Skunk Works unveil SR-72 concept

StingrayOZ

Super Moderator
Staff member
Airborne acoustic anomalies are more easily controlled through changing the configuration of the source (the aircraft) itself. e.g. A hypersonic biplane reduces the acoustic signature dramatically over a mono-plane configuration because it creates wave cancellation and disruptor effects. You also get interesting compressive lift qualities from a biplane. There is plenty of open source information on supersonic biplanes.

The Return of the Supersonic Biplane - Popular Mechanics

cheers

w
Thanks for the info, I've got some more reading to do..
It would seem to be a pretty big development going to a completely hypersonic plane with hypersonic weapons. I would assume the biggest risk of the project is not technical but budgetary?
 

Wooki

Defense Professional
Verified Defense Pro
Thanks for the info, I've got some more reading to do..
It would seem to be a pretty big development going to a completely hypersonic plane with hypersonic weapons. I would assume the biggest risk of the project is not technical but budgetary?
:daz

...As always! Hence coordinating the press release, to energize the customer's SME (The US Air Force).

Despite being very clever about it, LM do have a problem, though. Their port folio relies on one customer. I honestly don't think they realize that they could provide services to the .com sector as well and still make a tidy profit. They certainly have the skill set. BAE is the same.

cheers

w
 

Juice

New Member
:daz

...As always! Hence coordinating the press release, to energize the customer's SME (The US Air Force).

Despite being very clever about it, LM do have a problem, though. Their port folio relies on one customer. I honestly don't think they realize that they could provide services to the .com sector as well and still make a tidy profit. They certainly have the skill set. BAE is the same.

cheers

w
However, LM and BAE have competitive advantages in thier field which would be impossible in any other industry without the collosal barriers to entry in endeavors such as designing hypersonic spy planes... :D
 
According to number of online media reports, appears to be anecdotal evidence that Lockheed Martin may have cleared the "SR-72" for production after conducting flight tests of a so-called Flight Research Vehicle (FRV) to test the scramjet propulsion for the "SR-72". This might explain indications on a podcast from November 2023 about Lockheed Martin delivering its first examples of a high-performance ISR aircraft to the US Air Force.

As we now know, Lockheed Martin had been working on concepts for reconnaissance aircraft derived from the company's HCV and Blackswift as early as 2006, and the moniker "SR-72" was informally used by Lockheed Martin for those design studies. Moreover, after Vladimir Putin in March 2018 revealed the existence of the Avangard HGV, 3M22 Zircon anti-ship cruise missile, and Kh-47M2 Kinzhal air-launched hypersonic ballistic missile, Lockheed Martin removed mention of the "SR-72" from its website for security reasons. In retrospect, Lockheed Martin's decision in 2013 to leak CG images of one of its "SR-72" concepts from the 2006-2009 timeframe was for marketing purposes.

 
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