It flew near the edge of the atmosphere and was so fast that when it was finally picked up at that range by the less advanced radars of the time it would already have been out of the range of missiles. Things had cameras on board that were apparently capable of getting a good shot of a license plate from damn near the edge of space (in the 70’s!). I have read there were plans for a bomber version but apparently that didn’t come to be. It’s a shame none are still flying. NASA had a few they obtained and used for upper atmospheric research after the airforce and CIA were done with them, but flying and maintaining them is crazy specialized and expensive. The older U2 spyplanes were made for similar altitudes and found to be a much cheaper and more practical option for that purpose so the SR-71’s were retired.
I get that, but flying fast and high to avoid missiles is not stealth. I’m not saying it’s not the coolest airplane to ever exist… it’s just not stealth.
It had radar absorbing paint which helped reduce the radar cross section, but it wasn’t stealth.
It flew near the edge of the atmosphere and was so fast that when it was finally picked up at that range by the less advanced radars of the time it would already have been out of the range of missiles. Things had cameras on board that were apparently capable of getting a good shot of a license plate from damn near the edge of space (in the 70’s!). I have read there were plans for a bomber version but apparently that didn’t come to be. It’s a shame none are still flying. NASA had a few they obtained and used for upper atmospheric research after the airforce and CIA were done with them, but flying and maintaining them is crazy specialized and expensive. The older U2 spyplanes were made for similar altitudes and found to be a much cheaper and more practical option for that purpose so the SR-71’s were retired.
I get that, but flying fast and high to avoid missiles is not stealth. I’m not saying it’s not the coolest airplane to ever exist… it’s just not stealth.
all stealth aircraft have one form or another of that.
There’s stealth drones too, like the Sentinel, the Predator and the Reaper are stealth by accident. “A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one”
Reaper is not stealth at all.
Stealth by accident, because of its shape it gives a very small radar signature
Quite the opposite, its shape is very radar reflective. It also makes a ton of noise.
also, there’s the factor of the size too, reaper drones are very small compared to a lot of other aircraft that radar would normally detect
I wouldn’t be so sure of that. Drone bombings under obama were happening so often that they ran out of bombs, and only 1 drone was ever shot down
let me just put that into perspective for you. Under obama the military ran out of ammo for one of their weapons because they were using it THAT MUCH