MigBuster

One for Mulder and Scully.................. The iconic Grumman F-14 remains in service with the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF). Iran extensively used its Tomcats in the Iran-Iraq War and the F-14A is still today the backbone of IRIAF air defense. In the last years the “Persian cats” have reportedly flown against a very particular threat: the Unidentified Flying Objects, universally known as UFO. More detailed information about this weird use of the last operational Tomcats can be find in the October 2013 issue of Combat Aircraft. An interesting article written by Babak Taghvaee gives an exclusive overview of IRIAF F-14s missions conducted to intercept UFOs. But according to Taghavee these unknown flying objects didn’t conduct any extraterrestrial activity: “When Iran’s suspicious nuclear program was revealed to the public, Western nations, led by US and Israel, warned it to abandon its nuclear activities. The US attempted to gather information concerning the activities at three important Iranian nuclear facilities: the reactor of Bushehr, an additional reactor in Arak and the fuel enrichment plant at Natanz. A number of reconnaissance UAVs were sent to collect intelligence to help prepare for a possible attack.” To intercept UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles), IRIAF F-4Es and F-14As, based to Bushehr to serve as QRA (Quick Reaction Alert) interceptors, were scrambled several times. But the American drones have astonishing flight characteristics:“Including an ability to fly outside the atmosphere, attain a maximum cruise speed of Mach 10, and a minimum speed of zero, with the ability to hover over the target” as explained by Taghavee. These performances along with their powerful ECM make the F-14s unable to operate their weapons. But, according to Taghavee, at least one time a Tomcat was able to come very close to an engagement with one of these “UFOs”: “In one case over Arak in November 2004, the crew of an F-14A armed with two AIM-9Js and two AIM-7E-4s spotted a luminous object flying near the heavy water plant of the Arak site. When the beam of the jet’s AN/AWG-9 radar painted the object, both the RIO and pilot saw that the radar scope was disrupted, probably due to the high magnetic energy of the object increasing the power of the reflected radar waves. The pilot described the object as being spherical, with something like a green afterburner creating a considerable amount of turbulence behind it. The Tomcat crew achieved a lock-on when it was flying a linear and constant flight path. Once the pilot selected an AIM-7E-4 to launch against it, the object increased its speed and then disappeared like a meteor.” This kind of flight were suspended after several attempts to intercept the US UAVs were made by F-4Es and F-14A over the Bushehr, Arak and Natanz plants, but, as reported in the article, another mission was launched around the 04.20hrs on January 26, 2012, when “an Iranian Air Defense Command radar site near Bushehr identified an unknown aircraft flying towards the area. An F-14A was ordered to scramble. At 04.30hrs it took off from TFB.6, ( 6th Tactical Fighter Base, placed near Bushehr) but seconds later the fighter exploded, killing both crew instantly. The reason for the incident remains a mystery, and the aircraft involved was one of the fittest IRIAF Tomcats, with the lowest flying hours in the fleet.” This Tomcat was the serial 3-6062, the one which could have been shot down by the “Revolutionary Guards” air defense as explained recently by The Aviationist. So if this was the cause of the “incident” (several sources believe the F-14 was not shot down by “friendly fire”), it becomes clear that there wasn’t any UFO involved in this mishap and it remains unexplained only the nature of the drones involved in the intelligence activity over Iranian nuclear plants. We can affirm that while many times in the last years several UAVs flew over Iran to gather information (such as the stealthyRQ-170 captured in December 2011), a drone with flight characteristics like those described by Taghvaee is still unkown, unless we assume the SR-72, a replacement of the SR-71, or something similar, is already covertly flying. But again, Taghvaee has no doubts about the nature of these unidentified flying objects, since in his article he says that“After two years of research on the objects flight profiles and examination of remnants of a crashed example recovered in 2006 (in both Iran and then by experts in Russia), the Iranian Army specified that they were US intelligence drones.” http://theaviationist.com/2013/11/10/f-14-vs-ufo/

Tell him to man up :) Is that really not possible on the EASY in game settings? - just assumed it was If you cant do it in game then I'm afraid it may require a lot more modding

Keep that separate - Green Hell is only to go in the VietnamSEA folder In game you should be able to select between the 2 terrains on the single mission screen

1: Just back up your Mod folders - the ones in C:\Users\<>\Saved Games\ThirdWire 2. If anything screws with the core game files where the main install is - then you need to make sure you have the mod folders backedup (as 1) then reinstall the game if its not just a case of making exceptions for them in AV software.

Looks and sounds brilliant - that's how to do it!

MEADS Patriot defence system demo - supposedly shooting down a QF-4 Phantom II drone and MGM-52 Lance missile coming from different directions at the same time.

The F-102As problems are lack of power and the canopy - very difficult to track a turning bandit in that thing. You can alter the cockpit ini so you can move shoulders left/right to see around the front strut - doesn't help with the above though

Nice piece The Grumman Aerospace Corporation, acquired in 1994 by Northrop Corporation to form the Northrop Grumman, was one of the most respected aircraft manufacturer in the world and leading airplanes builder for the U.S. Navy in the 20th century. But among the fighter pilots community it was known as “Grumman Ironworks”, due to its aircraft ability to come back to the carriers or bases after having been heavily damaged, thanks to their strength and durability. These incredible achievements were the result of the main Ironworks rule: pilots are far more valuable than planes. The last product of the Grumman was the F-14 Tomcat which was not only one of the deadliest fighter in the aviation history, but also one of the sturdiest airframe ever built: in fact, like the Wildcat, Hellcat and Avenger in the Pacific theatre during the Second World War, the Tomcat was able to bring back home its aircrews even if badly damaged. Look at the impressive pictures in this post. The first photo depicts the F-14A BuNo 159832 side number 205 which on Jun. 29, 1991 experienced a mid-air collision over South Chinese Sea with another Tomcat, the BuNo 161597 side number 201. Both aircraft were from Black Lions of the VF-213, at the time embarked on the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) and while the “201” crashed into the sea where the crew was rescued, the “205” was able to land to Singapore after loosing part of its right wing. Another proof of the F-14 strength is given by the BuNo 161433, at the time assigned to the VF-142 Ghostriders, that is here photographed while landing aboard the USS Eisenhower (CVN-69) in the Persian Gulf. This picture was taken on Nov. 13, 1991 when the Tomcat lost its radome which hit the canopy, broke the windscreen and injured the pilot, LCdr. Edwards: however Edwards and its Radar Intercept Officer (RIO) LCdr. Grundmeier were able to make a successful landing back aboard the “IKE”. For their skills both aircrew members received the Distinguished Flying Cross decoration and the Tomcat, which was the seventh A model to be modified to F-14B standards that mounted the new General Electric F-110 engines, was repaired and continued to fly until its retirement in 2004. http://theaviationist.com/2013/11/06/f-14-damaged/

Targetting pod footage from Columbian Kfirs of the Russian Tu-160s that went to Venezuela days back.

The Most Embarrassing Private Jet Flight Of All Time http://www.celebritynetworth.com/articles/entertainment-articles/the-most-embarrassing-private-jet-flight-of-all-time/

The Razbam cockpits are some of the most detailed in SF - The A-1E has a good set of working dials - including fuel

If you add a patch then the aircraft list will reset to default - but should still include the add on aircraft still So this happens for ever exe and every mod install? Try open a mod folder and cut and past out options.ini and version.ini run the exe for that mod - the game will recreate those files - and see if you can get the add on jets back. Also check [Mods] ModsEnabled=TRUE Directory=C:\Users\Neil\Saved Games\ThirdWire\StrikeFighters2 VGOLD Editors=StrikeFighters2 In options.ini for the other mods

Some Footage of some underground bases in Sweden - (from 2:40) No English subtitles

Great shots of the new Carrier (Enterprise and Abe Lincoln featured also) http://blogs.defensenews.com/intercepts/2013/10/go-aboard-uss-gerald-r-ford-cvn-78-the-newest-aircraft-carrier/ It’s not every decade that a new aircraft carrier design comes along. But now, for the first time since the early 1970s, the first of a new class of nuclear-powered behemoths is being revealed to the public along the shores of the James River in Virginia. The Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) is rising in a giant graving dock at the northwest end of the sprawling shipyard of Newport News Shipbuilding. Officially under construction ...................

As an example [Engine1] SystemType=JET_ENGINE ............ ExhaustEmitterName=J79-F4ExhaustEmitter <-------------------------- ExhaustPosition=-0.65,-3.63,-0.58 AfterburnerNodeName=afterburner_L AfterburnerEmitterName=F4AfterburnerEmitter ............

