The Blackbird Fighter Was The Ultimate Interceptor

On the 25th of August 1966 a JQB-47 target drone was struck by a missile near Eglin Air Force Base in California. The firing aircraft was travelling at Mach 3.2 at 75,000 feet. The JQB-47 was 40 miles away at 15,000. Even so, the experimental AIM-47 scored a direct hit. Every single thing about this shot was remarkable, including, sadly, the fact that the prototype aircraft that fired it was never selected for series production. It was, of course, the YF-12, a fighter derivative of the CIA’s A-12 Oxcart spy plane. Had it entered service then it would have been by far the most sophisticated pure-bred interceptor to be used in an operational capacity. This video describes the aircraft and its capabilities.

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