BLACKBIRD IN TROUBLE

At Mach 3, all emergencies are serious

- BY WARREN E. THOMPSON

As the jet age emerged after World War II, it became a rat race between Russia, England and the United States as to who had the most effective fighter interceptor. This was especially important to the Russians because they had always put their emphasis on defense. In this realm, it was about even, with the U.S. always dominant in long range bombers. However, in the early 1960s, Lockheed’s Skunk Works came up with a reconnaissance airframe that the Soviets would never have an answer to, and it became known as the SR-71A Blackbird. With a crew of two, its superior altitude (85,000 feet) combined with blinding speed (Mach 3.2+) allowed it to overfly any country in the world with complete safety. Until satellite surveillance came into its own, the Blackbird reigned supreme, providing excellent intelligence pictures of what a potential adversary was up to. During the war in Vietnam, the SR-71 was a crucial weapon that could handle recon flights over China, North Vietnam and other neighboring countries. Each pilot that flew these missions would have many interesting tales to tell and one of these involved Blackbird pilot Lt. Colonel Buddy Brown. He was assigned to Detachment OL-8 and he flew the first SR-71 from Beale AFB across the Pacific to Kadena (#978) on March 8, 1968 to begin the Blackbird’s initial combat operations.

This story occurred later that month while on a mission launched out of Kadena AB and would include a flight path between China and Taiwan, through the Formosa Straits collecting ELINT (electronic intelligence) from mainland China. From there, Lt. Col. Brown would fly over the Gulf of Tonkin and North Vietnam, refueling over Thailand and then a reverse route back to Okinawa ... that is, if everything went according to plan. The main purpose of the flight was to collect photo intelligence of targets in North Vietnam.