Sega Dreamcast was released that actually incorporated a scenario of needing to shoot down a 'Blackbird.' I don't recall if the name Blackbird was given to the 'enemy' of if it was just labeled as a 'fast-moving, high-altitude spy plane' or something similar. The name of the game was 'AirForce Delta.' I do remember that in the scenario, you are sent after the blackbird while it is refueling, which is mentioned as the only time you will have any kind of a shot at getting them. In the game you collect all kinds of different fighter jets from around the world, but none of them have a shot at getting the Blackbird when it's at its cruising speed. I always thought this was probably the best way to write this kind of an exercise...
Regarding the unmatched speed of the SR-71 to date, the US Air Forces decided during that program that super sonic fighters and interceptors were not longer effective so max speed was acceptably reduced to provide range and time on target.
I feel like Kelly Johnson keeps getting promoted every time you talk about him. Started out as a legend and now he is a deity
In the late 1960s I was a radar operator at A-7, a clone of the Soviet SAM-2 missile-tracking radar at Eglin AFB (S band). It was used to test ECM measures for Vietnam. For a time a clone of the SAM-2 search radar was brought into our parking lot. A Blackbird was scheduled to fly by for other reasons bound for south Florida, so we set up to see if we could see it. To assist us we were given repeated direction and distance reports. I was running the PPI scope for the search radar and saw nothing. The same was true of our missile tracking radar. The latter not only didn't have a sufficient track for a missile launch, it never saw the Blackbird. Of course, this was a straight in and straight out approach where the plane's stealth worked best, but it was still quite impressive. Also impressive was how few sweeps of that search radar we had inbound and outbound at our maximum range.
The RAF had a long range 1 mW peak power E/F band radar in West Berlin in the 2nd half of the 1980's. (Range gate limit of 270 Nautical Miles). A former Warrant Officer Aerospace System Operator I know was based there and he told me that they did on one occasion spot a Mig 25 or Mig 31 get close enough to a SR-71 to be in a position to fire a missile within its no escape zone. The event was to the north of East Germany over the Baltic. If the Soviets had been tracking the Blackbird for a while and they had their Sh*t together, it would be very possible to set up.
I did 6 years on the same Type 94 radar in the UK and the Falklands, most of it on the west coast at Portreath in Cornwell and Ty-Croes on Anglsey and saw many a Concorde over the Bristol Channel doing its transonic part of the run in and out of Heathrow. That shifted across the scopes as well at max chat, though one thing I did note was as soon as the aircraft went supersonic, the raw radar paint did become somewhat brighter / bigger. I wonder if the RAF tried anything against the Blackbirds out of Mildenhall, they did against Concorde's doing air tests over the North Sea in the mid 1980's (i first heard of it in March 1985 and at that time nobody had done a stern attack, the infamous Lightning one happened the April).
Nice explanation on why most NATO pilots didn't arse about trying to intercept U-2's as well. It wasn't because their aircraft were not capable, it was because their survival equipment wouldn't keep them alive if the cockpit depressurized for long enough to get to lower altitudes.
I so love this airframe. 2nd favorite jet of all time behind the F-4 Phantom. It's just feels like the 1980's in aircraft form. Fast and sexy. I wonder what a modern F-4 would look like, maybe we don't have to wonder about the modern version of the SR-71, the future of Skunkworks might eventually answer that question with the Valk, or something similar.
Now that was the most fun I've had watching the news for some time. Thx, Alex! /cheer
Did the Iranians ever claim to have downed any Iraqi Foxbats with their F-14s?
I think so. That was the whole rationale for selling them F-14/AIM-54…although the intruders were Soviet.
The Blackbird pilots had to be laughing the whole time they were flying and doing this exercise. As a kid, I saw the SR-71 take for the last time from Japan, and it was a sight to see. And when the Blackbird came out, we already had the stealth fight prototype back then. It was one of the reason for Area 51, not just the Blackbird.
*The F14, and AIM54s, can knock an SR71 out of the sky in combat.*
the part about the boiling blood in high altitude/low pressure environment had me crying for a moment,
but other than that, great video ^^
Yeah, I was not expecting the boiling point of blood to be a relevant issue.
