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The yf-12 was a fighter version of the SR-71 cancelled during the Vietnam war. Missile launch platforms greatly benefit from high speed and high altitude. A h
by lumost 5y ago
The yf-12 was a fighter version of the SR-71 cancelled during the Vietnam war.
Missile launch platforms greatly benefit from high speed and high altitude. A hypothetical Mach 6 aircraft at 100k feet will likely have at least double the A2A missile range of an F-16 at 30k ft launching the same missile . Given that most long range A2A missiles peak at Mach 5 it would be extremely difficult to engage such a platform.
- aerostable_slug 5y agoNot just A2A. There were studies done on arming SR-71s with SRAMs in the chines — both downrange and crossrange performance was massively improved. https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/EmV9xz0SUL1NW08RDs3ZcJxlMtr_Jzo6BL4_mwWIsXLhkV1BLfC-WWXsjE_T2T4dGyNzlg5zI4ghp3-X4zaqhJ8juYoIJE1Paq50z6lN5zdCzYk https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/EmV9xz0SUL1NW08RDs3Z...