The Lockheed D-21 Mach 3 Drone

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In the 1960s, Lockheed engineer Kelly Johnson was given an almost impossible task by the U.S. Air Force and CIA. He needed to create a spy drone with range, speed, and altitude capabilities that could match the supersonic A-12. The hope was that Lockheed’s Skunk Works team could build an unmanned reconnaissance aircraft unlike any other in order to replace the increasingly vulnerable U-2 spy plane. The result was the D-21. It was a ramjet with wings and a camera, built to self-destruct after its mission. Early tests were promising, but failures to execute correctly when released over China resulted in several missteps and even a Soviet clone...

[@RyanKlapperich]

- "This drone won't fly over a target, take good pictures, or even properly eject the film canister. It's useless!" - "Can we strap a nuke to it?"

[@sultanmehmoodghaznavi6312]

you need a multi-million dollars drone to strap a nuke? in Pakistan, size of a nuke is of like tennis ball! you can carry in your pocket! few kilo-tons, low yield, your personal friendly neighborhood nuke!

[@kd7bwb12]

Ryan Klapperich Why not strap a nuke to Francis Gary Powers, and leave him in Russia. Then boom! Simple, no drones, aircraft worked fine, got Powers into the country perfectly. Perfect weapons insertion.

[@kd7bwb12]

@5252rpm There is such a thing as a 'tactical' nuclear weapon. Yield up to 2-megatons. Goes boom just fine, virtually zero radiation. Build a house on the crater the next day. Have a nice day.

[@giornogiobama7053]

hans binder depleted uranium, which isn’t radioactive

[@odyseuszkoskiniotis6266]

@5252rpm r/whoosh

[@upreydeen]

“Too ambitious” for it’s time but the engineers set the bar so high for all the new technology to come

[@lexioncombine9403]

Look up Boeing's "Quiet Bird".

[@Citadin]

All this plane for a single use spy mission, I hope they remembered to remove the cap from the camera lens...

[@Edario]

😂😂😂

[@daspas2111]

Well i mean sometimes you get desperate after the best spyplane you have gets shot down over the country you're not trying to have nuclear war with

[@biomecraft356]

With their bad luck streak, anything is possible.

[@DANTHETUBEMAN]

That's still classified

[@drewcagno]

I'm guessing that got missed at least once

[@rustzz8]

I had the G.I Joe SR-71 and it came with this drone.

[@airthrowDBT]

Did it come with the drone before it was declassified? I'd be very interested in that. Was it talked about in Jane's or any other public source before declassification?

[@Gonner453]

They got the design of the toy was taken from what pictures of the sr-71 were released. The sr-71 has been public for over 40 years. What they did in the missions besides spying and how they did them is still secret.

[@kmech3rd]

The Cobra Raven! I had a mint one of those. And the "drone" was crewed... by one VERY unlucky Cobra AeroViper.

[@kmech3rd]

@Hammer Of Crom if you want to see some cringey 80s commercial gold, KZbin has the original Cobra Raven commercial. There's no haven from the Cobra Raven...😁

[@MrWATM]

@@airthrowDBT I seem to remember a D-21 initially surfaced at the Davis-Monthan Boneyard, just laying out in the open and caused quite a stir before it was spirited away.

[@yo_its_gingey5329]

If we had tech like that back then imagine what we have now that the public doesn’t know about

[@bamaman6478]

@Homa Simpson fax dude i wish more ppl would wake up

[@bamaman6478]

@@851995STARGATE hows about u do more research then wat ur fed on the news and Facebook my guy

[@Krieg3904]

@@851995STARGATE Hes joking (I hope.)

[@Krieg3904]

@@bamaman6478 Its fake.

[@sawmakai]

currently we are fanagaling with quantum physics and dark matter also we are almost done w/ the first positive energy generating fusion reactor

[@thetreblerebel]

I heard from a A12 pilot that the scariest part of the flying a mother child mission, was releasing the drone between your rudders at Mach 3+ . The drone drifts left or right after release it took out the mother aircraft. It worked , cause it was found in china once, but it also killed a pilot. 1950s tech pretty much. Amazing what old school aerospace engineering did at this time

[@onkcuf]

Imagine a Mach 3(!)+ ~ roll 180° over to drop it? Might have worked better.

[@IsaacKuo]

​@@onkcuf Doing a roll still seems insanely hazardous. Launching from a B-52 seems so much more sane. It worked for the X-15, after all.

[@MrWATM]

The remaining M-12 mother ship designed to launch the D-21 drone is on display at the Museum of Flight in Seattle if you want to see it.

[@rpbajb]

Won't be visiting Seattle or any other autonomous zone any time soon.

