SR71 Blackbird - A-12 Development
The first SR71 Blackbirds were cloaked in secrecy at that time, and to this day remain an
enigma. The Blackbird was designed as a follow-on to the U-2, at the behest of the CIA and
with CIA funds. Shortly after the U-2 began flying operational missions, it became obvious
that the high-flying, but slow, U-2 would become increasingly vulnerable to some sort of
anti-aircraft system, whether air-to-air or surface-to-air. Lockheed was already working on
possible solutions when Kelly Johnson, head of Lockheed's advanced development Pro-
jects (Skunk Works), was summoned to Washington in 195B. A competition to develop the
successor to the U-2 was initiated, with Lockheed's designs being evaluated as superior
to those of Convair or the Navy. The contract was given to Lockheed in 1959, and the first
flight of the A-12 took place on April 26,1962. Eighteen A-12's were built for the CIA.
They are serial numbers 06924 through 33, and 06938 through 41 (06934 through 37 were
developed into USAF YF-12s and SR-71s). The principle difference between the A-12 and
follow-on Blackbirds is that the A-12 was a single seat aircraft, with recon equipment oc-
cupying what became the Fire Control Officer (FCO) in the YF-12 or Reconnaissance
Systems Officer (RSO) seat in the SR-71.
Preliminary design work on the CIA's A-12 was well underway when Francis Gary
Powers and his U-2 were shot down over central Russia on May Day, 1960. The resulting
international uproar caused cancellation of an impending summit meeting between Presi-
dent Eisenhower and Russian Premier Kruschev. Reportedly, it also ultimately elicited a
promise from Ike, to Kruschev, never to overfly Soviet territory again. There is no evidence
to suggest that the CIA ever broke that promise with their A-12's. In fact, there is no public
evidence to suggest that the CIA even flew the A-12 operationally! Most speculation
would have you believe that they did, in fact, operate on a world-wide basis with their
Blackbirds. But there is also evidence that at least half of the A-12 fleet was stored inside
a hangar at Palmdale subsequent to development testing. Whether or not the CIA did
operate it's A-12s operationally may remain a mystery for years to come. There are cur-
rently eight aircraft in storage at Palmdale, with six unaccounted for. Were these six all
lost in the test program? Or operationally? What happened to the pilots? These and other
questions regarding the blackest of the Blackbirds may not be answered for years to
come, but when they are, what great war stories they will make!
In September, 1964 Kelly Johnson received the Collier Trophy for his design work on
the Blackbird. The ceremony was held at the White House, and was followed shortly
thereafter by a public demonstration of the YF-12A at Edwards AFB. It was the first close-
up look at the YF-12A for the press, and resulted in a blizzard of publicity which reinforced
the interceptor mission for the Blackbird. The speculation about just exactly how fast and
how high the Blackbird would fly was heightened by all of this. publicity. It was satisfied
on May 1, 1965, when the YF-12A was flown to nine new records for speed and altitude.
The USAF team of pilots was lead by Colonel Robert L. 'Silver Fox' Stephens, the first
military pilot to fly the YF-12.
Stephens, with his Fire Control Officer (FCO), Lt. Col. Daniel Andre, averaged 2,062
MPH (Mach 3.17) in out-and-back runs over the 15/25 kilometer straight-away course to set
an absolute world speed record, as well as a new jet class record. They also set the
records for absolute sustained altitude (80,000 feet), and jet class altitude record.
The other Air Force pilot was Major Walter F. Daniel, who teamed with two Fire Control
Officers, Major Noel T. Warner, and Captain James Cooney to set records for the 1,000
and 500 kilometer closed course. The YF-12A also set records with 1,000 and 2,000
kilogram payloads that day. These records had previously been held by the Soviet Union's
E-266, a pre-production development version of the Mig-25.
06937, the prototype SR-71 made it's first flight on December 22,1964. Production ver-
sions of the SR-71 were delivered to the Air Force beginning in January, 1966. Lockheed's
production number for the SR-71 begins with the number 2001, which is serial number
17950, and runs consecutively through 2032, serial number 17981.
The 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing was organized effective June 25, 1966 as the
unit to fly the SR-71. The 9th's history dates to the days when the only military aircraft
were flown by the Signal Corps.
The 9th traces it's component squadrons, the 1 st and the 99th, to pre-World War I. The
1st was organized in 1913 to assist General Pershings's 2nd Army Division guard the Mex-
ican border. It is a significant fact of it's history that the first ever American military recon-
naissance flight was flown by a Curtiss Flyer over France in 1916 by the 9th. The 1st and
99th Squadrons flew combat missions over France throughout World War I. After World
War I they were reorganized as the 9th Bombardment Group.
The group flew B-29's during World War II, and was inactivated at the end of the war, on-
ly to be reactivated within a year as the 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Group. In April,
1950 the wing was redesignated the 9th Bombardment Group and given B-47's, and a
change of base, from Fairfield-Suisun AFB, California (Travis AFB), to Mountain Home
AFB. While at Mountain Home, the 9th made the longest non-stop point-to-point flight
that any SAC aircraft had attempted to that date. Using aerial refuelling, the B-47's of the
One of the few A-12s which were painted nearly all-black. The sharper nose profile, with
more triangular-shaped chines are most evident in this view_ Also of interest in an ap-
parent flight test camera housing at the rear of the fuselage. The direction in which it is
pointing indicates that it may have been mounted to record the launching of the 0·21
Drone. (See page 22) (USAF)
9th flew 8,300 miles, from Mountain Home to New Zealand.
Titan missles began to arrive at Mountain Home in 1961, and the 9th was redesignated
the 9th Strategic Aerospace Wing. When the Tactical Air Command was slated for Moun-
tain Home in 1966, it meant another inactivation for the 9th.
When it was decided that the SR-71 would go into SAC's operational inventory, Beale
AFB, California was chosen as it's home base. The 4200th Strategic Reconnaissance
Wing was activated on January 1, 1965. The 4200th would be the training wing for the
SR·71, and to accomodate the special requirements of SR training, the Air Force spent $9
million to build new hangars, fuel storage facilities, a physiological building, new parking
ramp, engine test stand, and runway arresting barrier. The first SR·71A was delivered in
January, and was followed a few days later by the first of two SR·71 B's. The 4200th was in-
activated on June 22,1966, and the 9th Strategic Reconnaissasnce Wing, with the 1st and
99th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadrons was activated. The 9th Wing would ac-
complish all of the training, and conduct operational missions from it's headquarters at
Beale.
On April 17, 1967 the Silver Fox climbed into an SR-71 and made the longest Mach 3
flight in history. Their flight of over 14,000 miles earned the FAI's Gold Medal for Colonel
Robert L. Stephens and his RSO, Lt. Col. Kenneth D. Hurley. The tremendous speed and
range of the SR·71 gave SAC a reconnaissance capability that was so far removed from any
previous systems that it's implications were staggering. The SR-71 could survey a strip of
ground 30 miles wide, from Sacramento to Washington, D.C., in an hour!
While the SR·71 was becoming operational, the YF-12's were winding up a test program
that was so successful that the 500 man unit was awarded the Air Force Outstanding Unit
Citation. This program had been conducted by personnel from Air Force Systems Corn-
mand, SAC, and Air Defense Command. The YF·12's went into flyable storage at the end
of this program, and remained inactive until NASA expressed an Interest in using them to
do SST research. (There was absolutely no doubt in anyone's mind at that point in
time ... the late 60's ... that the United States would have the worlds best Supersonic
Transport. And most people also believed we would win the Vietnam War.)
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