Why No Crewed Aircraft Has Beaten The SR-71's Speed Or Altitude Records In 26 Years

No crewed aircraft has beaten the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird’s headline speed and altitude records in 26 years, even though the jet’s last flight came at the end of the 20th century. NASA says the SR-71’s final decade became a Mach 3 “flying wind tunnel,” supporting work that influenced programs such as the X-33 aerospike and modern sonic-boom research. Built to reduce vulnerability to Soviet-era radar and surface-to-air missiles, it first flew on December 22, 1964 and entered service in 1966 with the 4200th (later 9th) Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at Beale AFB, California.