[@general_hammond]

Another D21 is also in the Evergreen Air Museum in Oregon several hours away.

[@airthrowDBT]

@@rpbajb Sounds great!

[@Falc0n215]

Been there. Pretty darn awesome.

[@jjojo2004]

There’s a D-21 drone on display at the National Museum of the USAF in Dayton, OH. Also a YF-12 interceptor, an SR-71 and a J58 jet engine. 👍👍

[@90percenthuman39]

"Satelites can't be shot at or captured by the enemy" Yeah untill the space shuttle was invented, although it was never used to my knowledge, it had the capability to capture satellites and bring them back to earth fully intact

[@thebigitchy]

The US also developed the ASM-135 ASAT, which could be launched by an F-15 to shoot down satellites.

[@aj-gt4vj]

the US did steal some handful of satelites

[@ChipmunkRapidsMadMan1869]

That digital camera in your phone is the product of our spy satellite program. You don't bring in satellites to retrieve collected data

[@quazar5017]

The shuttle did capture and returned a broken satellite back to earth once. It was repaired, but the company didn't want to launch it again for some reason. The satellite was then sold to a chinese company for a discount and they launched it on their own rocket back into space.

[@robertheinkel6225]

The Soviets have shot down/destroyed at least one satellite, leaving a mess of debris in orbit. It was destroyed by an air to air missile launched from a MIG at very high altitude. It was a special satellite killer missile.

[@RickyJr46]

In Kelly Johnson's autobio, "More Than My Share Of It All, he expressed great fondness for his Star Lane ranch near Santa Ynez. I made a point of riding past its location today, and wondered what sorts of far-out ideas and insights he'd be entertaining while traveling those same beautiful backroads. His brilliance has moved on, but one can still feel a presence out there, something like a comet's luminous tail stretched out far behind.

[@peterterry398]

Well said my friend

[@ethanchandler5582]

Here here

[@Kurt_Philanderer]

@@ethanchandler5582 you spelled that wrong

[@StrayGuard]

That drone looks like the result if a mig 21 and draken had a baby

[@NibNa5ty]

Someone plays wartinder;)

[@RidinDirtyRollinBurnouts]

Like the Mig-21, it is all engine.

[@ImpendingJoker]

It's literally a single engine A-12. Looks nothing like the Draken nor the MiG-21.

[@rektangel333]

@@ImpendingJoker it does

[@werewally3156]

Theyre so cute when theyre little....

[@MavericksHangar]

I had a SR-71 model with that drone mounted to the back of the plane. I never knew that it was! You finally answered that question....it only took 36 years ha ha ha. Thank you!

[@brianmessemer2973]

Uses "thrice" in a sentence: +10,000xp

[@larjkok1184]

How else would you use it?

[@sidgar1]

@@larjkok1184 I think it wasn't a question of "how" as much as it was props for using the rare and archaic term.

[@anbitye2134]

@@sidgar1 Sounds like sarcasm tho

[@stevehuskey9037]

LMAO....achievement award

[@rhubarbpie2027]

Speech: 200

[@ppipowerclass]

AR-71 blackbird? Huh?

[@vxrdrummer]

I kept rewinding that bit to make sure that is what he said!!!

[@strategosopsikion8576]

He probably meant SR71. My guess is that it was just a flub.

[@96SN95]

I heard it too. Came down to see if anyone else noted it.

[@cheezyrider1111]

Wasn’t it an A-12 tho? It wasn’t even an sr-71 platform I believe

[@cam545]

@@vxrdrummer same

[@FireAngelZero]

Since I saw this in the intro of MGS3: Snake Eater where it launches off the A-12 carrying it... it was an amazing scene and an amazing drone.

[@jasongooden917]

The most amazing thing is Drones existed before color film.

[@kenweller2032]

Color film pre-dates WWII. Color photographic processes go back to the 19th century.

[@Phildo8]

Exactly! The bad part is if you were to ask a younger person today “when do they think military drones came into existence?” I’m sure you would either get “I have no clue” or “the military drones started with the Predator” seeing as most young ppl live on their phones nowadays it’s sad that the majority of them have absolutely no clue on anything to do with US History let alone global history! I wish Kelly Johnson would’ve named this drone “Baby Bird” or “Baby Blackbird”

[@frequentlycynical642]

There have been color films for over 100 years. The first "perfect" color film was Kodachrome in 1935.

[@beeleo]

Ahhh... no.

[@lookoutforchris]

Matt the Wizard of Oz was in color and was released in 1939. Technicolor goes back to 1916/1917, but wasn’t more widely used until it evolved into a more sophisticated form in the 1920s.