You can probably change that in the cockpit.ini - look at the F-4D cockpit ini for the lines

Mach 3.18 Break Up of an SR-71 Black Bird Here's a great story about another Lockheed aircraft, sister to another Skunkworks creation…the F104…read on! Among professional aviators, there's a well-worn saying: Flying is simply hours of boredom punctuated by moments of stark terror. But I don't recall too many periods of boredom during my 30-year career with Lockheed - most of which was spent as a test pilot. By far, the most memorable flight occurred on January 25, 1966 (SR-71A 64-17952) Jim Zwayer, Lockheed flight-test specialist, and I were evaluating systems on an SR-71 Blackbird test from Edwards. We also were investigating procedures designed to reduce trim drag and improve high-Mach cruise performance. The latter involved flying with the center-of-gravity (CG) located further aft than normal, reducing the Blackbird's longitudinal stability. We took off from Edwards at 11:20 a.m. and completed the mission's first leg without incident. After refueling from a KC-135 tanker, we turned eastbound, accelerated to a Mach 3.2-cruise speed and climbed to 78,000 ft., our initial cruise-climb altitude. Several minutes into cruise, the right engine inlet's automatic control system malfunctioned, requiring a switch to manual control. The SR-71's inlet configuration was automatically adjusted during supersonic flight to decelerate airflow in the duct, slowing it to subsonic speed before reaching the engine's face. This was accomplished by the inlet's center-body spike translating aft, and by modulating the inlet's forward bypass doors. Normally, these actions were scheduled automatically as a function of Mach number, positioning the normal shock wave (where air flow becomes subsonic ) inside the inlet to ensure optimum engine performance. Without proper scheduling, disturbances inside the inlet could result in the shock wave being expelled forward - a phenomenon known as an "inlet unstart." That causes an instantaneous loss of engine thrust, explosive banging noises and violent yawing of the aircraft-like being in a train wreck. Unstarts were not uncommon at that time in the SR-71's development, but a properly functioning system would recapture the shock wave and restore normal operation. On the planned test profile, we entered a programmed 35-deg. bank turn to the right. An immediate unstart occurred on the right engine, forcing the aircraft to roll further right and start to pitch up. I jammed the control stick as far left and forward as it would go. No response. I instantly knew we were in for a wild ride. I attempted to tell Jim what was happening and to stay with the airplane until we reached a lower speed and altitude. I didn't think the chances of surviving an ejection at Mach 3.18 and 78,800 ft. were very good. However, g-forces built up so rapidly that my words came out garbled and unintelligible, as confirmed later by the cockpit voice recorder. The cumulative effects of system malfunctions, reduced longitudinal stability, increased angle-of-attack in the turn, supersonic speed, high altitude and other factors imposed forces on the airframe that exceeded flight control authority and the Stability Augmentation System's ability to restore control. Everything seemed to unfold in slow motion. I learned later the time from event onset to catastrophic departure from controlled flight was only 2-3 seconds. Still trying to communicate with Jim, I blacked out, succumbing to extremely high g-forces. Then the SR-71 . . literally . . disintegrated around us. From that point, I was just along for the ride. And my next recollection was a hazy thought that I was having a bad dream. Maybe I'll wake up and get out of this mess, I mused. Gradually regaining consciousness, realized this was no dream; it had really happened. That also was disturbing, because . . I COULD NOT HAVE SURVIVED . . what had just happened. I must be dead. Since I didn't feel bad - just a detached sense of euphoria - I decided being dead wasn't so bad after all. As full awareness took hold, I realized I was not dead. But somehow I had separated from the airplane. I had no idea how this could have happened; I hadn't initiated an ejection. The sound of rushing air and what sounded like straps flapping in the wind confirmed I was falling, but I couldn't see anything. My pressure suit's face plate had frozen over and I was staring at a layer of ice. The pressure suit was inflated, so I knew an emergency oxygen cylinder in the seat kit attached to my parachute harness was functioning. It not only supplied breathing oxygen, but also pressurized the suit, preventing my blood from boiling at extremely high altitudes. I didn't appreciate it at the time, but the suit's pressurization had also provided physical protection from intense buffeting and