Featured in A-12BYSarah Scoles—Popular ScienceJan 5, 2021ShareAn A-12 Oxcart Spyplane Crashed Near Area 51 In 1967. This Is How One Explorer Found It.Some people hunt for buried gold, a small number of others hunt for bits of titanium laced with aerospace history. BYSarah Scoles—Popular ScienceJan 5, 2021ShareBYJoseph TrevithickJul 3, 2020ShareThe Pentagon Thought it Could Retire the U-2 in 1969Newly declassified documents show the iconic spy plane has survived attempts to send it to the boneyard for nearly fifty years. BYJoseph TrevithickJul 3, 2020ShareBYTyler RogowayMay 6, 2020ShareElon Musk And His Partner Grimes Name Their Newborn After The A-12 Spy PlaneThe kid’s full name is “X Æ A-12,” the latter part being a tribute to Lockheed Skunk Works’ Mach 3-capable jet it built for the CIA in the 1960s. BYTyler RogowayMay 6, 2020ShareBYJoseph TrevithickMar 25, 2020ShareCIA’s Predecessor To The SR-71 Blackbird Tested Electron Guns To Hide From RadarsConcerns about advanced Soviet radars prompted the development of systems that could generate invisible radar-absorbing fields around the aircraft. BYJoseph TrevithickMar 25, 2020ShareBYJoseph TrevithickDec 1, 2019ShareAir Force Wanted To Turn Skunk Works’ Mach 3 Capable Recon Drone Into A Nuclear BomberThe concept would have given the service a penetrating high-speed strike asset, something it is still interested in to this day. BYJoseph TrevithickDec 1, 2019ShareBYJoseph TrevithickDec 1, 2019ShareCIA And Skunk Works Secretly Planned To Turn The A-12 Spy Plane Into A Space Launch MothershipThe proposal sheds more light on decades of secretive U.S. work to realize air-launched space access capabilities. BYJoseph TrevithickDec 1, 2019ShareBYTyler RogowayDec 1, 2019ShareThis Image Of A Naval Strike Missile Launch Shows A Key Tenet Of Stealth DesignThe Navy’s newest ship-killing missile features critical stealth technology that dates back to the SR-71 Blackbird and its predecessor. BYTyler RogowayDec 1, 2019ShareBYJoseph Trevithick and Tyler RogowayDec 1, 2019ShareThe SR-71 Blackbird’s Predecessor Created “Plasma Stealth” By Burning Cesium-Laced FuelSkunk Works needed a way to hide the A-12’s radar reflecting behind, so they dumped cesium into its fuel to create a radar-absorbing exhaust plume. BYJoseph Trevithick and Tyler RogowayDec 1, 2019ShareBYTyler RogowayDec 1, 2019ShareAre Some Of The UFOs Navy Pilots Are Encountering Actually Airborne Radar Reflectors?Submarine-launched, radar reflector-toting balloons used to stimulate enemy air defenses can be traced back to a Cold War era Skunk Works program. BYTyler RogowayDec 1, 2019ShareBYTim McMillanNov 25, 2019ShareArea 51 Veteran And CIA Electronic Warfare Pioneer Weigh In On Navy UFO EncountersHaving worked on some of the most highly-classified aerospace programs in the world, all this new UFO talk sounds very familiar to these two men. BYTim McMillanNov 25, 2019ShareBYTyler RogowayNov 3, 2019ShareBehold The SR-71 Blackbird’s Raw Power In This Crazy Low-Light Afterburner Photo (Updated)The SR-71’s Blackbird’s J58 engine was one of the biggest triumphs in aerospace history and it put on one hell of a light show at dusk. BYTyler RogowayNov 3, 2019ShareBYJoseph TrevithickJun 26, 2018ShareFor Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works, It’s All About Getting To The Prototype StageThe famous design division says “skunking” helps it avoid many traditional pitfalls in the development process and build flying examples faster. BYJoseph TrevithickJun 26, 2018Share
