Archangel Project Cia - The Lockheed A-12 is a Mach 3+ reconnaissance aircraft designed by Clarence "Kelly" Johnson at Lockheed's Skunk Works for the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The aircraft was designated the A-12, the 12th in a series of interior design efforts for the aircraft's internal code name "Archangel". In 1959, this design was selected as the GUSTO winner over the FISH and Kingfish Convair designs and was developed and used as part of the Oxcart project.
CIA officials initially favored the Conveyor design for its small radar section, but the A-12's specifications were slightly better and its estimated cost much lower. The relevant records of the companies became decisive. Convair's work on the B-58 was plagued by delays and cost overruns, while Lockheed produced the U-2 on time and under budget. In addition, Lockheed had experience in promoting the "Black" project.
Archangel Project Cia
The A-12 was produced from 1962 to 1964 and flew from 1963 to 1968. This two-seater was the precursor to the US Air Force YF-12 prototype, the M-21 launcher for the D-21 unmanned aerial vehicle, and the SR-. 71 Blackbird, a slightly longer variant capable of carrying heavy fuel and camera loads. The A-12 began flying flights in 1967 and its last mission was in May 1968; The program and aircraft were retired in June. The program was officially revealed in the mid-1990s.
Lockheed A 12: Piloten Von Spionageflugzeug Der Cia Mussten Verheiratet Sein
A CIA officer later wrote, "Oxcart was selected from a random list of code names to work on R&D and then all A-12s. The aircraft itself was also named."
After the failure of the CIA's Project Rainbow to reduce the radar cross section (RCS) of the U-2, initial work began at Lockheed in late 1957 to develop a follow-on aircraft to fly over the Soviet Union. Designer Kelly Johnson said: "In April 1958, I remember talking to [CIA Deputy Director for Plans] Richard Bissell about whether or not to track the U-2. We agreed that the satellites would be intelligence. planes are finished. obsolete for secret intelligence.. There must be another round before it is finished."
The designs under Project Gusto were named "Archangel" after the U-2 program known as "Angel". As the design of the aircraft evolved and the configuration changed, Lockheed's internal designation was changed from Archangel-1 to Archangel-2 and so on. These designations soon became known as "A-1", "A-2", etc. for the designs developed.
These designs moved to the A-11 stage where the program was reviewed. The A-11 was competing against an assembly line offering called the Kingfish with nearly identical performance. However, the Kingfish incorporated several features that greatly reduced its RCS, which was favorable for the board. Lockheed responded with a simple upgrade to the A-11, adding a winged wing instead of a right wing and adding more areas of non-metallic material. This became the design of the A-12. On January 26, 1960, the CIA ordered 12 A-12 aircraft.
Secrets Of The Skunk Works
Because the A-12 was so far ahead of its time, many new technologies had to be used specifically for the Oxcart project, which had a few days of use left. One of the biggest challenges for engineers at that time was working with titanium.
In his book Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of the Memoir Years at Lockheed, B. Rich said: "Our supplier, Titanium Metals Corporation, had only limited reserves of the precious alloy, so the CIA conducted a worldwide search and used third parties and blockades. One of the world's leading companies - one of the exporters - was able to buy the base metal from the Soviet Union. "The Russians did not know how they were contributing to the production of the planes that they rushed to spy on their homeland."
Prior to the A-12, titanium was used only in high-temperature exhaust flaps and other small parts that directly support, cool, or shape the aircraft in high-temperature areas exposed to the highest kinetic heat from airflow, such as wings. main angles. But the A-12 is mostly made of titanium. Titanium is extremely hard and difficult to work with, making it difficult to form curves with existing methods. This made it difficult to form the leading edges of the wings and similar surfaces. Only by processing small "files" of materials of the required size and following them to the original pattern, which was more linear, the solution was found. A good example is in wings; The original pattern of spars and stringers formed a mesh, leaving triangular grooves on the leading edge, which were filled with fillets.
Moving on to the A-12, further improvements were made to the RCS by replacing the fins with a new composite material of iron ferrite and silicon laminate, both combined with asbestos, to absorb radar returns and make the aircraft faster.
