Swedish Pilot Flew Alongside a Crippled SR-71 Blackbird That Normally Hit Mach 3 With Russian MiGs Were In Pursuit -- Here Is What Happened Next

On June 29, 1987, an American SR-71 Blackbird (serial 61-7964, “Rapid Rabbit”) was flying a Cold War reconnaissance route over the Baltic when one of its Pratt & Whitney J58 engines suffered a disabling failure. The setback forced the pilot to throttle back and descend sharply from the jet’s usual Mach 3, roughly 80,000-foot profile to about 25,000 feet, reducing its ability to evade interceptors. With the SR-71 suddenly vulnerable, Soviet MiG-25 Foxbats were reportedly dispatched. The Swedish Air Force, although officially neutral, monitored the “Baltic Express” with sophisticated radar.