Lockheed Martin SR-72 May Be Further Along In Development Than Thought Written 9 January 2018

Jalopnik reports on Lockheed Martin Vice President of Strategy and Customer Requirements, Advanced Development Programs Jack O’Banion’s comments at the AIAA SciTech Forum, where the executive “may have just unintentionally revealed that America’s next hypersonic warplane is much farther along the development process than previously suggested.” Speaking about how Lockheed has adapted to digital disruption, O’Banion “brought up the so-called SR-72, which so far is only known as a conceptual hypersonic aircraft.” Against a backdrop of three aircraft, including the SR-72, O’Banion commented, “Without the digital transformation, the aircraft you see there could not have been made. In fact, five years ago, it could not have been made.” The article links to a livestream of the SciTech Forum, and O’Banion’s comments start after the 59 minute mark. The comments “all but confirmed” the SR-72 “to be well clear of the conceptual and modeling phases of development, and possibly operational.”
More Info (Jalopnik)