BYSarah Scoles—Popular ScienceJan 5, 2021ShareAn A-12 Oxcart Spyplane Crashed Near Area 51 In 1967. This Is How One Explorer Found It.Some people hunt for buried gold, a small number of others hunt for bits of titanium laced with aerospace history. BYSarah Scoles—Popular ScienceJan 5, 2021Share
BYJoseph TrevithickJul 3, 2020ShareThe Pentagon Thought it Could Retire the U-2 in 1969Newly declassified documents show the iconic spy plane has survived attempts to send it to the boneyard for nearly fifty years. BYJoseph TrevithickJul 3, 2020Share
BYTyler RogowayMay 6, 2020ShareElon Musk And His Partner Grimes Name Their Newborn After The A-12 Spy PlaneThe kid’s full name is “X Æ A-12,” the latter part being a tribute to Lockheed Skunk Works’ Mach 3-capable jet it built for the CIA in the 1960s. BYTyler RogowayMay 6, 2020Share
BYJoseph TrevithickMar 25, 2020ShareCIA’s Predecessor To The SR-71 Blackbird Tested Electron Guns To Hide From RadarsConcerns about advanced Soviet radars prompted the development of systems that could generate invisible radar-absorbing fields around the aircraft. BYJoseph TrevithickMar 25, 2020Share
BYJoseph TrevithickDec 1, 2019ShareAir Force Wanted To Turn Skunk Works’ Mach 3 Capable Recon Drone Into A Nuclear BomberThe concept would have given the service a penetrating high-speed strike asset, something it is still interested in to this day. BYJoseph TrevithickDec 1, 2019Share
BYJoseph TrevithickDec 1, 2019ShareCIA And Skunk Works Secretly Planned To Turn The A-12 Spy Plane Into A Space Launch MothershipThe proposal sheds more light on decades of secretive U.S. work to realize air-launched space access capabilities. BYJoseph TrevithickDec 1, 2019Share
BYTyler RogowayDec 1, 2019ShareThis Image Of A Naval Strike Missile Launch Shows A Key Tenet Of Stealth DesignThe Navy’s newest ship-killing missile features critical stealth technology that dates back to the SR-71 Blackbird and its predecessor. BYTyler RogowayDec 1, 2019Share
BYJoseph Trevithick and Tyler RogowayDec 1, 2019ShareThe SR-71 Blackbird’s Predecessor Created “Plasma Stealth” By Burning Cesium-Laced FuelSkunk Works needed a way to hide the A-12’s radar reflecting behind, so they dumped cesium into its fuel to create a radar-absorbing exhaust plume. BYJoseph Trevithick and Tyler RogowayDec 1, 2019Share
BYTyler RogowayDec 1, 2019ShareAre Some Of The UFOs Navy Pilots Are Encountering Actually Airborne Radar Reflectors?Submarine-launched, radar reflector-toting balloons used to stimulate enemy air defenses can be traced back to a Cold War era Skunk Works program. BYTyler RogowayDec 1, 2019Share
BYTim McMillanNov 25, 2019ShareArea 51 Veteran And CIA Electronic Warfare Pioneer Weigh In On Navy UFO EncountersHaving worked on some of the most highly-classified aerospace programs in the world, all this new UFO talk sounds very familiar to these two men. BYTim McMillanNov 25, 2019Share
BYTyler RogowayNov 3, 2019ShareBehold The SR-71 Blackbird’s Raw Power In This Crazy Low-Light Afterburner Photo (Updated)The SR-71’s Blackbird’s J58 engine was one of the biggest triumphs in aerospace history and it put on one hell of a light show at dusk. BYTyler RogowayNov 3, 2019Share
BYJoseph TrevithickJun 26, 2018ShareFor Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works, It’s All About Getting To The Prototype StageThe famous design division says “skunking” helps it avoid many traditional pitfalls in the development process and build flying examples faster. BYJoseph TrevithickJun 26, 2018Share