g-forces. That inflated suit had become my own escape capsule. My next concern was about stability and tumbling. Air density at high altitude is insufficient to resist a body's tumbling motions, and centrifugal forces high enough to cause physical injury could develop quickly. For that reason, the SR-71's parachute system was designed to automatically deploy a small-diameter stabilizing chute shortly after ejection and seat separation. Since I had not intentionally activated the ejection system-and assuming all automatic functions depended on a proper ejection sequence-it occurred to me the stabilizing chute may not have deployed. However, I quickly determined I was falling vertically and not tumbling. The little chute must have deployed and was doing its job. Next concern: the main parachute, which was designed to open automatically at 15,000 ft. Again I had no assurance the automatic-opening function would work. I couldn't ascertain my altitude because I still couldn't see through the iced-up faceplate. There was no way to know how long I had been blacked-out or how far I had fallen. I felt for the manual-activation D-ring on my chute harness, but with the suit inflated and my hands numbed by cold, I couldn't locate it. I decided I'd better open the faceplate, try to estimate my height above the ground, then locate that "D" ring. Just as I reached for the faceplate, I felt the reassuring sudden deceleration of main-chute deployment. I raised the frozen faceplate and discovered its uplatch was broken. Using one hand to hold that plate up, I saw I was descending through a clear, winter sky with unlimited visibility. I was greatly relieved to see Jim's parachute coming down about a quarter of a mile away. I didn't think either of us could have survived the aircraft's breakup, so seeing Jim had also escaped lifted my spirits incredibly. I could also see burning wreckage on the ground a few miles from where we would land. The terrain didn't look at all inviting-a desolate, high plateau dotted with patches of snow and no signs of habitation. I tried to rotate the parachute and look in other directions. But with one hand devoted to keeping the face plate up and both hands numb from high-altitude, subfreezing temperatures, I couldn't manipulate the risers enough to turn. Before the breakup, we'd started a turn in the New Mexico-Colorado-Oklahoma-Texas border region. The SR-71 had a turning radius of about 100 Miles at that speed and altitude, so I wasn't even sure what state we were going to land in. But, because it was about 3:00 p.m., I was certain we would be spending the night out here. At about 300 ft. above the ground, I yanked the seat kit's release handle and made sure it was still tied to me by a long lanyard. Releasing the heavy kit ensured I wouldn't land with it attached to my derriere, which could break a leg or cause other injuries. I then tried to recall what survival items were in that kit, as well as techniques I had been taught in survival training. Looking down, I was startled to see a fairly large animal-perhaps an antelope-directly under me. Evidently, it was just as startled as I was because it literally took off in a cloud of dust. My first-ever parachute landing was pretty smooth. I landed on fairly soft ground, managing to avoid rocks, cacti and antelopes. My chute was still billowing in the wind, though. I struggled to collapse it with one hand, holding the still-frozen faceplate up with the other. " Can I help you ? " a voice said. Was I hearing things? I must be hallucinating. Then I looked up and saw a guy walking toward me, wearing a cowboy hat. A helicopter was idling a short distance behind him. If I had been at Edwards and told the search-and-rescue unit that I was going to bail out over the Rogers Dry Lake at a particular time of day, a crew couldn't have gotten to me as fast as that cowboy-pilot had. The gentleman was Albert Mitchell, Jr., owner of a huge cattle ranch in northeastern New Mexico. I had landed about 1.5 mi. from his ranch house-and from a hangar for his two-place Hughes helicopter. Amazed to see him, I replied I was having a little trouble with my chute. He walked over and collapsed the canopy, anchoring it with several rocks. He had seen Jim and me floating down and had radioed the New Mexico Highway Patrol, the Air Force and the nearest hospital. Extracting myself from the parachute harness, I discovered the source of those flapping-strap noises heard on the way down. My seat belt and shoulder harness were still draped around me, attached and latched. The lap belt had been shredded on each side of my hips, where the straps had fed through knurled adjustment rollers. The shoulder harness had shredded in a similar manner across my back. The ejection seat had never left the airplane; I had been ripped out of it by the extreme forces, seat belt and