On Tue, 02 Dec 2003 01:29:36 GMT, Chad Irby wrote:

In article ,
"Brian" wrote:

Missiles like the SA-12/20 and SM-2 have incredibly high speeds and
altitudes.....the SR-71 is not in a favorable position being up in the sky
with no clutter around. If it could reach M3.2 on the deck, there would be
more problems with targeting.

You have to remember that the SAM-20 tops out at about 4600 MPH, about a
third faster than the SR-71, which makes it a *lot* easier to spoof the
missile's radar, and doesn't give it enough of a speed advantage to make
a strong chance of catching a Mach-3+ aircraft from behind.


Why the fixation of hitting the aircraft from behind? The idea with a
SAM is to hit the target from the front BEFORE it's dropped it's bombs
or hit the target. The reason I think the Bomarc would have a fair
chance is because it certainly had the altitude and head to head it
doesn't have to chase it down. They'd have seen it far enough out and
with that 400 plus mile range it's going to be at speed and altitude
well before the Blackbird would be overhead. Hell even the limited
maneuvering the Blackbird could do at Mach 3 wouldn't help it because
the Bomarc had the energy to maneuver too.