“In the late 1980s and early 1990s it was believed that a top-secret reconnaissance aircraft, capable of flying at speeds beyond Mach 6, was developed to replace the SR-71 Blackbird. The alleged project was detailed in mainstream media including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Jane’s Defence Weekly, and Aviation Week & Space Technology.
source.image: Found And Explained
The name Aurora was included in a Pentagon budget request in 1985, perhaps inadvertently, underneath reconnaissance programs of the SR-71 and U-2. The Aurora has been attributed to scores of unidentified aircraft reports around the world, including a 1989 sighting from an oil platform in the North Sea, a series of mysterious sonic booms over Southern California in 1991-92, and photographs of unusual “donuts-on-a-rope” contrails.
It was believed that the SR-75 was designed as a reconnaissance drone mother-ship. In 1995, U.S. congress approved $100 million to bring the SR-71’s back into service. The SR-75 Penetrator is described as a large, triangular-shaped delta aircraft with a single vertical tail and two engines mounted on the rear.
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The SR-75 Penatrator project was abandoned, either due to expense or technical difficulties, and that the SR-71 had to be brought back to resume its mobile surveillance role. It is said to be powered by a combination of ramjets and scramjets, which allow it to fly at speeds of Mach 5 and above.
- Type: Strategic reconnaissance aircraft
- Purpose: Replacement for the SR-71 Blackbird
- Span: 97ft.
- Length: 160ft.
- Engine: 4x combination of ramjets and scramjets engines
- Max.speed: Mach 3.3 – 5.
- Crew: 3
- Max altitude: 100,000 feet
