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Lockheed YF-12

1963 COLD WAR

History

With the United States Air Force (USAF) abandoning the North American XF-108 "Rapier" high-speed interceptor program, Lockheed has an opportunity to sell its A-12 design as a possible replacement. The A-12 was a high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft developed for the CIA, and when the XF-108 was discontinued, much of the work on that product was done.

Lockheed was able to get the US Air Force authorities interested in a modified version of its high-performance aircraft, which led to the designation of the "YF-12A", which included the designation from the A-12 production line (aircraft number 7, eight out of fifteen and nine).

Unlike the A-12, the YF-12A relies on two crew members (a pilot and a fire controller) sitting side by side. In addition, it has a Hughes AN/ASG-18 Look Down/Shoot (LDSD) Fire Control Radar (FCR) in the nose and is coupled with three Hughes AIM-47A Falcon air-to-air missiles (AAM).

The missiles were placed in three internal compartments (the fourth was reserved for fire control equipment). The radar modification is the same unit developed for the failed XF-108 product.

The A-12 was an excellent starting point for a Cold War-era interceptor, as it was one of the early American attempts to incorporate inherent stealth into its designs. The kinked fuselage and inward-sloping vertical stabilizer and radar absorbing material (RAM) were features of the fuselage - features that were later reproduced in the classic SR-71 spy plane. Where possible, the shape of the A-12 also implements radar cross section (RCS) reduction.

The vertebrae on the A-12's nose have been removed due to the installation of a unique radar.

Additionally, the A-12 is a high-speed, high-altitude machine, which would benefit the YF-12A a lot. Interceptor form carries two Pratt & Whitney J58/JTD11D-20A afterburning turbojets, delivering 20,500 pounds of dry thrust and 31,500 pounds of repetitive thrust.

Top speed reaches Mach 3.35 (2,275 mph), range is up to 3,000 miles, and service is capped at 90,000 feet. The rate of climb was measured at 11,820 feet per minute.

Its general configuration follows that of the A-12: a long neck is used to keep the cockpit forward of the fuselage. The engines were housed in separate tubular nacelles outside the fuselage, which disrupted the flow of the main plane of the wing. Two tail fins are present, one for each nacelle rear line.

Lockheed's upcoming SR-71 product will repeat the same configuration.

YF-12A means three modified A-12 variants for pre-production. Its active duty designation was the F-12B, but it was never used because the program was discontinued before production-level units began to be built.

YF-12C is a fictitious name for the SR-71 test conducted by NASA to keep the SR-71 program from public knowledge.

The YF-12A first flew on August 7, 1963, and the product was introduced to the public the following February to help keep the A-12 secret. In May 1965, the US Air Force ordered 93 F-12B production units, but the US military's increasing involvement in the Vietnam War (1955-1975) and increasing budgetary demands elsewhere pushed F-12B acquisitions to the back. Over time, the need for such specialized interceptors gradually diminishes until there is no longer a viable need.

Therefore the YF-12A was cancelled in January 1968.

The completed YF-12A survived for some time as a research collection aircraft for the US Air Force and NASA, and ended their days there. While one of these three examples was lost in an accident in July 1971, the remaining two survivedone at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, and the other at the Hill Air and Space Museum SR- Part of the 71C exhibit is in Utah.