At the height of the Cold War, there existed two stunning planes that tested the very limits of stealth, speed, and spy gathering. The A-12 Oxcart and SR-71 Blackbird were not only alike in appearance but also dissimilar in purpose, design, and legacy. Although the two are contrasted against one another, both were for the same reason: to create the future of American spy gathering and warfare flight.
Both of these planes had life spans many years longer than their real service lives. The A-12 was the first plane to bring stealth technology into the armed forces, a premonition of things to come. The SR-71, however, was a name that was on everyone’s lips; everyone was envious of its sleek lines and record-breaking speed. Because the A-12 remained secret for decades, legend grew, and the legend of the Blackbird created a legend of its own, as both planes are now symbols of overcoming and being pioneering in courage.
Their orders reminded them of how very different they were while both belonging to the same project. The CIA used the A-12 in photo-reconnaissance missions deep in enemy-controlled territory, flying over enemy-held lands like North Vietnam and North Korea to take photographs. The operations were covert and risky, and penetration of defenses at maximum speed and altitude was usually necessary.
The Air Force’s SR-71, employed to achieve longer flight distances for reconnaissance, carried a massive inventory of sensors and electronic intelligence equipment. It may collect enormous amounts of information without being forced to overfly extremely defended terrain. Its adaptability provided it with thirty years of operation, returning in the intervening years to overfly a few of the hottest minutes of international crises.
Both planes were stunning accomplishments in flight. The A-12 flew at 90,000 feet and a high Mach 3.29 and, although beating the Blackbird by a hair in sheer speed and altitude, was certainly not slow. The SR-71 flew at maximum speed, Mach 3.2, and its purpose was range and endurance. The A-12 was quicker and thinner but utilized more sophisticated sensors and systems in the SR-71 that allowed it to cope with long-endurance flights more effectively.
Both utilized the groundbreaking Pratt & Whitney J58 engines, which ran on a novel ramjet and turbojet cycle to maintain over-continental supersonic cruise. Their titanium bodies, built to handle the blinding heat generated by that speed, were masterpieces in themselves, and how they had formed that metal was a fascinating process.
Design variations also set them apart in other ways. The A-12 was built for one individual only, the pilot, and he was responsible for the entire mission from start to finish. It was designed long and lean to be quick and sneaky for its reconnaissance mission. The SR-71 needed two individuals—a pilot and a Reconnaissance Systems Officer—to operate and be manned by each other to perform the longer missions that it had to undertake.
The Blackbird was larger in physique because there was room required for additional fuel and gear to enable it to have an extended range and be able to carry various sensors and defense systems. The Oxcart was thin and sleek, the Blackbird larger and more versatile. The history of the two programs also teaches why one evolved from the other.
The A-12 had been secretly constructed by Lockheed Skunk Works for the CIA as a replacement for the U-2 and was flown for the first time in 1962. and was put into service in 1965. But its own lifetime would be short three years later when the Air Force came up with the SR-71 in 1968. The Blackbird had wholly copied the Oxcart’s form but was redesigned as a two-seater with more duties.
Competition among agencies, budget constraints, and a desire to retain high-speed reconnaissance within their own framework all set the stage for transformation. The A-12 was consigned to decades of covert reporting while the SR-71 was reimagined as an open icon of American space supremacy, staying aloft until 1998 and setting records never approached by manned aircraft. And both of them, in turn, are the height of Cold War innovation.
And how they were different from each other—in purpose, in looks, in origin—tells part of a larger tale about how America came to increase its ability to collect intelligence and spy on one of the most heightened periods of danger in recent history. They were each a man apart, and together left behind a legacy that continues to shape aviation and technology today.