@@CptJistuce well... it isn't... unless you carve open the pilot with a knife first, ofc ^^
The human body is an enclosed system and extremely resilient to changes in outside pressure. Even in the vacuum of space your blood wouldn't boil as long as it stays inside your body! Different story for fluids outside your body (sweat, saliva, tears). But boiling blood is a trope of bad scifi movies ;)
@@Seth90 I thought it was a problem, but only in the lungs.
Also, when the blackbirds completed a mission, there was a mandated 72 hour maintenance program required before it's next flight
Great video Alex, the proper pronunciation of “Habu” is “Haa-boo”!!
I'm my opinion the A-12s are the gem of any museum lucky enough to have one. Never seen an sr-71 though
Seen the A-12 on the Intrepid, a few SR-71's on the ground at Mildenhall and other air shows on USAF bases in the UK and plus the one at Duxford. Seen them in flight twice, once at the Mildenhall Air Fate and once while driving past the base in 1988.
@@richardvernon317 I saw the one on the intrepid as well, that's a nice museum.
If you think what was 70 years ago is amazing, just think of what we will see in the next dexades to come.
Soon Independence Day will be an airshow.
Awesome video, with most of my favorite aircraft being mentioned.
I will say - this wasn’t so much about the actual aircraft. If they were lucky enough to get an early warning track and launch, achieving a relatively ideal (for the fighter anyways) altitude and airspeed for optimum missile kinematic performance, the AIM-54 Phoenix was simply WORLDS apart from what the USAF or USSR had at the time.
If the non-navy guys ever said they were “close” - then with the Phoenix, it would have actually been a kill. Of course I don’t think anyone else COULD have been “close” due to radar and tracking difficulties, but that’s another dimension the F-14 had going for it at the time.
Also in a hypothetical intercept, the known take-off locations of the F-14 would be unknown at sea, whereas SR-71 crews would typically be on the lookout over certain bases (or F-15 airfields for the training missions.)
I think in an absolutely perfect world, the F-14 could do it. I think everything else was a joke and typical fighter jock mentality.
Awsome info from the “Navy” world and I’ll have to admit that I always loved the F-14, but at least give Golden Credit to the F-15 for being the only “known”aircraft (or Hot Rod) to ever take off from a dead stop and still manage to shoot down a satellite. Now That’s doing something truly spectacular!!!
I am always looking for good books about aviation, those you are talking about in the video look particularly interesting ! Thanks for the recommandations and for the great work as always.
Another great video Alex, thank you.
I was in a F-14 squadron in the early 80’s and remember our aircrew doing practice combat against the SR-71 and it was a real Challenge to get to it
This thing is still mindboggling!
Yup, used to watch those take-off, come up for in-flight refueling from the boom-pod. Landings, taxis... I worked KC-135Qs
Alex, your videos are fascinating. I have learned so much watching them!
Officially known as the "Hot Wheel Maneuver."
Alex, this could have been twice as long and I still would have been glued to the screen!
Wonderful video. The SR-71's J-58 engines were some of the first hybrid engines. They operated as a standard jet at take off and until the SR-71's got upto flight altitude when the engines would switch to RamJet operation which as it got faster the more efficient they operated and the RamJet operation mode would provide maybe 90% of the engines thrust that pulled the SR-71 through the air. Each J-58's total thrust output was 35'500 feet pounds of thrust so doing that x2 gave the SR-71's a total of 71k feet pounds of thrust. As for the other specs - General characteristics
Crew: 2; Pilot and reconnaissance systems officer (RSO)
Length: 107 ft 5 in (32.74 m)
Wingspan: 55 ft 7 in (16.94 m)
Height: 18 ft 6 in (5.64 m)
Wheel track: 16 ft 8 in (5 m)
Wheelbase: 37 ft 10 in (12 m)
Wing area: 1,800 sq ft (170 m2)
Aspect ratio: 1.7
Empty weight: 67,500 lb (30,617 kg)
Gross weight: 152,000 lb (68,946 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 172,000 lb (78,018 kg)
Fuel capacity: 12,219.2 US gal (10,174.6 imp gal; 46,255 L) in 6 tank groups (9 tanks).
Some articles rate the J-58's operation a little less then 35'500 but not too much lower.
