Message posted by Vahe Demirjian (Member since 04/28/2022) on August 25, 2024 at 9:56:39 PST:
While the mock-up of the fictional Darkstar aircraft was built with help from Lockheed Martin engineers, I should note that the filming of the movie "Top Gun: Maverick" during which the Darkstar mock-up was used began in 2018 (not too long after assembly of the Darkstar mock-up began), and that the initially planned release date of July 12, 2019 for this movie was delayed several times due to the movie's complex action sequences and later the COVID-19 pandemic. For the moment, the possibility that Lockheed Martin used the design of the HRV or one of its few concepts conceived in 2006-2009 for a hypersonic ISR aircraft to which LM applied the informal generic moniker "SR-72" is plausible, though unconfirmed. Still, it is apparent Lockheed Martin used "SR-72" as an informal umbrella moniker for its design studies in the 2006-2009 timeframe for a hypersonic ISR vehicle derived from the Blackswift and HCV.
In Reply to: Re: Sandboxx: Evidence is mounting that Lockheed Martin’s SR-72 could be in production posted by quellish on August 24, 2024 at 18:24:42 PST:
Replies: