For a big chunk of the Cold War, the U.S. Air Force turned to the SR-71 Blackbird for many of its most important spy missions. The jet-black jet could fly at more than three times the speed of sound at altitudes of 85,000 feet, faster and higher than anything adversaries had to counter it. The last of the Blackbirds flew in 1999, and the U.S. military hasn't had anything close since. Now, Lockheed-Martin, the maker of the SR-71, says the "Son of the Blackbird," the SR-72, is in the works, and it will be twice as fast as and way more lethal than its father. That's because the SR-72 will be designed to launch missiles, something the SR-71 didn't do.
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SR-72 could fly six times the speed of sound
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"Son of Blackbird" would be a drone, be able to launch missiles
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Aircraft could be operational by 2030, Lockheed Martin says
And, by the way, the @placeholder is envisioned as a drone, unlike the original Blackbird with its crew of two: a pilot and a reconnaissance officer to operate its radar jammers and spy gear.