[@ThriftStoreHacker]

I think I saw one of these at the Pima Air Museum in Tucson. They have all kinds of random hardware, I suggest anyone that loves military aircraft to check it out. Takes a whole day to get through.

[@mikecowen6507]

Actually it's across the street at AMARG. Great tour, shame you can't get off the bus.

[@BrettonFerguson]

You should do a video on the "Phantom Fortress". A B-17 where the crew bailed out, the B-17 then continued to fly until it landed itself in a field next to an airstrip.

[@stevenduncan7380]

The first time I saw anything about the D21 was a plastic model of an SR-71 in the early 70s. In the early 90s, I actually saw them on their trailers in AMARC while stationed at Davis-Monthan.

[@diggingattycho7908]

There is a D-21 on display in the Pima Air Museum, right across the street from Davis-Mothan AFB(Tuscon, Azizona).

[@eatcommies1375]

Digging at Tycho I remember that drone sitting there behind the fence of the “scrap section”, during the next visit it was good to see it restored on display.

[@swaghauler8334]

I LOVE the Bone Yard!

[@Theodore355]

There is one also at the March Air Museum in California. It might be a replica though.

[@tempestfury8324]

@@Theodore355 : There is a drone in Santa Rosa, CA.😃

[@Kdschaak]

Evergreen Air and Space museum in McMinnville OR has an SR and D21 also.

[@exzackly__2314]

Thank you Dark Skies, one of these drones are in my local aviation park and ive always wondered why they put it next to an sr-71

[@nathanielbush703]

They have a D-21 at the Air Force Museum too. Although its not next to the SR-71 that the museum has on display. If you liked your local aviation park I'm sure you'd love the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio. They also have several planes that are either the last or one of the last of the type . For example, they have the last YF-12 in existence, the interceptor version of the A-12. I could talk for ages but I digress.

[@827Blacksunshine]

The Evergreen Air Museum in Mcminnville Oregon is pretty bad ass too, of course the H4 Hercules is the main attraction but they also have a Black Bird among other really cool planes and rockets/missles

[@echo5delta]

The “lost” drone that USSR recovered was planned. Skunkworks guys said they used horsehair and sawdust in the RAM coating and it was a complete middle finger that General Curtis LeMay and Kelly Johnson thought up. The complete story is in the book “Area 51” by Annie Jacobsen. If you like skunkworks stuff that book is great! It was like sitting around drinking with the old engineers telling stories that now are unclassified. Thanks to my brothers still “down range”!

[@adamfrbs9259]

That sounds crazy. But the book is real. Skunkworks is awesome, if I could go back in time I'd slap my 16 year old self to get in line and go work for them. Any other reading or cool stuff about Skunkworks you know of?

[@christopherleveck6835]

The only problem with Annie is that she takes what you can tell her and what you can't and then asks a bunch of really wierd questions while she sits with you and tries to read your facial expressions. I think she considers herself a good body language reader, and she isn't. So heres the problem with the US dropping a FU card on the russians. This is just one of many but it's probably the easiest to verify and just makes sense. These aircraft generate a lot of heat. So you couldn't just make them out of aluminum they would melt. And even steel, while WAY too heavy anyway, would loose a lot of its strength and become soft and pliable.... So the best metal around that could handle high heat and was super light was TITANIUM. But here is the rub. The only place at that time to get titanium was the Soviet Union. So the CIA was tasked with setting up dummy corporations and creating a long enough paper trail to hide the fact that the US was using titanium sourced from the Soviet Union to build aircraft that were being used to spy on the Soviet Union. DOH! So dropping a drone from high altitude at that speed from a SR-71 would require that it be made of titanium and that wasn't going to happen. Plus, there wasn't very much of the stuff in the world yet so we were hoarding it for ourselves.

[@chico305SIGMA]

@@christopherleveck6835 The Soviets eventually found out that the drone had Soviet Titanium. Lmao dam capitalist pigs.

[@tempestfury8324]

They have one of these drones at the Pacific Coast Aviation Museum in Santa Rosa, CA. They have a large variety of aircraft with the majority being Vietnam-era jets. It's definitely worth a visit for those in the area.

[@adedebabe9237]

The Soviets also had a supersonic reconnaissance drone in the 1960s. The Tu-123. Like the D-21 it was designed to return, drop the camera module and then crash. Sadly there is very little information on the Tupolev. There are however some videos of it taking off (looks pretty awsome wiith the solid rocket motors).

[@827Blacksunshine]

Have to say, while some of your videos provide identical information to others, I throughly enjoy how you present every subject matter. Keep it up man!

[@twism11]

The coolest ones carries snakes.

[@t1t0s89]

I've had it with these mf'ing snakes on this mf'ing..m drone.

