How the USSR unwittingly helped America build the SR-71 Blackbird

Feature

On this day in 1964, the Cold War spy plane took to the skies for the first time. Unbeknownst to the Soviets, they’d played a hand in making it happen...

As the continued holder of the world record for the fastest air-breathing manned aircraft since 1976, the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird could quite literally outrun anything that came its way – even missiles.

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Originally published in Key.Aero