Lockheed A-12

The aeroplane that could reach three times the speed of sound

The A-12 was the result of a CIA-issued specification, yet it always remained in the shadow of the SR-71 Blackbird…

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Overflying China: How converted A-12s launched supersonic drones

BRIEFING FILE: Under the skin of aviation technology and tactics...

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How the YF-12 interceptor was revealed in secret to the UK

When US President Lyndon Johnson announced the existence of a high-speed, high-flying Lockheed interceptor...

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Secrets of the A-12: the SR-71 Blackbird's predecessor

For close on eight years, from selection to the programme’s termination, Ken Collins lived and breathed the CIA’s Project ‘Oxcart’ — testing the Mach 3-plus Lockheed A-12 reconnaissance aircraft from Area 51 and operating it over North Vietnam on the ‘Black Shield’ deployment, all in conditions of the utmost secrecy

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Legend of the SR-71 'Habu'

Combat Aircraft looks at the incomparable SR-71, which successfully completed its first operational sortie 50 years ago this year

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The birth of stealth: Lockheed and the CIA

Paul Crickmore explains early US efforts to hide aircraft from radar following the shooting down of Gary Powers’ U-2.