SR-71: This Spy Plane Could Not Be Stopped by 4,000 Missiles

SR-71 Spy Plane Able to Evade Enemy Air Defenses Without a Scratch: The SR-71 Blackbird put the capital “E” on evasion. The enemy fired missiles at it at least 4,000 times during its lifetime and all the interceptors missed their mark, No SR-71 was damaged or lost.

For example, even though an SA-2 surface-to-air-missile was slightly faster than the SR-71 (MACH 3.5 versus MACH 3.2 of the Blackbird), there was that instant when the SAM system had to identify, track, and home in on the spy plane. While this happened, the Blackbird scooted away while going four nautical miles in six seconds.

The SR-71 Blackbird Outsmarted the SA-2

The SR-71 had an important jump on the Cold War-era SA-2 Guideline system. The U-2 spy plane was not as lucky. SA-2s downed a U-2 over the Soviet Union in 1960 and a U-2 over Cuba in 1962. But the SR-71 could fly at 90,000 feet and this overcame the ceiling of the SA-2 launcher.

The SR-71 also had excellent countermeasures and early warning systems. One incident in 1981 happened over North Korea when an SA-2 shot interceptor at an SR-71 over the demilitarized zone. This was one of the only anti-aircraft incidents publicized in the media due to the nature of the SR-71 program’s ultra-secrecy.

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