[@shawnmott3826]

I was going to mention that 🤣

[@rifleshooterchannel208]

What a thrill...

[@twism11]

@@rifleshooterchannel208 ... With darkness and silence through the the night.

[@AgedSwissCheese]

Actually, the coolest ones carry enough bombs to wipe out entire countries. :)

[@makingtechsense126]

The SR-71 engines are both turbo jet AND ram jet.

[@rifleshooterchannel208]

Truth. There were some SR-71 pilots with hats that simply said “6+” which seems to hint at the capability of the SR71, when running full balls to the wall and the engines are functioning as ramjets, that it can push Mach 6.

[@RapideWombaticus]

Turbo Ram Jet... correct

[@MisterCOM]

The drones just had the ramjet functionality this is why they had to mount boosters when they launched them from the b52

[@Laotzu.Goldbug]

@@rifleshooterchannel208 I'm sure the SR-71 was a very fast aircraft. A Mach *6* aircraft however it most definitely was not, which would be well into the Hypersonic range and something that even today we have not done. Obviously exact numbers are still unavailable, but best estimates put it somewhere in the mid-to-high Mach 3 range (once heard 3.6 quoted)

[@iainbagnall4825]

@@rifleshooterchannel208 Materials say no.

[@CrisisActorJonsiri]

I made Revell static model kit of the SR-71 that came with this UAV, or drone. This "drone" is very futuristic looking and apparently requires an in-flight blow start.

[@AhdiTheGreat]

Why is he saying ar 71 I'm confused

[@chrisw5150]

I love a blow start myself

[@rickc2102]

There's an SR-71 at the airforce museum in Atwater, CA, near my old hometown. I visited it a half dozen times, was very cool.

[@TheSnivilous]

I had that same model! I was always curious what it was and had never seen much information about it prior to this video.

[@spencerwalden3045]

@@AhdiTheGreat i had to watch it twice to make sure i really heard ar 71

[@filamrider]

Drone in 62? Wow..... I just got my first in drone in early 2020.... 60 yrs after....that 's in the 60's imagine what they have now holy moly....what else we dont know.

[@briansparks8528]

When I was prospecting for gold in Arizona in the late 70’s with a metal detector I kept finding lumps of metal about half the size of a coke can which later I was told it was titanium , now I’m thinking maybe parts of a exploding drone?

[@echo5delta]

Maybe. Or any number of lost aircraft from Skunk Works. I like hunting in the desert for those crashes. Great finds! Didn’t know titanium would set off metal detector?

[@briansparks8528]

@@echo5delta Yes anything metallic now I often find titanium jewelry rings etc .Yes still out there searching thanks for replying.

[@briansparks8528]

@Tsunauticus III Most of those areas are grazing country for cattle with some mining leases but with proper research you should be able to get permission .Always get permission to enter any private land Good luck .

[@michaelmace924]

@@briansparks8528 it's better to ask for forgiveness than permission. 😉

[@raynic1173]

Did you ever take a geiger-counter to it?

[@MyNameIsMontague]

Ben Rich, who was the head of Skunk Works ( creator of the blackbird family ) said that the D-21 was actually capable of hypersonic travel, Mach 6+

[@michael_mouse]

7:32 ... I bet the USSR got a shock when they discovered the monocoque body was constructed with Russian manufactured titanium!

[@unfortunately_fortunate2000]

they probably didn't know. or they'd of stopped selling to all the CIA's shell corporations.

[@waterwarriors911]

We have one of those sitting on full display at the March AFB Museum. Very Cool. Also an SR 71, Such a great place to spend some quality time.

[@ussvincent1119]

Xbox Series X: Mini-Fridge PS5: Wifi-Router Apple PC: Cheese Grater Nintendo Switch: Toaster oven D-21: Hot Dog

[@UnicornMeat512]

I saw one of these at an air force base when I was a boy scout. We were there for the jamboree and it was parked next to an SR71. I thought it was the coolest thing ever

[@Fightre_Flighte]

Good vid. Couple corrections: *SR-71 *Turbo/Ramjet This whole story has been very interesting, and it was fun learning about the D-21. I had seen a lot of pictures, but never even knew what it was called.

[@maxant4285]

*D-21

[@forzaisspeed]

D-21 not D-12.

[@WalrusWinking]

No not an SR-71 The mothership was based on the blackbirds design.

[@Fightre_Flighte]

@@WalrusWinking He said SR-12 in the video, when talking about what the D-21's mothership was based on.

[@Fightre_Flighte]

@@maxant4285 thanks

[@kh40yr]

Laid my hands on one of those. Helped move them heavy haul. Hauled 3 together actually. But first,,they had to be stripped of the green interior frame cobalt paint,,so as not to set off radiological decectors during transport,,,and disposal,,or museum. if your a AvNut like me,,you might remember that quick blob it made in the news,,,,of the cobalt paint. Hardly zero activity,,but still considered radioactive waste. It was used alot on alot of aircraft. Special mix for the D-21. Mostly removed for the ones headed to museums. The Avro Blue Steel rocket missile looks incredibly similar to the D-21. The Blue Steel came online in 63,,a year after the D-21 deal was started.. The Brits made 53 operational "live rounds" of the Blue Steel. The slow mo head-on launch footage on here also shows the impending shadow as the drone comes back down after engine stall,,just before it crashes into the Blackbird and then breakup of both at speed. Rear seater got wrapped up in chute risers after high speed exit trauma and drowned sadly. Still cant find my pics of the D-21's. The search continues.

[@paintnamer6403]

I think of Metal Gear Solid 3, good times.

[@iainbagnall4825]

If you live in California and want to come see one of these drones and even walk right up to it, there is one at the Pacific Coast Aircraft Museum in Santa Rosa California. I went to go check it out about a month ago, its open and very quiet with the whole Covid situation, the man in charge had to go run some errands so he locked me in for an hour and it was my own "night in the museum", except in the middle of the day. :)

[@YeOldeThrashDude]

@1:21 The AR-71? Conflating the A-12 and the SR-71?

[@Ean.oo7]

and prior to the secret skunkworks corvette model : ZR-71.

[@twism11]

Like Elon Musk did

[@goofygal27]

It's 56 better than the AR-15

[@Acroposthion]

AR-71 = a special, above-top-secret collaborative project including Lockheed, and Eugene Stoner’s Armalite weapons manufacturing.

[@Justanotherconsumer]

Probably a typo, A is right next to S.

[@pumelo1]

You're all talking about the SR-71, but the D-21 has nothing to do with it. The carrier D-21 was a redesigned A-12 called M-21 SR-71 was created after that!

[@adamjhuber]

The D-21 drone was a complete failure.....so let’s strap a nuclear weapon to it. WTF!

[@stevehuskey9037]

I kinda thought the same thing...but they wanted Nukes on everything back then. What about a nuclear artillery shell....WTF ??? No point in running , you'd just die winded.

[@195511SM]

Interesting. I recall building an SR-71 model, s a kid in the 1960s. I bought another kit a few years ago ( Revell 1/72 scale ).....& noticed it included one of these things. I'll have to save the link to your video, so that when I do eventually get around to building it.....you've given me some good references.

[@davidcann6021]

If they secretly had that 5 years ago, think what's around today....

[@AtheistOrphan]

David Cann - 5 years ago? Try FIFTY years ago!

[@ChanE314]

There always 20 years ahead. Usually the military whenever they unveil a "NEW" aircraft that's cutting edge, is a plane that they built and tested and flew secretly around 20 years beforehand. So if the f22 raptor and the f35 are the new 5th generation fighter/air superiority aircraft that are top of the line. Imagine what they are building and testing now!? The us never wants to show it's hand when it comes to military might. Uncle Sam has a mean poker face! Lol

[@ChanE314]

😆😆 at 1:21 he said the AR-71 BLACKBIRD, instead of A-12 or SR-71! I know it's a small mistake. But I'm a stickler and it's funny!😆 you kno u are an aircraft nerd when u r actually paying attention to something else with the video playing in the back ground and u r able to pick up that mislabel, as soon as it was said!😆

[@stonefox9124]

The UFO of yesterday was actually the government tec of today...

[@patelivid1637]

Kyle Chaney soccer punch you with missiles and aircraft you never seen.

[@coldheartedone2804]

Never knew the sr71 could be a mother ship platform... Guess you learn something new every day

[@Jay-ln1co]

"Snake, you're being given an honor on par with Alan Shepard."

[@bassmith448bassist5]

The film bucket also contained a salt plug. If the recovery aircraft missed and the naval ship couldn't find it, after a preset time of exposure to seawater the plug would dissolve and the bucket would sink. Assuring that the film couldn't be recovered by the enemy.

[@globalautobahn1132]

Did he just say “THE AR 71 BLACKBIRD” 😆🤣😂

[@globalautobahn1132]

Is that like an upgraded version of an AR15? Hahahahaha

[@bumpedhishead636]

In Kelly Johnson's autobiography, he talks about his idea of just dropping a large, heavy aerodynamic chunk of depleted uranium from an A-12 going Mach 3+ and then just letting it go ballistic to the target. The kinetic energy would be enough to penetrate the deepest Soviet bunkers with zero radiation...

[@tlamn1905]

Random fact: The D-21?and M-12 designations strand for Daughter-21 and Mother-12

[@georgeniebling6566]

D for Drone

[@lukStSerb]

@@georgeniebling6566 ..nope, D is for Draken and 21 is for MIG-21..

[@danven1256]

A number of years ago I had the privilege of going into Beale air Force Base with my next door neighbor who is retired from the air Force. We ran across a display with a SR-71 and the D21 drone. I spent about a half an hour doing a walk around. Both were fascinating aircraft. I think you can view them by way of Google Earth.

[@raycar1165]

Why or how did GI Joe know about all this stuff back in the 80's

[@827Blacksunshine]

Lots of projects are known of not long after retirement but exact details and mission profiles are what usually is kept secret.

[@raybritton2923]

Raycar It wasn’t secret in the ‘80s The drone had even made the mainstream media during the Vietnam war period due to failures and crashes.

[@fredsmith2277]

HOW TO DEFEAT KZbin ADS. if you click on the reverse or forward buttons on the top left corner, you can skip ads, by clicking reverse then forward, the original video clip comes back without the ad. if the forward or reverse is blank, click on another video clip on the right, then click reverse arrow top left and the original video clip comes back to the same point you left off at, without having to watch those annoying ads

[@watertriton]

They have one of these on the right Patterson Air Force Museum Dayton Ohio.

[@willgaukler8979]

Greg Walker ....sure do...saw it live in 1971...Wright Patterson was my last ATC assignment..after Namn...

[@huh4233]

@@willgaukler8979 I was at Wright in 2000. My wife's family member was inducted in the NAHF. The family was invited to see his aircraft, as it wasn't in the exhibit hall for public to view at the time. There were about 8 of us left alone to scrutinize his A/C. While in this hangar alone, I noticed the D-21 in the same hangar over in the corner. After checking out the family member aircraft, I was able to go over and scrutinize the D-21 alone, for a good amount of time. Fascinating, especially because the minute I saw, I knew exactly what I was looking at!

[@kolecava]

1960s lads, trust me, 50 years forward the technology that both US, Russia and China have must surely be unbelievable.

[@spamjosh6526]

There’s also a D-21 at the Santa Rosa sir museum

[@Thorgon-Cross]

sadly not on display, last i saw it was just sitting off to the side of stuff with weeds starting to grow into it. Such a waste.

[@secretasianman7622]

I went to Beijing a couple of years ago and visited their military museum. I saw the wreckage of a U2. Didn’t get to go to the aviation museum where the D21 is at.

[@danm936]

Sweet video love these early era drones. Do a video if you haven't on the drones used in Vietnam.

[@willgaukler8979]

...they were still killing people the old way with guns and napalm..when I was there...drones do sound more like a new solider of 2020 tho..less feeding and housing cost too...

[@StandbyCymbalist]

At the Museum of Flight in Seattle you can come view the whole set. A D-21b Drone perched atop the sole surviving M-21 mother-ship (similar to A-12 and Blackbird), and a B-52g.

[@Kinnune2]

Love your vidoes, keep it up

[@dx1450]

Drone enthusiast: I got a drone which can fly up to 1000 feet and take pictures. Lockheed: That's cute. Can it do Mach 3?

[@jasongooden917]

Satellites cannot be shot at or captured by the enemy.. Space Force: Challenge accepted.

[@solountipomas8616]

That will be next level.

[@MichaelSHartman]

China has shot down an old satellite with a missile after it closely passed an American satellite.

[@solountipomas8616]

Well 6th generation fighters should be able to fly higher and faster with jet+ramjet motors, 7th generation should be able to scape earth gravity, go anywhere and destroy satelites and ICBMs at space.

[@michaelmace924]

@Loli4lyf pics or it never happened

[@michaelmace924]

@Loli4lyf FYI I'm only joking. I heard about it too.

[@jasonGreenVw]

There was a GI Joe toy plane in the 1980s that was basically a SR71 Blackbird and it had a small plane in the place of the drone. I just think it's funny that they didn't declassifie it till 99 when there was such a similar toy in the 80s.

[@jollystniick]

1:20 everyone's favorite plane: the AR 71 (I realize it's probably a typo but come on man)

[@NibNa5ty]

Yeah I just caught that too lol

[@diggingattycho7908]

It would have been funny if his typo was RS-71. Some will get this.

[@jollystniick]

@@diggingattycho7908 A certain president would get a kick out of that

[@diggingattycho7908]

@@jollystniick That's what I would be afraid of. :)

[@vxrdrummer]

@@diggingattycho7908 Ha ha Carter would be bouncing!!!

