Prowlus wrote:
"JASON BOWMAN" wrote in message
...
OK, am I thinking of the wrong thing then? I know the A-12 as the
attack
version of the SR-71. Someone said that it was never more than a
full-scale
mock-up. I know the A-12, at least the 1 I'm thinking of, flew, and
was
tested firing missiles. What am I missing???

--
Jason



A-12 Stood for "Archangel" not "Attack" Theres was a fighter version
designated the YF-12 and a proposed nuclear strike variant the "R-12"
though.

No, the bomber variant was designated B-71, a contemporary of the YF-12.
That number was in the correct bomber sequece after the B-70 Valkyrie.
Apparently that's how the Air Force Blackbird came to be designated SR-71,
as a recce variant of the B-71 bomber. Similarly, there was briefly a
proposed RS-70 recce version of the B-70 bomber. (But Curtis LeMay prefered
SR to RS, so he swapped the letters for the SR-71.)

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Tom Schoene Replace "invalid" with "net" to e-mail
"Our country, right or wrong. When right, to be kept right, when
wrong to be put right." - Senator Carl Schurz, 1872