shoulder harness still fastened. I also noted that one of the two lines that supplied oxygen to my pressure suit had come loose, and the other was barely hanging on. If that second line had become detached at high altitude, the deflated pressure suit wouldn't have provided any protection. I knew an oxygen supply was critical for breathing and suit-pressurization, but didn't appreciate how much physical protection an inflated pressure suit could provide. That the suit could withstand forces sufficient to disintegrate an airplane and shred heavy nylon seat belts, yet leave me with only a few bruises and minor whiplash was impressive. I truly appreciated having my own little escape capsule. After helping me with the chute, Mitchell said he'd check on Jim. He climbed into his helicopter, flew a short distance away and returned about 10 min. later with devastating news: Jim was dead. Apparently, he had suffered a broken neck during the aircraft's disintegration and was killed instantly. Mitchell said his ranch foreman would soon arrive to watch over Jim's body until the authorities arrived. I asked to see Jim and, after verifying there was nothing more that could be done, agreed to let Mitchell fly me to the Tucumcari hospital, about 60 mi. to the south. I have vivid memories of that helicopter flight, as well. I didn't know much about rotorcraft, but I knew a lot about "red lines," and Mitchell kept the airspeed at or above red line all the way. The little helicopter vibrated and shook a lot more than I thought it should have. I tried to reassure the cowboy-pilot I was feeling OK; there was no need to rush. But since he'd notified the hospital staff that we were inbound, he insisted we get there as soon as possible. I couldn't help but think how ironic it would be to have survived one disaster only to be done in by the helicopter that had come to my rescue. However, we made it to the hospital safely-and quickly. Soon, I was able to contact Lockheed's flight test office at Edwards. The test team there had been notified initially about the loss of radio and radar contact, then told the aircraft had been lost. They also knew what our flight conditions had been at the time, and assumed no one could have survived. I explained what had happened, describing in fairly accurate detail the flight conditions prior to breakup. The next day, our flight profile was duplicated on the SR-71 flight simulator at Beale AFB, Calif. The outcome was identical. Steps were immediately taken to prevent a recurrence of our accident. Testing at a CG aft of normal limits was discontinued, and trim-drag issues were subsequently resolved via aerodynamic means. The inlet control system was continuously improved and, with subsequent development of the Digital Automatic Flight and Inlet Control System, inlet unstarts became rare. Investigation of our accident revealed that the nose section of the aircraft had broken off aft of the rear cockpit and crashed about 10 mi. from the main wreckage. Parts were scattered over an area approximately 15 mi. long and 10 mi. wide. Extremely high air loads and g-forces, both positive and negative, had literally ripped Jim and me from the airplane. Unbelievably good luck is the only explanation for my escaping relatively unscathed from that disintegrating aircraft. Two weeks after the accident, I was back in an SR-71, flying the first sortie on a brand-new bird at Lockheed's Palmdale, Calif., assembly and test facility. It was my first flight since the accident, so a flight test engineer in the back seat was probably a little apprehensive about my state of mind and confidence. As we roared down the runway and lifted off, I heard an anxious voice over the intercom. " Bill ! Bill ! Are you there ?" " Yeah, George. What's the matter ?" " Thank God ! I thought you might have left. " The rear cockpit of the SR-71 has no forward visibility-only a small window on each side-and George couldn't see me. A big red light on the master-warning panel in the rear cockpit had illuminated just as we rotated, stating: " Pilot Ejected." Fortunately, the cause was a misadjusted micro switch, not my departure. Bill Weaver flight-tested all models of the Mach-2 F-104 Starfighter and the entire family of Mach 3+ Blackbirds-the A-12, YF-12 and SR-71. He subsequently was assigned to Lockheed's L-1011 project as an engineering test pilot, became the company's chief pilot. He later retired as Division Manager of Commercial Flying Operations. He still flies Orbital Sciences Corp.'s L-1011, which has been modified to carry the Pegasus satellite-launch vehicle. And as an FAA Designated Engineering Representative Flight Test Pilot, he's also involved in various aircraft-modification projects, conducting certification flight tests. copyright: Aviation Week ,'Contrails' Section http://www.916-starfighter.de/SR-71_Waever.htm

