Summary and Key Points: The A-12 Oxcart, predecessor to the famed SR-71 Blackbird, was a groundbreaking reconnaissance aircraft developed by Lockheed’s Skunk Works in the late 1950s. -Designed to ...

There are certain planes that are so special that their very name is spoken in hushed tones. The legendary SR-71 Blackbird is one such craft. Designed during the Cold War, the Blackbird was a ...

Here’s What You Need to Remember: For years, there were rumors of an even faster spy plane, the Aurora, but its existence seems unlikely at this point. Rather, the Pentagon relies on drones and ...

Louis Wellington Schalk Jr., 76, original chief test pilot for the A-12 Blackbird spy plane built by Lockheed’s storied “Skunk Works” in 1962, died Friday in a hospice in Arlington, Va. The cause of ...

The Central Intelligence Agency is closing in on a high-value landscaping target: a 1960s spy plane called the A-12 Blackbird. The CIA plans to mount the once-secret, 102-foot-long supersonic plane on ...

The highly secretive A-12 Blackbird was relocated to a remote desert base in Nevada due to the size and security requirements for the high-speed jet. The jet's revolutionary structure consisted of 85% ...

celebrated at events in Palmdale today. Test pilot Louis Schalk took the plane on its maiden flight from a secluded desert test site April 26, 1962. The A-12 Blackbird was the prototype for the SR-71.