Lockheed's Blackworld Skunk Works: The U2, SR-71 and F-117

114 Pages·2000·77.3 MB·english

by  Paul Crickmore

il
:j
I
LOCKHEED'S
BlACKWORLD
SKUNK WORKS
THE U-2, SR-71 AND F-I 17
)
..
-_ ......
I~I· AVIATION PIONEERS
L EED'
I L L D
THE U-2, SR-71 AND F-I 17
PAUL CRICKMORE
FirstpublishedinGreatBritainin2000byOspreyPublishing Acknowledgements
ElmsCourt.ChapelWay,Botley,OxfordOX29LRUK TheworldauthorityonallwrittenmattersU-2,iswithoutdoubt,
Email:[email protected] ChrisPocock. Withoutaccesstosomeofhismaterial,abookof
this naturewould have been impossible. Forthose readersthat
©2000OspreyPublishingLimited wishtodelvedeeperintothethreeaircrafttypescovered inthis
book,the authorwould recommendthefollowing:
Allrightsreserved.ApartfromAnyfairdealingforthepurposeofprivate
study.research,criticismorreviewaspermittedundertheCopyright,Design TowardtheUnknown,byChris Pocockpublished bySchiffer.
andPatentsAct,1988,nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,stored Lockheed'sSkunkWorks, byJayMiller.published byAerofax.
inaretrievalsystem,ortransmittedinanyformorbyanymeans,electronic, LockheedSR-7/:The Secret Missions Exposed,by Paul Crickmore,
electrical,chemical,mechanical,optical,photocopying,recordingorotherwise published byOsprey
withoutpriorwrittenpermission.Allenquiriesshouldbeaddressedtothe F-/ I7 Nighthawk, by Paul and Alison Crickmore, published by
Publisher. MotorbooksInternational.
ISBN I841760595 In addition to thanking Chris for his help, Iwould also like to
thankJayMiller.DennyLombard,DrCoyCross,BobbyWall,Tony
Editor:5haunBarrington Pennicook and above all my wife Ali for continued enthusiasm
Design:MarkHolt and support.
Origination:GrasmereDigitalImaging,Leeds,UK
Printedin'ChinathroughWorldprintLtd This book is dedicated to my dear friends Alberto and Karen
Pollicarpo.
00 01 02 03 04 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 I
Foracatalogueofall bookspublished byOspreyMilitary
andAviation pleasewriteto:
The Marketing Manager,OspreyDirect,PO Box
Existingandforthcomingbooks intheAviation Pioneersseries: 140,Wellingborough,Northants,NN8 4ZA,United
Kingdom
X-Planes- ResearchAircraft 1891-1970
E-mail:[email protected]
ISBN 1855328763
The MarketingManager,OspreyDirectUSA,
The RiskTakers-Racingand Record Setting
PO Box 130,Sterling Heights,MI 48311-0310,USA
Aircraft 1908-1968
Email:[email protected]
ISBN 1855329042
German andAustrianAviationof WorldWar I VisitOspreyatwww.ospreypublishing.com
ISBN 1841760692
Contents
The U-2 6
2 The SR-71 34
3 The F-117 80
Epilogue 112
Title page Top The clean lines of the U-2R's aesthetically pleasing and dramatic
high-aspect-ratio wing is shown here to good effect.(Lockheed Martin)
Title page Middle Five degrees of conical camber is applied to the outboard wing
leading edge of the SR-71, to reduce bending movement.The twin fins are canted
fifteen degrees inboard to reduce rolling moment due to slide slip and vertical
deflection.(Lockheed Martin)
Title page Bottom F117-A aircraft 807 first flew on 13 September 1984 and was
delivered to theAir Forceon 20 December.(Lockheed Martin)
~ The U-2
~
'"
Z T he name ofan 11th Century Holy Roman was woefully inadequate. With limited human intelligence
:l
'" Emperor, Frederick Barbarossa, King ofGermany, (HUMINT) being provided by agents in the field, large
III
C is etched forever in contemporary history. gaps remained in the knowledge ofSoviet industrial and
Io..I.J: At dawn on 22June 1941, Nazi Germany launched military capability. Stand-offaerial reconnaissance of
Operation Barbarossa, the invasion ofthe Soviet Union. peripheral targets provided a partial solution to the
~
'" As its Panzer Divisions rolled east, smashing everything problem, but the vastness ofthe Soviet Union left only
u
et in their path, Soviet industry sought protection deep one option, given the level oftechnology available at that
....,J
within the Motherland. Hitler's maps would have been time - overflight. So began the so called PAROP program
!" good enough to show him supply lines ofa thousand - Peace-time Aerial Reconnaissance Operations.
