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Your point about the mach 3 exhaust being a good target for a
missile is misguided.
Moving above mach 3, there is a very narrow window of time and
distance for the missile battery to acquire you, lock on,
and predict a location in space to have the missile try and
meet you. After launch, that missile can only maneuver so
hard and carries a limited amount of fuel. So you can
destroy the tracking solution by changing speed or course
so as to not fly through the window in space that the missile
can reach. The SR-71 is the original stealth airplane.
But its stealth capabilities were never developed because
its speed turned out to be its unbeatable defense. Many
hostile governments have watched Sled's boom overhead. A lot
of RSO's saw the electronic indications of missile launches.
Some pilots even reported seeing missile detonations in the
distance. None hit.
Large slow drones make large targets for SAM's.
When the original A-12 was built and operated by the CIA, it
was held as a national security asset to be used only at the
direction of the president during a world crisis. This may
be the status of whatever "Aurora" is today. So having the
Sled's flying serves the purpose of providing a capability
that they don't have to hide, that serves the need for
on-demand real-time theater recce, that existing public
systems can't duplicate. They may be keeping "Aurora"
in reserve for something like an overflight of mainland
China if the communists ge serious about bringing Taiwan
back into the fold.
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| http://www.afji.com/Mags/1995/Oct95MilForce.html
July marked a watershed change in the Service's operational
philosophy. The 11th Reconnaissance Squadron will introduce modern
unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) into the Air Force inventory for the
first time. In the past, the Service was reluctant to use UAVs,
maintaining its traditional reliance on manned penetrating
reconnaissance aircraft like the RF-4C, retired last month.
At the squadron's activation ceremony, General Joseph Ralston, who
heads Air Combat Command, stated, "In the future, UAVs hold great
promise to perform a variety of theater operations, including
surveillance, targeting, and bomb damage assessment. Ultimately, I
believe UAVs will fill an important place in our warfighting force
structure as we exploit their stealth, long range and loiter times,
and diverse payloads."
The squadron, which will build up from an initial 5-person command
element to a total of 108 people, will receive its first Predator
UAVs next summer. The "Tier 2" Predator medium-altitude endurance
vehicle (July AFJI) is built by San Diego-based General Atomics.
Ralston noted, "We've already seen the effectiveness of these new
technologies in the Predator UAV, which flew numerous 8- to 12-hour
sorties during [Exercise] Roving Sands 95, providing invaluable
information on [simulated] mobile Scuds."
Three to four Predators have also flown continuous surveillance
missions over Bosnia since July from a base in Albania for US
European Command. Tom Cassidy, president of General Atomics
Aeronautical Systems and a retired Navy rear admiral, told AFJI on 10
August that the Predators had flown daily 16-hour missions and
"haven't missed a flight [due to a maintenance problem] since they've
been over there." Unfortunately, two Predators went down in Bosnia
within days of that interview, in both cases possibly due to hostile
fire while they were being flown at low altitude.
The $3-million Predator is 27 feet long and has a wingspan of 49
feet. It can loiter on station for 24 hours at 500 nautical miles
(nm) from its launch point at altitudes up to 25,000 feet. Its cruise
speed is 70 knots, and its payload (nose-mounted Versatron TV and
infrared sensors) is 450 pounds. All 10 Predators built by General
Atomics will be retrofitted with Loral Ku-band satellite data links
that will allow real-time transmissions of nearly full-time motion
video to a ground station. The existing UHF satellite link only
allows transmission of still images. The first two Predators fitted
with the Ku-band system had been shipped to Bosnia as of mid-August.
Predator is also slated to receive a Westinghouse synthetic aperture
radar (SAR), which will provide all-weather images with one-foot
resolution from altitudes above 15,000 feet.
Cassidy noted that the Federal Aviation Administration allows
Predator to take off, land, and fly above 18,000 feet in controlled
airspace-all without a chase plane. "That's unheard of with UAVs," he
told AFJI. He said that General Atomics hopes to develop the
capability for Predator to land, refuel, and take off from Navy
aircraft carriers.
The 11th Reconnaissance Squadron is also slated to operate the
planned Tier 2-Plus and Tier 3-Minus UAVs (July AFJI). San
Diego-based Teledyne Ryan Aeronautical is designing the new Tier
2-Plus high-altitude endurance UAV, which will fly for the first time
in December 1996. Initial flight tests of Boeing-Lockheed Martin's
Tier 3-Minus DarkStar UAV will begin very soon. The two UAVs, which
both have a $10-million cost cap, are intended to complement each
other. DarkStar is a stealthy UAV, with a relatively small payload
and limited endurance, that will penetrate heavy air defenses; the
much larger Tier 2-Plus-the longest range, largest payload UAV
planned by DoD-is being designed for maximum performance capability.
The 69-foot-wingspan, 1,000-pound-payload DarkStar will be able to
collect images of high-value targets 500 nm away at an altitude above
45,000 feet. Its cruise speed is 300 knots, and its flight endurance
is 12 hours. DarkStar will carry only one sensor at a time, a
Recon/Optical TV camera or a Westinghouse SAR, and will transmit
real-time still images via satellite.
The Tier 2-Plus, which has a 116-foot wingspan, will fly up to 42
hours at a cruise speed of nearly 350 knots and an altitude of 65,000
feet. It will be able to loiter over a target 3,000 nm away (the
distance from California to Maine) for 24 hours. Its 2,000-pound
payload, being developed by Hughes Aircraft, will incorporate three
sensors-TV, IR, and SAR-that will provide wide-area coverage and
transmit real-time video via satellite.
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The article does suggest that the SR-71 re-activation is a cover
for the ASTRA activation. I'm not sure exactly how, maybe:
-excuse for the special KC-135Q tankers to remain in place
-funding for medical, planning and support teams
-that the SR-71 are really flying NASA, civil missions (they are at
Edwards for some reason rather than at Beale AFB. They claim ASTRA
spent some time at Beale AFB)
-cover to explain obviously aircraft-source intelligence, like photos?
-limits on where they can base ASTRA and be secure?
-prolonged problems in getting results from ASTRA
I still have trouble with the SR-71 activation given the expense and
apparent AF opposition. It's fun thinking about, though.
Maybe:
-the world's fastest pace plane? 8^)
-the USAF is going to top those Russian Fly-a-Mig outfits?
-The SR-71's are paid by someone else, i.e Isreal or Taiwan, for hire.
(The ultimate in outsourcing)
-John Travolta's buying them for a new movie?
If anyone wants a copy of this article let me know.
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