Lockheed Blackbird: Beyond the Secret Missions – The Missing Chapters

The SR-71 Blackbird is an iconic aircraft that symbolizes America's technological superiority during the Cold War. Paul Crickmore's updated account of the aircraft, based on declassified information, provides a detailed look at its design and operation. The high-altitude aerial reconnaissance sorties it was to perform were top secret and carefully concealed from public knowledge, but as the aircraft have become museum pieces and details of their work declassified, the whole story of their design and operation can finally be told. The Blackbird family of aircraft continue to fascinate a wide age group and their history has become timeless.

Format: Unspecified
Length: 528 pages
Publication date: 23 November 2023
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

The SR-71 Blackbird, an iconic aircraft that symbolized America's technological superiority during the Cold War, has been updated by globally renowned expert Paul Crickmore. The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird is a sleek and powerful aeroplane that was designed for high-altitude aerial reconnaissance missions. However, its true purpose was to be unseen, as its operations were top secret and concealed from public knowledge. Now, as the aircraft has become a museum piece and details of its work have been declassified, the whole story of its design and operation can finally be told. This updated edition of Paul Crickmore's classic book, "Lockheed Blackbird: Beyond the Secret Missions," is based on 850 pages of documentation and images declassified by the CIA covering the A-12 Oxcart programme. These documents range from discussions at the highest levels of the US government concerning the rationale for Oxcarts development and eventual deployment to extremely detailed intelligence data gleaned from each of the 29 operational missions flown by Oxcart during Operation Black Shield. The Blackbird family of aircraft continues to fascinate a wide age group, and its history has become timeless. This new edition will provide the last word on the SR-71 Blackbird and its operational history.

Weight: 2986g
Dimension: 250 x 320 x 42 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781472851383
Edition number: 3 ed