Lockheed Martin designed the SR-71 Blackbird in 1963 for the United States Air Force (USAF) use. It flew at speeds up to Mach 3.3 and held records for altitude and speed for decades until 2005 when it was retired from service. The Darkstar Hypersonic Aircraft was a proposed successor to the Blackbird that Lockheed Martin developed in 1995 that could fly at Mach 8 or higher speeds. However, the project was scrapped due to budget cuts before any prototypes were made.

Rumors have been swirling around since then about other secretive projects involving high-speed flight being developed by Lockheed Martin and whether they are currently being produced today. One such example is the SR-72 Unmanned Hypersonic Aircraft, which supposedly uses combined turbine engine/ramjet technology—similar elements used in Top Gun: Maverick’s design—that would enable it to fly above six times faster than sound while also being unmanned!

Congratulations @TopGunMovie for receiving six nominations from @TheAcademy! 🥂 #Oscars95

To celebrate, we are sharing some Maverick-worthy images of real aircraft. #RealTopGun pic.twitter.com/7YkGJU2y0Q

— Lockheed Martin (@LockheedMartin) March 12, 2023

Lockheed Martin has a long and storied history of developing some of the most iconic high-speed jets. One of the Blackbird’s successors was the Darkstar Hypersonic Aircraft, which Lockheed Martin developed in 1995 with the potential to fly at Mach 8 or higher speeds. Unfortunately, budget cuts forced the project to be scrapped before any prototypes were developed. Despite this setback, Lockheed Martin remains dedicated to pushing the boundaries of aviation technology with their high-speed jets. 

In recent years, Lockheed Martin has shifted its focus towards hypersonic technology, which can reach speeds up to five times faster than conventional jet aircraft. The company is working on an X-59 QueSST aircraft prototype capable of reaching speeds up to Mach 1 without producing any sonic booms. This would open the door for commercial supersonic travel over land without disturbing local communities or causing damage due to sound waves. 

Additionally, much like with the Darkstar Hypersonic Aircraft previously mentioned, Lockheed Martin has been developing another hypersonic jet known as SR-72, dubbed “Son Of Blackbird,” that could potentially reach speeds up two times faster than its predecessor while being able to take off from a runway like regular airplanes do instead of being air-launched like traditional high-speed jets are typically known for doing. Although this project is still relatively early in development, it shows promise as an efficient way for short trips within a reasonable time. 

All these advancements are primarily made possible through partnerships between private companies such as SpaceX and government agencies like NASA, where together they strive towards making breakthroughs within the aeronautics industry every day, thus ensuring more safety as well as providing more extended range travel capabilities through faster means compared what we can achieve today. Ultimately this could bring about wider public acceptance towards supersonic travel developments versus being limited only to military operations, which could mean more considerable strides forward when it comes to commercialized airspace applications such as business trips or leisurely holidays all around the world in a relatively short timeframe when compared traditional airliners used today. 

There have also been questions raised about secret USAF projects involving high-speed flight that may have had some success breaking SR-71 records long ago. With all these questions still unanswered, people can only speculate as to what exactly lies beneath Lockheed Martin’s recent surge of attention surrounding Top Gun: Maverick and its celebration with an image featuring Tom Cruise’s character Maverick wearing the iconic flight suit beside an SR-71 Blackbird—hinting again at the possible existence of a secret high-speed jet.

It remains unknown whether or not there are any secretive military projects involving high-speed flight currently underway or if any successful attempts were made to break SR-71 records long ago. Either way, we can all agree that Lockheed Martin has done well in generating excitement with their recent surge of attention surrounding Top Gun: Maverick and its celebration with an image featuring Tom Cruise’s character Maverick wearing the iconic flight suit beside an SR-71 Blackbird—hinting again at the possible existence of a secret high-speed jet. Aviation enthusiasts will no doubt eagerly await further developments over time!