c
w miles to Moscow ... When, after WWII, 'An iron curtain For several years such sorties were conducted utilising
w
J: ... descended across the Continent' and relations between converted bombers manned by extremely courageous air
'"
U the victorious east and western powers chilled into the crews. De Havilland Mosquito PR.34s flying with 540
o
Cold War, it was soon discovered that the accuracy of Sqn, based at RAF Benson in Oxfordshire, conducted
...J
maps and target intelligence held by Britain and the US reconnaissance flights from altitudes in excess of43,000 ft
III
II:
W
W
Z
o
ii:
z
o
r
et
>
et
,.,'~-''''"..."._~
~'H
6
over such places as Murmansk and Archangel. Operations continued; the 5th Strategic Reconnaissance Group -i
from such heights provided a haven from interception by (SRG), from Travis AFB, operated Boeing RB-29s from Jm:
Soviet fighters and continued until at least 1949. RAF Sculthorpe and Burtonwood. Like the RAF C
In June 1948, the Soviet Union enforced a food Mosquitos, their high-altitude performance and long N
blockade upon the western zones ofBerlin. The allies range made them ideal photographic and Electronic
responded by mounting a round-the-clock airlift; the intelligence (PHOTINT and ELINT), gathering
United States highlighted the seriousness ofthe situation platforms. In February 1951, a small detachment offour
by redeployingbombers back to Britain. As allied RB-45 Tornados from the 9lst SRG, from Lockbourne
reconnaissance operations continued, it was only a AFB, Ohio were 'loaned' to Great Btitain, painted in
question oftime before such actions provoked the RAF markings and were utilised by a mixed USAF/RAF
ultimate response. It first occurred on 11th April 1950, crew on high-altitude, night time overflights of the Soviet
when a US Navy Consolidated PB4Y Privateer, operated Union and Warsaw Pact countries for nearly three years.
by VP-26 and with a crew often onboard, was shot No aircraft were lost during these nocturnal forays,
down and crashed into the Baltic, offSoviet Latvia. however, by 1954, developing Soviet anti-aircraft
World destahilisation escalateded when at dawn on 25 capabilities made it prudent to stop using RB-45s in
June 1950, communist North Korea invaded its southern this role and they were transferred back to USAF control.
neighbour and in so doing, sparked offthe Korean \;Var. ot surprisingly, the Soviet Union were becoming
In Europe, surveillance operations against the USSR increasingly sensitive to 'Western incursions into its
LeftIntheearly 1950sNorthAmerican RB-45CTornadoswere
loaned bythe USgovernmentto the RAF,and operated outof
RAF Sculthorpe, on clandestine reconnaissance operations.
(Paul Crickmore collection)
TopThe Canberra PR.7 was an effective high altitude recon·
naissancegathering platform duringthe mid 1950s.
(BritishAerospace)
Above Despite its highly modified appearance, the Canberra
origins ofthis Martin RB-57F arestillreadily apparent.(USAF) 7
.
-
airspace and retaliated by pressing home a series of
attacks on any aircraft suspected of violating its
sovereignty. In April 1952, an Air France DC-4 was
attacked and damaged in the Berlin corridor and less than
two months later a Swedish Air Force C-47 was downed
into the Baltic Sea east ofGotland. Even search and
c rescue PBY was attacked whilst looking for survivors;
'o"J the Russians certainly meant business. Four months later,
o
MiG-ISs destroyed a reconnoitring RB-29. On 10 March
~
'" 1953, a USAF F-84 Thunderjet was shot down over
u
« Bavaria by Czech MiG-ISs. Two days later an RAF
oJ
III Lincoln (RF-531) ofthe central gunnery school, was shot
~ down in the Berlin Corridor by MiG-ISs; seven crew
C
w lost their lives. On 15 March 1953, an RB-50 ofthe
w
J: 38th SRS, 55th SRW, flown by Lt Col Robert Rich was
'"
U intercepted by Soviet MiG-ISs. The gunner, T/SgtJesse
o
Prim, returned fire and the MiG withdrew. However, on Above Undoubtedly two of the world's greatest aeronautical
oJ
29July, another RB-50 from the same wing was not so engineers, Kelly Johnson (right) and his protege, Ben Rich.
