May 1, 2021
How the SR-71 Blackbird Outran Over 4,000 Incoming Missiles
The SR-71 Blackbird was never once shot down through more than three decades of reconnaissance missions.
by Stephen Silver
Here's What You Need to Remember: According to a 2017 report by Airman magazine, “the Blackbird evaded all 4,000 missiles fired at it and, to this day, remains the only Air Force aircraft to never lose a crewmember associated with it; whether in the air or on the ground.”
The SR-71 Blackbird is widely known as the highest-performance military jet in U.S. history. In its life, which extended from the 1960s all the way through the 1990s, the spy plane flew ever higher and faster. In fact, the SR-71 Blackbird was never once shot down through more than three decades of reconnaissance missions. This is despite those dangerous missions were usually over enemy territory and that the plane, if hit, could have been taken out.
Just how many anti-aircraft missiles missed the Blackbird over the course of its life? According to one measure, that number is somewhere around 4,000.
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/reboot/how-sr-71-blackbird-outran-over-4000-incoming-missiles-184144
