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Lockheed D-21

1969 COLD WAR DRONE TECHNOLOGY

History

The Gary Bowers incident in 1960 changed the way the United States monitored the Soviet Union. The high-flying subsonic spy plane was shot down by a Soviet surface-to-air missile (SAM), ultimately destroying the plane and capturing an American, and suspicions have simmered for decades between the two factions.

Therefore, consider developing a fast, high-flying unmanned concept capable of overtaking/flying Soviet missile designs. The drone will serve the U.S. government's Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to maintain a military advantage over the enemy.

Lockheed is back with its D-21 drone - a development that leverages many of the qualities of its A-12 high-altitude reconnaissance platform (described in detail elsewhere on this site). The A-12 is the predecessor to the classic Mach 3 SR-71 "Blackbird" spy plane (also detailed elsewhere on this page), and retains its all-black exterior, while featuring a special RAM (radar absorbing material) skin and using Hybrid wing body design. The D-21 actually looks like part of a single A-12 nacelle, with an impact cone that forms the nose assembly.

It has a single vertical tail and double delta main aircraft shape.

The drone would theoretically be air-launched from the spine of the M-21, a variant of the A-12 designed for the drone's "mother ship" (hence the "M") The fuselage adds a support pylon to the rear fuselage section to mount the D-21 drone and a second cockpit for the launch control operator (LCO) crew. The D-21 is deployed by the crew when needed and moved to pre-determined waypoints - its payload is purely camera-like. After completing a shot of an enemy key target, it flies to a preset muster point and parachutes down its payload. The parachute pack will then be picked up by a slow-flying Lockheed JC-130 Hercules transport aircraft for return.

Meanwhile, the D-21, designed as a consumer-grade aircraft, will completely self-destruct.

The D-21 prototype flew for the first time on December 22, 1964 - the unit was originally named the "Q-12" and the USAF also hoped to turn it into a useful cruise missile. Speeds range from Mach 3.3 to 3.5, operating altitudes up to 95,000 feet, and range up to 3,500 miles.

To cope with the high speeds in the race, the D-21 relies on the clever use of titanium in key areas. The focus on radar-absorbing materials and stealthy designs will prevent drones from easily registering with enemy tracking software and hardware.

A Honeywell avionics package was also installed, along with an inertial navigation system (INS).

Power comes from a ramjet engine developed by Marquardt Corporation. The engine became the RJ43-MA20S-4, an improved version of its RJ43-MA-11 series, originally designed to power the Boeing CIM-10 "Bomarc" SAM weapon. Since the ramjet lacks the power to generate thrust from "zero speed", the D-21 drone will use the airspeed of the M-21 mothership to reach its initial speed (before the ramjet takes over).

Two A-12 aircraft were provided for M-21 conversion.

Tests have shown that the D-21 drone is largely unreliable. On the fourth launch, the unmanned vehicle disengaged and struck the stern of the M-21 mothership, causing its complete loss. The launch officer drowned on landing when the two crew members were safely jettisoned.

This was the last test firing of the D-21 on the M-21 platform, so an alternative plan was devised to air-launch the D-21 unit under the wing of a specially modified Boeing B-52 Stratofortress. Heavy bomber. Initial speed will be achieved by the B-52 itself as well as through the use of missile boosters attached to the drone.

A pair of B-52H bombers were converted to mothership standard.

The change resulted in the designation "D-21B" and the first launch was recorded on September 28, 1967. However, this test proved to be a failure, as the D-21B was detached from its pylon before the actual launch. Testing continued until early 1968, but progress was slow, indicating a lack of consistent reliability throughout the assembly.

The eventual successful launch on June 16 of that year, but further failures plagued the program.

Despite this, the D-21B has limited service with the USAF/CIA. It flew a total of four missions while in the air, but all focused on Communist China rather than the Soviet Union. The first was unresponsive and continued to fly directly to Soviet territory before crashing, being recovered and thoroughly dissected by the enemy. The second managed to drop its photographic payload, but its parachute failed and the package was lost in the ocean. The third mission had the same result - although the parachute deploying the rescue plane failed to collect the descending package in time.

March 20, 1971, the last sortie over Chinese airspace. The D-21 lost control again, sending the airframe into enemy territory, where it was quickly recovered and assessed for its worth.

The D-21 program ended in July 1971 when it was finally realized that the arrangement was not a viable espionage solution. A total of 38 D-21 drones were built by the two brands, 21 of which were usedsuccessfully or not.

The rest ended up being stored for a period of time before being sent to scrapyards or museums across the United States for preservation as exhibits. The more advanced space-based satellites launched by the U.S. space program eventually replaced their intended high-flying, high-speed spy roles, while the SR-71 and U-2 spy planes continued to be more reliable and develop on its own development path.