{"id":441336,"date":"2026-05-30T00:00:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T14:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/simpleflying.com\/sr-71-blackbird-secret-drone-sibling-flew-4-misions-failed-every-one\/"},"modified":"2026-05-30T00:00:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T14:00:18","slug":"the-sr-71-blackbirds-secret-drone-sibling-flew-4-missions-failed-every-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=441336","title":{"rendered":"The SR-71 Blackbird’s Secret Drone Sibling Flew 4 Missions & Failed Every One"},"content":{"rendered":"

In some ways, the Lockheed<\/a><\/span> D-21 spy drone appears as a program ahead of its time. In other ways, it is a reminder of a pre-digital and pre-satellite world, and a time long before Google Maps’ satellite view existed. The D-21 was an early attempt to replace or complement manned reconnaissance flights over hostile territory following the development of effective Soviet surface-to-air missile defense systems that rendered even high-flying high-Mach aircraft vulnerable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The D-21 drone was developed to be an early spy drone carried by an SR-71-related aircraft and then B-52, but failed on every mission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[396,3298,1626],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-441336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aircraft","category-spy-plane","category-sr-71"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t