[@Phildo8]

Not only did drones exist before color film but when u try to imagine traveling at Mach 3-3.5 at altitudes of 80,000ft and having a camera capable of taking clear photos at that altitude and speed in the 1960s imagine what the cameras of today are capable of!! Especially the still classified cameras in use today! I’m sure they can probably play connect the dots with a persons freckles who was photographed walking down the street & likely from way higher in altitude and way faster than Mach 3!! 😱

[@MrBrandoncal]

"The antagonistic nation..."??? The US had bases surrounding them and was flying over their airspace temporarily. Did the USSR ever do that to the US? Seems like the antagonist was the US.

[@hugh212]

Did you even read his comment?

[@RidinDirtyRollinBurnouts]

USSR made regular incursions into allied airspace with TU-95s like Alaska and England, its not exactly one-sided

[@Desrtfox71]

There are many forms of antagonizing and both nations accused the other of such. The US proposed Open Skies in 1955 to which the Soviets refused. One could argue that reconnaissance gathering, no matter how it was done, served to de-escalate the cold war due to providing much needed accurate information rather than relying on exaggeration and posturing.

[@williambrown1095]

I was there in the sixties. The Russians didn't need to fly over us. They just bought a ticket and visited. trying to pretend they weren't planning to destroy us is just silly.

[@eatcommies1375]

Looks like Brandon grew up cucked in the west in his “safe space”, try growing up in Poland under soviet occupation and than you can talk “how evil and antagonistic US is” THANK YOU 🇺🇸 for keeping soviets in check!!

[@AEZMKURST]

I live right by Lockheed, Northrop Grumman,NASA and they have both SR71s on display as well as the drone so cool to see up close plus we get to see them fly a bunch of cool toys

[@mech-E]

There is a drone mothership pair in Seattle at The Museum of Flight.

[@Icehawk_9]

Pic at 9:55 :D

[@billysgeo]

"M-21 on D-21" and "D-21 on B-52" the most futuristic photos that was actual reality!

[@paulh2468]

The narrator needs to ease off on the 10 cups of coffee before working. He talked so fast, I started to get a caffeine buzz myself.

[@Kstapf3]

playback speed-.75...problem solved😊

[@thatoneguywhodoesthatthing913]

What a lot of people don’t know was during desert storm on the first night of strikes into Baghdad the main body of strike craft came in behind a blanket of decoy drones.

[@jsdf7200]

mgs3でスネークが乗っていたのはこれか！

[@kanagawayarichin]

Snake crashed the drone in ロシア

[@TexansForChrist]

Now my favorite youtube channel. Gosh, even the music is perfect. Great stuff!

[@realdarthplagueis]

Kelly Johnson, when men were men.

[@ppipowerclass]

@Hammer Of Crom Exactly. Just like Carroll Shelby. They had to make really fast vehicles to get away from people to prevent people beating the crap out of them.

[@Margarinetaylorgrease]

And women were chained to the sink.

[@chrisw5150]

@D E 😅

[@chrisw5150]

There are still a gew men around, there will be more in the next generation i believe. Because weak men cause hard times, vica versa, the same results

[@FireAngelZero]

Days you could walk into the office hammered and still open a bottle of scotch and keep the buzz going...

[@jayhershey7525]

This guy said, ". . . regardless of whether it actually launched an attack." I congratulate him. He didn't use the redundancy, "or not," with the word, "whether." Well done!

[@supdude5194]

That's what's important in this document of a highly technological masterpiece?

[@supdude5194]

😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣

[@hacker007300]

Jezus slow down, i tought i was on 1.5x

[@cam545]

play it back at 0.75 if you don't like it

[@kimrosland]

Somehow playback at 0.75% makes your videos so much better. Playblack at normal speed sound speed up.

[@yurtsalon]

nah it sounds all robotic

[@kd7bwb12]

This video was in my KZbin recommended page... This the second 'Dark Skies' video I have watched all the way through. This one has the same problem as the first one. Your narrator has no idea about speed of read text or pacing. Get someone else to read the copy... please.

[@PeugeotRocket]

Agreed. I can't say I'll be watching again. The narrator speaks way too fast.

[@biomecraft356]

At least he's concise.

[@kd7bwb12]

@@biomecraft356 Uh... okay...

[@rwfrench66GenX]

They should make a movie about Kelly Johnson and Skunk Works!

[@zorngottes1778]

The SR 71 had turboramjets

[@unfortunately_fortunate2000]

I thought it was turbo/ram? though I get the feeling that's what you're talking about.

[@SgtHenick]

I saw one fly over the NASA part of Langley in 1999 or 2000. I was active Army out of Ft. Eustis however I lived with my girlfriend in her apartment right outside Langley. Went right over my head, low altitude

[@igotaction]

1:22 misspoke and said AR-71 blackbird not SR-71 Blackbird mixing the A-12 Oxcart and SR-71

[@twism11]

Yeah, he had an Elon Musk moment. At least, not while naming his child.

