Lockheed A-12

The Lockheed A-12 is a retired high-altitude, Mach 3 plus reconnaissance aircraft built for the United States Central Intelligence Agency by Lockheed's Skunk Works, based on designs by Clarence Kelly Johnson. A-12 was the twelfth in a series of internal design efforts under the code name Archangel. In 1959 it was chosen over Convair's FISH and Kingfish designs as the winner of Project GUSTO and it was developed and operated under Project Oxcart. The CIA's representatives at first favored Convair's design for its smaller radar cross-section, but the A-12's specifications were slightly better, its projected cost was much lower, and Lockheed's record on the U-2 was decisive. It was produced from 1962 to 1964 and flew from 1963 to 1968, was the precursor of the YF-12 interceptor prototype, the M-21 launcher for the D-21 drone and the SR-71 Blackbird, began flying missions in 1967 and was retired in June 1968. Its crews called it the Cygnus.