Defence and security technology company Lockheed Martin has been developing a successor to the Cold War era plane for years.
Lockheed officials have suggested the hypersonic SR-72 spy plane, also known as the ‘Son of Blackbird’, could be operational by 2030.
However, one Lockheed executive has implied that the sophisticated aircraft might already exist, and could therefore be up and running much sooner.
Lockheed vice president Jack O’Banion revealed at an aerospace conference last week that a “digital transformation” stemming from relatively recent computing capabilities has made hypersonic travel possible.
But the way he phrased the point made some pundits think the SR-72 plane might already exist.
Mr O’Banion said: “Without the digital transformation, the aircraft you see there could not have been made. In fact, five years ago, it could not have been made.”
The statement was tantalising for attendees who read into the use of the present tense as a sign the aircraft has already been built.
Mr O’Banion further explained new tools allow for 3D design of complex supersonic “scramjet” engines, streamlining the development process.
He told the conference: “We couldn’t have made the engine itself — it would have melted down into slag if we had tried to produce it five years ago.
“But now we can digitally print that engine with an incredibly sophisticated cooling system integral into the material of the engine itself and have that engine survive for multiple firings for routine operation.”
Hypersonic speeds as designated at above Mach 5, which is five times the speed of sound. The SR-71 Blackbird cruised at Mach 3.2 and around 85,000 feet.
After the Blackbird was retired by the US military almost 30 years ago, its successor has been hotly anticipated by air force buffs.
Lockheed would not comment on Mr O’Banion’s comments and whether they indicated the prototype SR-72 already exists.
However, analysts have pointed out there is a long way to go between developing prototype aircraft and those capable of undertaking military operations.
There is also a long history of prototype aircraft being developed years before they are eventually unveiled by the US military.
And there is additionally a good chance that the SR-72 work thus far is entirely an exercise in digital design.
Lockheed spokeswoman spokeswoman Melissa Dalton said in an email to Bloomberg: “A Reusable Hypersonic System (RHS) is a far term solution that will be made possible by the path-finding work we are doing today.”