reconnaissance
2 aircraft
SR-71 Blackbird
The SR-71 Blackbird still looks like science fiction sixty years after its first flight. Kelly Johnson's Skunk Works built an aircraft that could cruise at Mach 3+ and 85,000 feet — so high and fast that no missile or interceptor ever caught one. The titanium skin expanded inches during flight from heat. It leaked fuel on the ground because seals only sealed at temperature. When the Air Force retired it in 1998, nothing could catch it. Nothing can today.
U-2 Dragon Lady
Kelly Johnson's Skunk Works built the U-2 in 80 days — a high-altitude reconnaissance platform that could overfly the Soviet Union with impunity. Until Gary Powers was shot down in 1960. The U-2 discovered Soviet missiles in Cuba, triggering the Cuban Missile Crisis. Remarkably, the aircraft is still flying, upgraded and still invaluable for intelligence gathering.