President Lyndon B. Johnson announces the existence of the Lockheed A-11, with a cruising speed of more than Mach 3 at altitudes above 70,000 feet. (Use of the designation A-11 to refer to the Air Force’s YF-12A was deliberate to cloud the existence of the CIA’s A-12, a single-seat reconnaissance aircraft that had been flying in secret and was the actual basis for the two-seat YF-12.) Only three YF-12A interceptors are built, and the SR-71 program for the Air Force takes precedence.
The Air Force wants a new, affordable, air-launched standoff cruise missile ready to field in 2033. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center announced April 6 it will hold an industry day event to conduct market research on the Standoff Attack Weapon, or SoAW, on June 17 at Eglin Air…
