Aerospace & Defense
Kelly Johnson's idea was to turn the CIA's A-12 into a missile truck that could sit above 80,000 feet at three times the speed...
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Kelly Johnson's idea was to turn the CIA's A-12 into a missile truck that could sit above 80,000 feet at three times the speed...
The SR-71 Blackbird did not dodge missiles so much as it made the intercept mathematically unaffordable, arriving and departing faster than the defense could...
Cadmium-plated steel tools embrittled titanium on contact, so Lockheed had to build new tools out of titanium for the SR-71 Blackbird. Parts washed in...
Lockheed refused to bid. Northrop refused to bid, and told the Navy its cost estimate was at least $2,000,000,000 short. The contract fixed a...
The A-12 Avenger II was intended to replace the A-6 with a low-observable carrier strike aircraft carrying weapons internally. The Navy once projected 620...
Boeing is losing billions on fixed-price defense programs, but the warning was there decades ago. The Navy’s A-12 Avenger II collapsed after Washington tried...
Ten days before Desert Storm proved stealth worked, Dick Cheney canceled the Navy's stealth bomber. The bill: a carrier air wing with half its...
From 1991 through 1999, NASA flew the SR-71 Blackbird after the aircraft was retired from the U.S. Air Force. The aircraft was flown for...
The SR-71 Blackbird Story (and Nearly Forgotten A-12) The SR-71 Blackbird was a fantastic aircraft. It was designed and built by Clarence “Kelly” Johnson’s...
The A-12 Avenger II, the infamous "Flying Dorito," remains the ultimate cautionary tale in defense acquisition, illustrating the "Valley of Death" between ambitious stealth...