Two of the world’s finest airplanes ever created were born out of relative obscurity during the Cold War: the A-12 Oxcart and SR-71 Blackbird. Despite their shared origins and the same high-altitude, high-speed reconnaissance mission, they differed. Mission by necessity, both aircraft were specifically designed for a singular mission and left indelible marks on intelligence and aviation history.
The A-12 preceded them. It was clandestinely developed by Lockheed’s iconic Skunk Works for the CIA and was intended to supplant the U-2 spy plane and the limits of stealth and velocity. Its first flight took place in 1962, and it served in 1965. It had a short run as it was retired with the induction of the SR-71 three years hence.
The SR-71, constructed for the US Air Force, was a derivative of the A-12’s basic design but more luxurious in nature, as the second pilot assisted in controlling more sophisticated sensors and intelligence equipment. While A-12 remained secret for decades, the SR-71 was closely associated as a symbol of US air power, flying through 1998, and evoking fear with its shape and record velocity.
One of the largest differences between the two planes was in operational use. The A-12 was flown by CIA pilots on very highly classified flights, penetrating deep into denied space to obtain photographic intelligence scores of times. It took it over the skies of North Vietnam and North Korea, and because it was a single-pilot aircraft, it was relying on one’s ability to fly around and survive on those perilous sorties.
Meanwhile, the SR-71 was used by the Air Force on unclassified open reconnaissance flights that were just over the edge of a country with its rival countries in a test to determine if it was able to gather radar and electronic signals using the numerous sensors it had on board. Overruns of airspace were also part of it, where missions were less risky, but what it gathered was just as useful. With a pilot and a Reconnaissance Systems Officer, it was capable of more complex, multi-target operations that took several hours and spanned continents.
Standalone, the A-12 was not significantly superior. It flew slightly faster and higher than the SR-71, at speeds of up to Mach 3.29 and flying altitude of approximately 90,000 feet. This was in part due to its having a smaller mission profile and lower weight.
The SR-71 was a more powerful, but more efficient aircraft in general, but slower. It cruised at Mach 3.32, but slightly lower down. Since it had a heavier airframe, it could load more fuel and gear on board, providing more range and more mission time.
Both planes shared the same game-changing Pratt & Whitney J58 engines, which employed a hybrid turbojet-ramjet configuration to allow them to sustain supersonic speed for a few hours’ worth of cruise time. Their titanium alloy structure, needed to confine the phenomenal amount of heat produced by flying at such speed, was another wonder, particularly given how hard it was to find titanium when they were developing.
The other agonizingly apparent difference was the cockpit. The A-12 had only a single pilot. One guy flew it, operated the cameras, and got the job done. It was a pilot’s plane pared to the bone to get in and out quickly and quietly. The SR-71 had two individuals: the pilot and the Reconnaissance Systems Officer, who operated sensors and navigation gear. It split the labor, making it possible to exercise more control over more advanced work of contemporary reconnaissance to be achieved relatively easily, and gave the SR-71 greater mission flexibility, too. It was larger in physical terms, heavier, and built for durability, not just raw speed.
Where it truly varies, though, is in heritage. The A-12, while lesser known, was a technological titan upon which everything that followed was built. It demonstrated speed and stealth to be used in a productive way in a production aircraft. The SR-71, by its flight life and reputation over the decades, emerged as the icon of the Cold War. It holds records to this day, which no manned, air-breathing machine has been able to break so far.
These two aircraft, in their own ways, pushed boundaries beyond what was believed possible to achieve flight and surveillance. They are more than simple symbols of engineering prowess, but tokens of the wild pressure and ingenuity that defined the era of the Cold War. They are a testament to what technology can be driven to accomplish when forced by necessity, secrecy, and secrecy.