III
'W" lucky. Attacked by MiG-ISs during a reconnaissance (Lockheed Martin)
ZW flight near the Soviet border, the RB-50 lost a wing and
o
fell into the Sea ofJapan. Co-pilot CaptJohn E Roche
0z. was the only survivor. Be/ow Heavily shrouded for security reasons, the prototype
o As the costin air crew's lives continued to mount it U-f. is disgorged from aC-124atArea5I.(Lockheed Martin)
J« became apparent that a new approach to gathering such
> vital intelligence was needed. With high altitude having
«
already been established as the 'operational environment' Bottom Resplendentwith'starand bar' markings,prototype00I
for such missions, it was a US Air Force Major who is photographed at Area 5I during very early flight tests.
articulated the way forward. Having spent some time as (Lockheed Martin)
an aeronautical engineer with Chance Vought, John
Seaberg had been recalled to active duty following the
outbreak ofthe Korean War. It was whilst serving as
Assistant Chiefin the New Developments Office,
Bombardment Branch, at Wright Field, near Dayton,
Ohio, that he mapped out high altitude strategic
reconnaissance philosophy, proposing to mate an aircraft
with an extremely efficient high-aspect-ratio wing to the
new generation ofturbo jet engines. Utilising such a
union, he believed an aircraft would be capable ofcruis
ing at altitudes far in'excess ofany other then in service.
Spurred on by his new boss, William Lamar, Seaburg
had, by March 1953, created a formal specification,
requiring the aircraft to cruise at an altitude of70,000
feet, possess a range of 1,500 nautical miles, whilst carry
ing a camera payload weight ofup to 700lbs, to be in
8
B-57 (a design built under licence by them, but actually
developed by the English Electric Company and known
in RAF service as the Canberra). In July 1953, six-month
study contracts had been agreed with each company and
the project, identified as MX-2147, was given the
classified code name of'Bald Eagle'.
Developments in camera and film technology, required
to gather surveillance data from high altitude, had been
proceeding in parallel with those made by the aerospace
industry. Having established the Photographic Laboratory
at Wright Field before the Second World War, Brig Gen
George Goddard recruited two individuals, Cols Richard
Philbrick and Amrom Katz, who continued in service
after the war. Renamed the Aerial Reconnaissance
Laboratory, Goddard also helped establish a group of
optical research specialists that formed the Boston
University Optical Research Centre. These included its
AboveTheTypeA camera system consisted ofthree Fairchild director, Doctor Duncan MacDonald. In addition, there
HR-724, 24-inch cameras carried in .the aircraft's 'Q-bay'. were notable industrialists and academics serving on
(Lockheed Martin) various presidential panels who also played a key role in
the development ofhigh altitude reconnaissance imagery;
people such as Harvard astronomer DoctorJames Baker,
TopThis CIA, U-2 overflight of Engles Air Base, in the Soviet Edwin Land, inventor ofthe Polaroid camera, Allen
Union, captured 32 Myaseshchev M/4 Bisons and 30 other Donovan and Col Richard Leghorn, an airborne
aircraftdispersed around the airfield.·(CIA) reconnaissance expert from Eastman Kodak. However, it
was Jim Baker who had, by the end ofWWII, produced
service by 1956. These initial proposals were subsequently the first 1DO-inch focal length precision lens for an aerial
released to just three ofthe smaller aircraft manufacturing camera. This work was continued at Boston by Dune
companies; the rationale being that as large-scale MacDonald and his team in the early post-war years and
production was not envisioned, the project would receive culminated in a massive 240-inch focal length lens which,
a higher priority than ifplaced with the larger players. at fourteen feet, could only fit into an RB-36!
Bell and Fairchild were requested to submit proposals As US fears ofa possible surprise Soviet ICBM attack
for the design and construction ofa totally new aircraft; continued to mount, the Air Force set up a study group
whilst Martin were asked to apply improvements to the at Boston to look further into the aerial reconnaissance 9