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From: megazone@wpi.WPI.EDU (Brian Bikowicz)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: D-21 drone
Message-ID: <1991May10.063747.26002@amd.com>
Date: 9 May 91 03:14:50 GMT
References: <1991May3.063259.5277@amd.com>
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From: megazone@wpi.WPI.EDU (Brian Bikowicz)


scottl@convergent.com (Scott Lurndal) writes:
>This was the first I had ever heard of a drone blackbird (that 
>may still be flying), has anyone else heard anything about this?

There was no drone blackbird. The GTD-21D drone was carried BY blackbirds.
It was designed to be carried on the back of the A-12s operated by the CIA.
At least 2 A-12s were modified, having a rear-seater instead of an 
electronics bay. At least one A-12 was lost when the explosive seperation
caused the A-12 to pitch up and strike the drone after release.

The D-21 was powered by a single ramjet which made up the main body. This 
ramjet needed to be carried to speeds approaching Mach 3 before it worked.
The planform was similar to that of the A-12/YF-12/SR-71 and it carried its
recon equipment in bays on either side of the ramjet.

As far as is known the blackbird launched drones were all converted for 
launch from the wing pylons of B-52s. There are public pictures of a 
B-52 carrying two D-21s, one under each wing. A solid rocket booster is 
attached to the old mounting points under the drone. This booster carried
the drone to its operating speed/altitude. 

The conversion seems to have come about after the A-12c was lost and this
may have been a contributing factor.

If you are interested in the D-21 there is a Testors model kit of an A-12
with a D-21 drone. (It may be mislabeled as an A-11 as this is common.)

Lockheed and the Blackbird inparticular has been a special interest of mine
for a long time. Now lets see how the F-22 does.

--
MEGAZONE, aka BRIAN BIKOWICZ
Email megazone@wpi.wpi.edu  Moderator, WPI amime FTP site 130.215.24.1 /anime