Thoughts on SR-71 return to flight
There’s been a lot of chatter on this topic, but my 2c which I haven’t seen much anywhere else is what if returning it to flight is simply a front for something else more advanced? We know our satellites are vulnerable to offensive attack and in the event that happens we’d still need reconnaissance capabilities. Those capabilities would also need to fly higher/faster than the hypersonic missiles being developed.
Getting the SR-71 “band” back together and mysteriously moving a plane under the guise of returning it to operational readiness is the perfect front for black staffing, development and procurement processes to hide in plain sight. We had to skulk around and hide the purchase of a ton of titanium previously through CIA front businesses in Russia when this plane was originally developed. If you can create a program in the open under the guise of returning the plane to air ready operation, and the NASA administrator reacting to the whims of the Trump admin / Dept. Of Defense (cough: “War”), to advance X-plane aspirations, why not?