[@MultiM4rty]

Or did he accidently confirm the existence of a top secret Blackbird ground attack variant?

[@Acroposthion]

The cheese is old and moldy. Where is the bathroom?

[@colonelstriker2519]

Lol

[@ShinVega]

This is your best video yet. Thank You!!

[@556m4]

“Thrice”

[@brianmessemer2973]

There it is ☝️

[@porscheguy09]

The Boeing Museum of Flight near Seattle has a M-21 with a D-21 drone mounted on the fuselage in display in the main exhibit hall. It’s one of my favorite aircraft that the Museum of Flight has.

[@htscalemodelarmour8768]

Does this bloke get paid for how many words per minute?

[@ericwilliams7374]

That's what I wanna know!!???

[@ekoden]

Seen one of these at the Udvar-Hazy wing of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. Awesome place.

[@GBLynden]

You talk too fast. Take a breath dude

[@Wideoval73]

Another really informative video. Thanks. This is an excellent KZbin site and my favorite.

[@joeshmoe9978]

Loved the B-52 with drones photo at 3:44! 👍

[@richardpark3054]

There is a D-21 on display at the Santa Rosa, CA, (Charles Schulz Airport) air museum. If you're interested.

[@tsparky9196]

If you want to see one, go to the Blackbird Airpark in Palmdale CA. They have one on display along with an A12 and SR71.

[@pirobot668beta]

Hey! We have one of these in a museum in Seattle! It's mounted on the last M-21... What's really cool is the display along side the M-21; A J58 engine in all its glory! They even have a training cockpit you can climb into.

[@s0nnyburnett]

Too pure for this world. Engineer's wet dream to be a part of a project like that.

[@brianhiles8164]

Imagine the irony: The USSR makes a clone of the D-21 in the same titanium alloy that it knows of a retrieved crashed D-21, itself fabricated with the same titanium alloy as had been utilized to build the A-12/SR-71 -- this titanium having been all procured by the CIA years before through a large covert purchase from the Soviet Union, then the only source of sufficient qualities of that rare metal! I believe it was from Ben Rich´s book, _The Skunk Works,_ wherein the author surmises the many D-21 failures were the direct result of its many Air Force training stripdowns and rebuilds, while they were stored waiting to be deployed.

[@robertphillips6296]

Have you done one on the Nuclear Powered, Nuclear Bomber? It was developed as an unmanned drone as well. After delivering it Nuclear Payload it would continue to fly over the target area and spew radiation, having double deadly effect. No operational prototype was built and the project was cancelled.

[@ChanE314]

The SLAM missle was a nasty weapon. Thank god it was never used in combat. Cuz like u said being nuclear powered it spreads fallout while flying. And can carry multiple nuclear warheads. So technically it could be launched and fly towards it's pre designated targets and drop it's payloads. And then can continue to just fly around making passes over the targeted country's air space irradiating the entire area, for as long as it wants! Cuz being nuclear powered it had unlimited range and could stay airborne pretty much indefinitely! And then it could also crash itself at high velocity into another target after it dropped it's payloads and finished irradiating the airspace.. nuclear weapons are cruel enough if your unfortunate enough to get caught far enough out of range to not be vaporized instantly and instead die slowly of radiation poisoning. But the fact that they were ok with flying the SLAM over highly populated civilian areas just spewing dirty radiation everywhere it went instead of just a tactical nuclear nuclear strike. Is pretty damn cruel. I believe that's one of the reasons it was never used and was scrapped shortly after development. But the cold war was a dangerous scary mysterious time.for everyone on both sides! Both USA and USSR pretty much just were having a pissing match with each other, trying to argue who has the bigger dick. And the fear and promise of mutually assured destruction. Scared everyone enough to take their train of thought to some severely cruel and dark methods

[@mattihaapoja8203]

What a twist at 4:00. Wasn't expecting that title for the next chapter.

[@kylealexander7024]

Ive seen one 2x at the museum of flight in tukwila, wa (seattle). It is mounted on the aircraft along with an sr71 cockpit u can sit in. U dont realize how big these aircraft are til u see em. D21 mounted is about 25 ft in the air at least

[@robertmaybeth3434]

Kelly Johnson is one of the greatest Americans of the twentieth century.

[@rossiFandallas]

I'd love to see what you can dig up and show on Aurora technology, DS.

[@DANTHETUBEMAN]

Nothing yet,, turns out the USA government is vary good at keeping secrets

[@pauls.3400]

Happy to have you guys on my side!🇺🇸🙃🕵