Key Points and Summary – The SR-71 retired in 1999, but its rumored successor—the SR-72 “Darkstar”—keeps resurfacing.
-Lockheed’s Skunk Works has teased a Mach-6 concept using a turbine-based combined cycle engine, while reports cite cost overruns on a classified program and new Skunk Works facilities that could house large prototypes.
SR-72 artist image. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
-Top Gun: Maverick amplified interest, though its Darkstar was a cinematic shell, not a flyable vehicle.
-Hypersonic flight demos, DARPA activity, and investor filings suggest something beyond paper studies, yet Washington has offered no confirmation.
Bottom line: there’s smoke—TBCC research, infrastructure, and spend—but until an official reveal, the SR-72 remains an intriguing, unproven ghost.
SR-72 “Darkstar”: Hype, Hints, and What Might Be Flying at Skunk Works
The legendary SR-71 Blackbird was retired in 1990. The jet was briefly revived in the 1990s, but it went away for good around the turn of the millennium, with its final flight taking place in 1999. There was discussion about one more revival following the 9/11 attacks, but that never came to pass. Most of the Blackbirds ended up in museums.
Since that time, speculation has abounded that the concept could get a sequel in the form of an SR-72.
Such a jet has been teased several times over the years in the form of investor pitches, and it even made an appearance in a hugely popular Hollywood movie. But the existence of any such project remains unconfirmed.
Tales of the Skunk Works
In 2013, Aviation Week reported that some journalists got a look inside the company’s Skunk Works division and got to see evidence of a striking new project. The product has been nicknamed “DarkStar.”
SR-72 Darkstar. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
The jet was promised to be the same size as the SR-71, but with a top speed around Mach 6, it would be able to go twice as fast as the Mach-3 Blackbird.
“The new SR-72 has long been rumored and debated, and is part of the U.S. Air Force’s plan for hypersonic capabilities that will allow fast reaction for gathering intelligence around the world,” Wired magazine wrote at the time. “A Mach 6 airplane fills the gap between current surveillance aircraft that can loiter for long periods of time, but don’t have the ability to transit to a new area quickly.”
The 2013 report added that the SR-72 would use a turbine-based combined cycle (TBCC) engine. Lockheed Martin also said at the time that it “may have a scaled demonstrator of the SR-72 technology flying by 2023.” The then-chief of staff of the Air Force denied knowledge of any such program, and indeed no such plane flew by 2023.
But according to an Aviation Week report in 2017, Lockheed stated that “hypersonic technologies are now sufficiently mature to enable progress towards a flight demonstrator.” And in February of this year, the publication reported on the existence of a “secretive DARPA office” that was working on a large hypersonic bomber prototype.
The Other Star of Top Gun: Maverick
In the 2022 film Top Gun: Maverick, the sequel to 1986’s Top Gun, Tom Cruise’s naval pilot Pete “Maverick” Mitchell is seen flying a jet called the DarkStar that resembles the previous renderings of the SR-72.
The plot establishes that Maverick has some supervisory authority over the program, which his superiors are trying to cancel. He flies the jet on a training flight, exceeds Mach 10 against orders, and ultimately destroys the prototype.
For those looking for clues about the jet’s timing, the film’s release was long delayed, due to the Covid-19 pandemic and restrictions to movie theaters. It was shot in 2018 and 2019, well before it was released in the summer of 2022.
Lockheed Martin in 2022 touted the inclusion of the technology, with an article on its website titled “Lockheed Martin Technology Soars on the Big Screen.”
SR-72 Darkstar Plane. Image Credit: Lockheed Martin Handout.
SR-72 Darkstar or Son of Blackbird. Image Credit: Lockheed Martin.
“Maverick exceeded Mach 10 when he piloted a conceptual hypersonic aircraft, known as Darkstar, designed by the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works team in the recent Top Gun: Maverick film,” the company’s article says. “Darkstar’s capabilities met Maverick’s ‘need for speed,’ pushing the boundaries of flight to support a critical mission.”
The film joined a tradition, dating back to the silent era and continuing through Casablanca and Air Force One, of military technology, including from Lockheed, appearing in Hollywood movies.
“From Iron Man to The Avengers, Lockheed Martin aircraft including the F-35, F-22, F-16 and SR-71 have starred on screen next to superheroes,” Lockheed Martin stated.
F/A-18E/F Super Hornets are used to fly the main mission in the film, which involves a daring attack on a weapons facility in an unnamed foreign country. Eventually Maverick and “Rooster” fly an F-14 purloined from the fictional enemy country.
As in the first film, Top Gun: Maverick left the geography and geopolitics of the foreign adversary ambiguous.
The Status?
Its inclusion in the Top Gun movie led to a new wave of interest in the SR-72.
So, where do things stand now for the potential future Darkstar? Simple Flying looked at that question in September.
“It’s a topic that taps into both cutting-edge aerospace innovation and global strategic balance, with implications for reconnaissance, rapid strike options, and the future of military aviation,” Simple Flying wrote, adding that there was evidence that the program “has moved beyond a paper concept and may be progressing toward operational hardware.”
The latest indications are that “Skunk Works is not simply building scale models or test rigs. Instead, the weight of circumstantial evidence points toward a program quietly advancing behind the curtain of secrecy.”=
The report points to SEC filings indicating that Lockheed has exceeded its budget by $335 million on a mysterious project. That would indicate there is “an expectation of eventual Pentagon reimbursement, suggesting that the Department of Defense has at least a tacit buy-in to cover costs.”
Another clue that an SR-72 may indeed be in the works is that Lockheed Martin has completed construction on Building 648 at Skunk Works—a location that could house just such a large project.
The article adds that the version seen in Top Gun: Maverick isn’t exactly the one that might actually exist.
“The cinematic Darkstar was intentionally altered for dramatic effect. Sharper stealth-like angles, exaggerated dimensions, and a futuristic canopy were chosen to disguise any real specifications while still evoking Lockheed’s hypersonic research,” Simple Flying writes.
“Unlike the real SR-72 concept, which is expected to use a turbine-based combined cycle (TBCC) engine for Mach 6 flight and carry out reconnaissance or strike missions, the movie jet was an empty shell filled with special effects. Yet by grounding the design in real hypersonic studies, the filmmakers made the idea of such an aircraft both believable and exciting to audiences worldwide.”
We likely won’t know the truth until there is some official announcement from Lockheed Martin or the government.
About the Author: Stephen Silver
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist, and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review, and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, national security, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
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