The SR-72 Is Probably Already Flying and Here’s Why

I believe the SR-71 was formally announced by President Johnson very early on because having it publicly known was far more useful than having it a secret. I don't imagine they would keep Darkstar secret for similar reasons. Proof of hypersonic stealth aircraft already in the air could literally change everything. Blackbird was supposed to be called RS-71, but Johnson mixed the letters up by accident in his speech so they just ran with it. 🤣

I have no doubt it is flying now. I too work for the airlines and in the evenings between the hours of approximately 1900 to about 2230 Eastern Time, I’ve seen unusual light patterns on about a 290 to 310 degree heading approximately 20 to 30 degrees above the horizon. A sight similar to satellite passage but a very different flight pattern confined to that immediate area. They are moving vertically as well as horizontally. In addition , over the course of the last 2.5 years, I’ve seen more of them airborne at the same time. I’m very confident it’s some type of ultra high speed, high altitude program.

Almost every aircraft was flying 5 years before it was acknowledged. Love the videos!!!

Small correction. The SR-71 is the fastest ‘air breathing’ aircraft. The X-15 was more than twice the speed of the SR-71 at around 4500mph. I believe the A-12 was also faster. The YF-12 was slightly slower than both the SR-71 and the A-12.

China: "We have hypersonic weapons now." USA: "Every weapon is hypersonic if when we launch it from hypersonic speeds."

A friend of mine was a USAF air traffic controller in the 1980's. Her airspace included the Sea of Japan. KAL flight 007 was shot down on her watch. She said SR-71 aircraft routinely crossed her airspace, but could not be seen on her scope. SR-71's reported their position using Morris code. She said they always crossed her airspace at 3,000 MPH.

Old Navy guy here... I like your videos, in general. This one is among your absolute best. Top of your game. Great work.

The SR-71 never got up to hypersonic speeds as you mentioned, but according to SR-71 pilots did get up to Mach 3.5 and slightly above (escaping missiles over Libya). The SR-72 is almost certainly flying already, developed by LM with Skunk Works starting in 2006. LM was funding the program itself. Their challenge at the time was "marrying" turbofan and scramjet to fly at low speeds. They already had a design for the aircraft itself. In 2013, they disclosed it and hypersonic program manager Brad Leland gave several interviews about it. He stated that a small, single-engine flying demonstrator (F-22 size) could be ready in 2018-2019, a twin-engine SR-72 operational by 2030. In 2017 the program finally got government funding. Rob Weiss said in 2017 the single-engine demonstrator would be flying in the "early 2020's". That was probably a lie, because later in 2017 eyewitnesses reported that they saw an aircraft identical to the SR-72 concept images flying over Palmdale = Skunk Works HQ. When confronted about the sightings, LM VP Carvalho just said "we are doubling down on out commitment to speed" and the platforms "will be operating at 2-3x that of the SR-71". For security reasons, he could only say at speeds "greater than Mach 5". In 2018 LM VP O'Banion said "The aircraft is agile at hypersonic speeds with reliable engine starts". LM also put out a promotional video of the SR-72 concept which you showed with the caption "global strike" meaning it will definitely be carrying weapons. LM actually had a page on their website about the program until Putin announced in 2018 the (now debunked) "invincible" Kinzhal hypersonic missile, when they scrubbed the internet of any mention of the SR-72. The Air Force put out a promotional video in 2021 with a scene showing an unpiloted aircraft in a hangar which looks like the SR-72 rendering. If you tweak the lighting of the scene, you can see "SR-72" on the aircraft. * Shoutout to Alex Hollings who has been following the SR-72 program and sharing all these cool details.

The fuel leakage of the SR-71 before takeoff was by deliberate design. This is because the heat of high-speed travel would cause the fuel tanks to expand, and they had to allow for it. It wasn't a mistake.

America has technology and equipment in its arsenals that most people could not even imagine much less begin to fathom.

To be fair, any hypersonic aircraft could also be a hypersonic missile if flown wrong enough. Perhaps this is the function of the unmanned version?

Always suspect whatever is disclosed is usually obsolete, in the 1990's there was a program rumored to be called Aurora - this was theorized not only to be a replacement for the SR-71 but a series of aircraft in similar role. I would imagine this would be along the lines of the F117 and B2, perhaps an interceptor variant of the Blackbird? I have heard about how it leaked fuel but had no idea how little time they had to refuel

I think you are spot on about the IR vulnerabilities of such a platform. A stealth platform the is just under the speed where plasma begins to form might be the golden goose.

look up the SR-91 Aurora, was during 90s and the evidence is very convincing

Ok here we go. The SR72 in the recent film was probably a lower scale mock up of the Aurora from 35+ yrs ago, why do I say this, because it would cost a lot of money to make SR72 just for a film, its probably been lying around whith a cover over it somewhere. The Aurora did exist, how do I know? Its contrail was tracked one time on weather sat departing from Groom lake area towards Europe at mach 5 +, It would stage at Machrihanish Scotland, then the longest runway in Europe which was set up to take the shuttle at the time if needed. An airfield worker I knew there said he saw it there 4 times, one time coming over the field for a near supersonic flyby, the afterburners were impressive! Another chap I worked alongside was a mil radar op in the UK, who would be briefed before it would show on the scope in UK air space. Another chap saw it many times in Germany. All this was 35+ yrs ago, it appears it may not have worked as planned because all is quiet! Designed to be the follow on aircraft from the SR71 even the SR71 pilots had no idea that it existed at the time.But these aircraft are not needed with the likes of the TR3B , TR6Telos or similiar ground to space craft.

As they say the government will never give up an asset without its replacement being operational.

Maybe i'm confused but wasn't the SR-71 equipped with hybrid cycle engines. That is, engines that operated as turbojets up to a certain Mach number and then as ramjets above that? One of the Blackbird's long distance records involved an average speed above Mach 3, including refueling inflight twice (at subsonic speed). All that was done in the 1960's. You know, about the same time that the USA put men on the moon. Now Lockheed can't even get the F-35 software "finished" and NASA has trouble getting astronauts into low-earth orbit. "Great progress" in the last sixty years.

yf 12 will be the greatest interceptor never used of all time nothing will change my mind

How do you get internally carried ordnance safely out of an aircraft doing mach 5--6?

Can an airplane flying at hypersonic speeds, release a bomb or rocket? I remember seeing video of weapons releases that were unstable and crashed into the airplane. Can't imagine internal weapons stores doors being opened at those speeds.