Aurora

[RaptorF22]

That's what I'm thinking, they didn't.

[ShaneG_old]

With spy satellites though, you don't need spy planes.

[RaptorF22]

Some of that may be true, but a satellite's path can be predicted quite reliably; the enemy knows when to hide their trucks and scuds.
On the other hand, a stealth mach 6+ high altitude spy plane can not be tracked, jammed, or shot down. And it provides just as good, if not better intelligence.
And don't start suggesting UAVs either. With a UAV, the pilot sits at a video-game like console hundreds if not thousands of miles away and has hardly any situational awareness and no sense of danger. The enemy starts firing SAMs at the UAV, and if the pilot even knows about it at all, he can't/won't do anything about it because he hasn't the least sense of fear. The pilot's CO smacks him for losing a multi-million dollar UAV, and they send another one up. Valuable time, money, and intelligence are lost, that is not good in a war.
Now with a manned spy plane the pilot will do anything and everything possible to keep that SAM from hitting his plane, or else he is dead meat.

In my mind there will always be a place for manned spy planes in the sky and above the battlefield.

[ShaneG_old]

They have enough satellites up there now I'm sure that they have 24 hour coverage of the whole planet. You don't think GPS & Cell Phones were the first to reach global coverage do you.

Geosynchronous orbits mean no need for troublesome waits on orbits, & giving the target a chance to hide.

Now we know what the enemy is doing, and let enough happen to make it seem like we don't. We did this in WWII also when the Enigma code & IJN codes were broken. If they know you know, then they won't do it, and then you can't take action, thus making you obsolete. 8-)

Tricky stuff huh?

[RaptorF22]

Good points, I suppose there is not much need for spy planes anymore.
*sigh* That thing was cool!

[ShaneG_old]

Somewhere I still have the original G.I. Joe : version of the Aurora.  :D


http://www.finalfrontiertoys.com/JoeMOC ... FA_85_.JPG

[RaptorF22]

That thing does not look like the real plane.
Though it must be worth a lot!

[Hagar]

That thing does not look like the real plane.

How do you know that? Nobody knows what it looks like, if it ever existed.

[RaptorF22]

DID YOU EVEN LOOK AT THE LINKS!?!?!?!

[ShaneG_old]

Each of which is an artist's conception on what they thought it would look like.

Back in the late 1980's and early 1990's when there was a lot of buzz about this aircraft, lots of different possible designs and 'Bigfoot' photos of it were circulating around.

Several of the designs did indeed look like the toy I posted, as well as the ones you linked too.

[RaptorF22]

I guess, but the overwhelming majority of them look like this http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/Aurora_x-plane_2.jpg

That leads me to believe that is what it looks like (and even if you prove me wrong (like you will most probably do) I will still stick to this design because it looks SOO much cooler than all the others

[ShaneG_old]

The pic you have posted there from Xplane is a plane that did indeed fly a year or two ago.

It was the test bed for a scram jet / hypersonic design.

It was a scaled down test bed model that was launched from the nose of a missle that was fired from a B-52 at high altitude.

Here is a good article on it: http://www.nasa.gov/missions/research/x43-main.html


The Aurora myth has been around A LOT longer than this design it was around before the F-19, F-117, B-2 rumors started flying.

[Hagar]

[quote]I guess, but the overwhelming majority of them look like this http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/Aurora_x-plane_2.jpg

That leads me to believe that is what it looks like (and even if you prove me wrong (like you will most probably do) I will still stick to this design because it looks SOO much cooler than all the others

[RaptorF22]

Oh well, I guess you guys got me beat.
The thing only exists in the minds of secret plane lovers like me

[gtirob01]

Speaking of spy planes, dont forget that the U2 is still flying high around the world, so there is still a reason for them to be around. And from what I understand... some SR-71s might possibly be still flying. But not by the USAF. May not be true... but would be cool!