From 3:00..............

Hey folks, Sorry for a lapse in updates. I am almost comically plagued by internet issues on my trip; could make for a nice story all by itself. Almost considered doing a write-up, but perhaps in a couple of days when there’s no trace of bitterness. Catching a plane home tomorrow afternoon, where a nice PC with a nice Ethernet cable awaits. The things we take for granted. Anyway, while I was incommunicado, the rest of the team has been hard at work. We’re going to do a combined update on a bunch of fronts. The 109 cockpit, shown earlier, is virtually completed. It’s scheduled to be done by the end of next week. Here’s a teaser shot. We’ll do a full photoshoot once it’s finished and checked. The 109 external is not nearly as far along. We actually ran into a bit of delay with it, and we’re working double time to catch up. The 109 is still scheduled to be the first new RRG plane to be completed, in time for the closed alpha. The first step of making an external model for a DCS plane is to make its engine. Even though it’s not something you really see, this is what’s traditionally done first before the rest of the aircraft is built around it. We had an issue with blueprints and references that had us redo a portion of the model, and the engine is generally extremely detailed and elaborate, so we’re about a week behind schedule. The engine is generally modeled and mapped, so we’re ready to proceed with the rest of the aircraft. I am walking a very fine line here between keeping the fans and the artists happy. This is something I’m sure most of you did not think of at all, but the 3D artists making these models feel very connected to them and have a sense of personal pride, so asking them to show clearly unfinished models is always met with some resistance. I’m not the kind of boss who says “just shut up and give me the model to screenshot.” So, in this case, just like with the 109 pit, we have a modeler who really hates the idea of showing unfinished, “crappy” (in his words) WIP. He really asked to delay showing the engine until it’s shiny and perfect, so this is our compromise. Please consider this as a general showcase of our attention to detail. The flight model and the weapons and all the physics stuff for it has been in the works since July, but it's using the P-51 as a stand-in for now. We're rather far along with our physics model of the Bf.109, but obviously that's not something that can be shown with screenshots. We'll probably do some detailed lengthy videos once the 3D model is put in place, in the run-up to the alpha. Next, we have the current state of the P-47 cockpit. Again, slightly behind schedule there, but really working hard to catch up. No deadline jeopardized, just a bit of an extra crunch in the middle of the project. We expected to just reuse P-51 gauges for the Jug, but ended up having to redo most from scratch. We currently have the canopy framework, the dashboard, and the gunsight, all done from scratch for our brand new P-47D-30. All await the delivery of the last set of factory blueprints for a final accuracy check. Lastly, here’s where we are with the landscape. Been doing a lot of technical engine-related tasks. Redrew all the roads and crossroads. Redid the canals. Redid the flooded areas once again. Played a whole lot with the trees. Generally the terrain is beginning to look more detailed, but still a long road ahead. Now, the most important thing I’ve realized over the past two months is that if I was my own employee, I should fire myself as a community manager. I barely have any time to do it, and it creates a very poor impression. Now that we’ve finally received our kickstarter funds (by the way, yay) I really need to hire a more professional community manager. I’ll get busy once I’m back home this weekend. Of course, ideally it would be a member of this community. It would most likely be a salaried part-time position, and the qualifications would include a passion for flight sims, understanding of aviation, and good communication skills. I don’t know if it’s realistic to hope for someone who’s fluent in both Russian and English, but English fluency would definitely be a must, while Russian would be a huge plus. If you think you might be a good fit based on this preliminary announcement, email me at luthier1@gmail.com With that, I’m off to pack my suitcase. Hope you like the screenshots!

By deleting the file the game is now using the default flightengine.ini for that patch level. Putting old ini files into a newer install can cause problems - you sometimes need to extract the new ini files and make the changes to that. for ccip: In the A-6 ini make sure it has all the correct lines to make it flayable [AircraftData] AircraftFullName=A-6A Intruder AircraftShortName=A-6 AircraftDataFile=A-6A_data.ini LoadoutFile=A-6A_loadout.ini UserList=A-6A_UserList.ini CockpitDataFile=A-6A_cockpit.ini AvionicsDLL=Avionics60.dll AvionicsDataFilename=A-6A_avionics.ini In the cockpit ini file [GunsightFront] HasGunsight=TRUE GunsightMilSize=30 <-----------------------Set Then use the avionics ini from: http://combatace.com/files/file/9263-a-6a-diane-for-strike-fighters-2/ and also put in the cockpit folder files from that

It looks like Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works, the legendary division that designed airplanes which represented a giant leap for their times such as the F-104, the U-2, the Blackbird family or the F-117A stealth fighter jet, has eventually revelead to AW&ST’s Guy Norris the existence of a project for an Hypersonic strike aircraft dubbed SR-72. “After years of silence on the subject, Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works has revealed exclusively to AW&ST details of long-running plans for what it describes as an affordable hypersonic intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) and strike platform that could enter development in demonstrator form as soon as 2018. Dubbed the SR-72, the twin-engine aircraft is designed for a Mach 6 cruise, around twice the speed of its forebear, and will have the optional capability to strike targets.” AW&ST has the detailed story of the new platform, that guided by the X-51, Falcon HTV-2 and other hypersonic development programs on which U.S.’s perspective strike capability is being tailored, will be capable to hit or perform ISR of fast-moving targets, located in high-lethality areas at intercontinental ranges. Interestingly, a Lockheed SR-72 concept image was released. The shape is coherent with the most recent hypersonic designs and it is quite similar to at least one of those published in April 2013 on LM’s Code One article about the configurations studied since the early ’60s for an SR-71 Blackbird replacement. Noteworthy, the shape and operational speed of the U.S. next generation strike bomber is much different from Russia’s next generation stealth strategic bomber PAK-DA concept. http://theaviationist.com/2013/11/01/sr-72-unveiled/