If you showed an individual that didn't know any thing about planes of any type and hadn't ever seen the SR-71's befor and asked them when would they guess the production date. After they found out the actual date what they would say.
I have been in love with the SR71 ever since I had a toy of it when I was a little kid in the early 70s. When I got older and realized it was a real airplane, I became obsessed with it, buying books about it and such. One thing I had noticed in these books and when the internet became a thing, as time went on, it's top altitude and speed kept rising as time went on and security got looser and its real capabilities were gradually being exposed!! I suspect there is a lot more capabilities still being withheld to this day!!
I can't remember where but I did come across claims where it said that F-14 in particular was designed to not only take down enemy targets but also to intercept and shoot down SR-71 in case of its defection to Soviet Union by potential rogue pilots. Pentagon reasoned that if Soviet pilots are defecting with Soviet tech to US and its allies it would be unwise to assume that our pilots will not defect towards the Soviet Union and its satellite states. Considering the speed of F-14 and its long range Phoenix missile, it makes sense.
Would *love* to hear more of that Viggen story (vs the SR-71), Alex!!
Cool and informative video, thank you 👍
I wish we could’ve seen the HABU armed and capable of delivering precision payloads.
Actually the first version of the SR-71 was the YF-12 which was equipped as a fighter. If my memory doesn't fail me only two were produced.
They differenciate from the SR-71 in a sleeker nose, the SR-71 more resembling a Cobra.
I love the Black matte color of the Blackbird.
Fine video. Entertaining while informative. I immediately subscribed as I've been a BLACKBIRD fan all of my life, literally.
❤Air Power!
Great video as always!!
Cheers pal. Love from the UK (Manchester) :)
i mean... do you expect anything less from the 50 year old aircraft with a 105-0 record, and the only aircraft with an air-to-space kill, that has the radar cross-section of the Avenger's Heli Carrier?
We could always hear the black bird powering up down the runway and we run to the fence to watch it rotate right in front of us turn north and disappear quickly it mand you're chest vibrate we got a call from the tower of low pass on our maintenance area it mane the light poles sway he was really moving scary ! Fun times at Edward's and plant 42 loudest aircraft I've ever experienced verry inspiring stuff !! Cheers !! 😊 btw Bill Weaver was a cool guy !!
Can you make you video longer I can’t tell how much I’m enjoying and learning so much and thank Alex
Highly recommend the book skunk works by Ben r Rich and Leo Janos really good book about the SR-71 and Kelly Johnson and the skunk works program in general
Really good episode !
Blackbird is king an his so my Tomcat yup power...thankyou for your awesome videos and keep up the awesome job bro 🐺
It would have been nice to know how the SAAB Viggen (mentioned), managed to get a 'confirmed' lock on an SR-17.
"Habu" hah-boo (soft a)
Okinawan tree viper.
Nickname the locals gave it because of the viper head appearance of its nose section.
great video!
Cheers Alex i really enjoyed watching that Uk sub 👍
Engaging the SR-71 would have almost certainly have required a new heavy fighter based missile. Ramjet engine with vectored thrust & massive fual capacity for 150+ mile flight. Would also probably require internal navigation updated by radar & long range infrared seeker. Doubtful anyone outside the west other than Japan or Korea could have built the missile, & after development & large scale production would have riveled the cost of the blackbird.
Disagree on thrust vectoring. That is an advantage in a maneuvering fight which the SR-71 is not going to do. This is pure intercept where raw speed and a fast, long range missile is the requirement.
@@scottkelley1558 Thrust vectoring enables extremely small control surfaces & smoother maneuvering at high altitude. Both greatly reduce drag on a missile which is required to maintain at least mach 4. Sufficiently large control surfaces alone would also require ablative coatings to stay within operating temperatures. As the missile will need to accelerate from mach 2.1 at launch to mach 4+ while climbing 20,000'. Engagement length cound easily start at 60+ miles meaning even the simplest tactics by the SR could force substantial maneuvering.
Great Video 🤘
The reality is if a Russian pilot was able to score a hit on a black bird they would have so all I can say is what ever replaced the SR71 (and don’t try to convince me that they retired such a successful aircraft with out a replacement)it is not only top secret but is also far more capable