Lockheed D 21: The Drone Version Of The Sr 71
After development and production at the Skunk Factory in Burbank, California, the first A-12 was delivered to the Groom Lake Test Facility (Area 51).
On April 25, 1962, Lockheed made its first (unofficial and unannounced) flight under the control of test pilot Louis Schalk.
The first official flight was on April 30, and the next supersonic flight was on May 4, 1962, reaching a speed of Mach 1.1 at 40,000 feet (12,000 m).
The first five A-12s flew in 1962, initially with Pratt & Whitney J75 engines rated at 17,000 lb (76 kN).
Cia Project Oxcart Ebook By Td Barnes
Suppressing each, allowing J75-equipped A-12s to reach speeds of about Mach 2.0. On October 5, 1962, with the newly developed J58 engines, the A-12 took off with one J75 engine and one J58 engine. By early 1963, the A-12 was flying with J58 engines, and in 1963 these J58-equipped A-12s reached a speed of Mach 3.2.
Collins got out safely, wearing a standard flight suit and avoiding unnecessary questions from the truck driver who picked him up. He called the 51st Division of the Highway Patrol.
The response to the accident highlighted the secrecy and importance of the project. The CIA has referred to this aircraft in news articles and official records as the Republic F-105 Thunderchief.
It is said that two nearby farmers were carrying nuclear weapons to prevent the plane from reaching the crash site.
The Central Intelligence Agency And Overhead Reconnaissance: The U 2 And Oxcart Programs, 1954?1974: Pedlow, Gregory, Welzenbach, Donald, Pocock, Chris: 9781634506885: Books
And local law enforcement and a passing family were strongly warned to keep quiet about the accident. For this, each of them was also given $25,000 in cash; The project used such cash payments to avoid outside inquiries about its operations. The project took a lot of money; Contract guards were paid $1,000 a month with free housing on base, and Las Vegas chefs were available 24 hours a day for steak, Maine lobster or other requests.
A total of 18 aircraft were built through the production program. Of these, 13 were A-12s, three were YF-12A prototype interceptors for the US Air Force (not funded under the OXCART program), and two were M-21 reconnaissance drones. One of the 13 A-12s was a special training aircraft with a second seat located behind the pilot and elevated so that the trainer pilot could look forward. The A-12 trainer, known as the "Titanium Goose", retained J75 powerplants for the life of its wheels.
In subsequent tests, three more A-12 aircraft were lost. On July 9, 1964, the accident occurred on approach to runway 133, where the control servos froze at an altitude of 500 feet (150 m) and an airspeed of 200 knots (230 mph; 370 km/h). . ). causing a steady roll to the left to begin. Lockheed test pilot Bill Park could not pass the wheel. At about a bank angle of 45 degrees and an altitude of 200 feet (61 m), he exited the aircraft and flew alongside the aircraft. Although he was not very high above the ground, his parachute opened and he landed safely.
On December 28, 1965, the third A-12 was lost when Paragraph 126 crashed 30 seconds after the aircraft went out of control, followed by a series of high winds and strike action. Mai Vojvodic was scheduled to fly the 126 on a performance test flight that included a beacon test with a KC-135 tanker and successfully launched it 150 to 200 feet (46 to 61 meters) above the ground. The post-accident investigation revealed that the main cause of the accident was a repair error; A runway electrician incorrectly replaced the wiring connecting the high-speed and altitude gyroscopes of the stability-enhancement system to the surface control servos, which meant that the control inputs that send and control altitude changes to the wind. Inputs commanding left or right changed the angle of elevation of the aircraft. The investigation criticized electrical negligence, but also a failure to control maintenance activities as a contributing factor, and the fact that the aircraft's design allowed for swap connections in the first place.
Top Secret Spy Planes Developed At Area 51
The first fatality of the Oxcart program occurred on January 5, 1967, when Paragraph 125 crashed and CIA pilot Walter Ray ran out of fuel on approach to the test site. The exact cause of the loss could not be determined and most likely a fuel miscalculation caused the fuel spill.
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