Speed – Like Mach 6 Speed: The SR-72 “Son of Blackbird” promises unparalleled capabilities, with speeds up to Mach 6, nearly double that of its SR-71 predecessor.
-Powered by a turbine-based combined cycle (TBCC) engine, the SR-72 can seamlessly transition from traditional jet propulsion to hypersonic travel, challenging advanced air defenses like Russia’s S-400 and S-500.
-The aircraft leverages cutting-edge materials such as carbon-carbon composites to manage extreme thermal stresses, coupled with advanced airflow techniques to ensure stability at hypersonic speeds. Enhanced stealth, operational versatility, and AI-assisted systems could make the SR-72 a transformative asset in high-speed reconnaissance and strike missions.
SR-72 vs Advanced Air Defenses: A Game-Changer in Hypersonic Flight
As far as we know right now, according to most reporting in the public domain, the SR-72 “Son of Blackbird” or “Darkstar” is faster and more capable than its “hypersonic” SR-71 predecessor as it can reportedly reach speeds up to Mach 6, nearly double the Mach 3.3 speed of the initial “Blackbird.”
According to some estimations, the high-speed SR-72 plane can outrun some missiles and weapons systems due mainly to its turbine-based combined cycle (TBCC) engine.
As discussed in a 2023 essay in Warrior, this engine blends traditional jet propulsion for take-off with a scramjet engine for hypersonic travel designed to manage performance across various speeds and ranges.
The merits of speed in combat are pretty tricky to capture and seemingly not to be underestimated, as a surveillance aircraft traveling at Mach 6 would have more success eluding air defense systems.
SR-71. SR-71 photo taken at the National Air and Space Museum. Taken by 19FortyFive on 10/1/2022.
A platform at these speeds would not only be difficult to “target” with “engagement radar” for a precision strike.
Still, it would fly from one radar aperture or field of view to another so quickly that air defenses would be challenged to establish a continuous “track.”
SR-72 vs Air Defenses
As part of these higher-threat speeds, the SR-72 could mitigate or neutralize advanced air-defense technologies able to “network” to one another and hand off or pass along target specifics as the aircraft transited from one field or regard to another.Advanced air defenses, such as the Russian S-400 and S-500, are increasingly capable of newer digital networking designed to enable a node in one location to pass information to another across otherwise disaggregated geographical boundaries.
Yet another area of potential advances with hypersonic flight pertains to air “boundary layer” and thermal management. The Army Research Laboratory, and likely the other US services as well, are experimenting with novel combinations of composites and particles to identify new materials better able to withstand the “heat” of hypersonic flight.
Scientists and weapons developers say “thermal management” is the most significant and most difficult challenge to “sustaining” hypersonic flight.
SR-71. SR-71 photo taken at the National Air and Space Museum. Taken by 19FortyFive on 10/1/2022.
It is not always possible for a projectile or platform to maintain its structure and travel through the unprecedented “heat” generated by hypersonic flight.
“The SR-72 incorporates advanced materials to withstand extreme thermal stresses, likely involving carbon-carbon composites, which are a step beyond the SR-71’s titanium skin designed for heat dissipation at high speeds. Furthermore, the SR-72’s design emphasizes not just speed but also stealth and operational versatility, integrating advanced avionics and possibly even AI-assisted systems for autonomous operations, which were not features of earlier hypersonic aircraft,” a 2023 essay from Warrior states.
SR-72: Airflow & Heat Management
Many of the specifics of the technologies built into the SR-72 are not likely to be available.
Yet, the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) explains they are working on “boundary layer phenomenology” related to hypersonic flight.
Senior ARFL weapons developers explain that the intent with airflow surrounding a hypersonic platform or projectile is to enable a smooth or “laminar” airflow.
This enables a more stable flight path or trajectory for the hypersonic object, meaning it is not thrown off course by “turbulent” airflow passing over during flight.
AFRL scientists told this author that turbulent airflow can cause molecules surrounding the vehicle to shift position in flight, generating heat and disrupting flight path and targeting.
SR-72 Artist Rendering. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
About the Author: Kris Osborn
Kris Osborn is the Military Technology Editor of 19FortyFive and President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a highly qualified expert in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.
