Is the U.S. falling behind or just staying quiet? Chinese aerospace developments have been dominating the news lately, with several 5th generation, and potentially 6th gen, stealth fighters and strike aircraft being seen publicly.
Among those, the Shenyang J-35 which broke cover in 2024, appears to be a U.S. F-35 clone. And then there are the two Chinese prototype tailless aircraft dubbed the J-36 and J-50, seen for the first time in late December. Their configuration maximizes stealth by reducing the radar cross-section, but at some cost to maneuverability.
The J-36 might be related to the JH-XX program aimed at designing a supersonic fighter bomber, while J-50 has been referred to as a 6th-generation fighter. Both created quite a stir, sparking fears that they could potentially challenge U.S. and allied aerial dominance in Asia.
Meanwhile, President Trump announced in March that the U.S. would be pursuing the Boeing version of the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) stealth fighter, dubbed the F-47, for the Air Force. And as impressive as that futuristic plane could be, it still appears to be behind the curve compared to the pace of Chinese aircraft development.
The Navy is also pursuing its own carrier-based NGAD aircraft, while U.S. allies the U.K., Italy and Japan merged their 6th gen “Tempest” and “F-X” fighter programs. All of these manned efforts, focused primarily on their stealth features, are not expected to be in production until the early to mid-2030s, at the earliest.
But then there is something else altogether, the potentially game-changing, unmanned (or optionally manned) SR-72 “Darkstar,” hypersonic successor to the legendary, record breaking, Mach 3+ flying, SR-71 Blackbird, both designed by the infamous Skunk Works at Lockheed Martin.
Also dubbed the “Son of Blackbird,” the Darkstar can reportedly fly at Mach 6 +, which is 4,600 mph. It could fly from New York to Los Angeles in 30 minutes.
A manned simile of the aircraft was seen in the 2023 Tom Cruise movie “Top Gun: Maverick.” That fictional plane was reportedly built with help from Lockheed engineers.
Compared to 5th and 6th gen aircraft, this plane would focus more on speed and altitude than stealth.
Like the manned SR-71 before it, this “uncrewed aircraft, leveraging advanced propulsion and materials to withstand extreme heat, would primarily rely on sheer speed and high altitude, complemented by stealth features, to evade even modern air defenses like Russia’s S-500,” notes Steve Balestrieri in 19fortyfive.
He adds: “the Sr-72 is envisioned as a game-changing strategic asset for penetrating contested airspace rapidly for intelligence gathering and potential strike missions, rendering enemy defenses powerless…”
“Hypersonic aircraft, coupled with hypersonic missiles, could penetrate denied airspace and strike at nearly any location across a continent in less than an hour,” Brad Leland, Lockheed Martin’s hypersonics manager, said in a company press release that has since been taken down.
Brent Eastwood, explains in 19fortyfive:
Reconnaissance is the primary mission, but the SR-72 could be armed with the military’s next-generation High-Speed Strike Weapon. This system is so secret that it doesn’t appear on Lockheed Martin’s website, which is usually pretty transparent. You can bet the High-Speed Strike Weapon is hypersonic and can evade air defenses like no other plus-MACH 5 weapon. It [too] will probably be powered by a next-generation scramjet.
Some believe a prototype has already flown, others anticipate a test flight in 2028, with production possible as early as 2030. And while some see the Darkstar as a competitor to the Air Force and Navy NGAD fighters, the SR-72 would more likely complement them, as well as the soon-to-arrive B-21 Raider stealth bomber, scouting targets for them.
So, will the SR-72 actually be built, or will it remain a dream? And when will Chinese and Russian hypersonic missiles be able to down our hypersonic jets? Those are still important questions, with answers still pending.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
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It is not a winning strategy to announce your future weapons. A better approach is to announce their existence when they have been deployed, and the locations of their deployment should not be revealed.
Need to budget for more SR 72, 8 planes?
Make public, airshows?
Put Chinese on edge