Summary and key points: Tom Cruise's dramatic appearance at the 2024 Olympic Games is reminiscent of his iconic role as Maverick in Super shooterhas reignited interest in the mysterious SR-72 Darkstar, a hypersonic aircraft from Top Shooter: Maverick.
– While the F-14, F/A-18 and P-51 Mustang shown in the film are real military aircraft, the SR-72 is a mix of Hollywood fiction and potential reality.
-Lockheed Martin, which collaborated on the film, suggests that the SR-72 depicted could be based on a real project currently in secret development.
What we hope to see: The SR-72 was proposed in 2013 to fill a gap in reconnaissance, and if it becomes a reality, it could fly with a hypersonic propulsion system in the 2030s.
SR-72 from “Top Gun”: Could Hollywood’s hypersonic jet be real?
Tom Cruise has a knack for generating publicity. The 60-year-old ziplined into the closing ceremony of the 2024 Olympic Games before leaving the stadium on a motorcycle. Images of Cruise on a motorcycle are reminiscent of the Top Gun series, in which Cruise plays naval aviator Pete “Maverick” Mitchell.
While Maverick is best known for his motorcycle riding, his main means of transportation is the airplane. In the two-part series, we saw Cruise fly four different aircraft: the F-14 Tomcat, the F/A-18 Super Hornet, the P-51 Mustang and the SR-72 DarkstarThe F-14, F/A-18 and P-51 are all legendary aircraft that come directly from the US military's historical/current inventory.
The SR-72 is now pure Hollywood. Or is it?
How real is the SR-72
Lockheed Martin helped the filmmakers design the SR-72, the pictured in the sequel to Top Gun. Rumor has it that the aircraft featured in the film resembles the very real version of the SR-72, which is currently being secretly developed by Lockheed Martin.
The SR-72, also known as the Darkstar or Son of Blackbird (via the SR-71 Blackbird), is depicted as a supersonic aircraft. In Top Gun: Maverick, Cruise's character pushes the SR-71 to Mach 10 – and beyond, causing the plane to fall apart off-screen. So exactly how real was the SR-72 from Top Gun: Maverick? Here's what Lockheed Martin said on its website:
“We worked with the creative team behind the film Top Gun: Maverick to work together to bring our expertise in hypersonic capabilities and aircraft design to the screen. With Skunk Works' expertise in developing the fastest aircraft known combined with the passion and energy to define the future of aerospace, Darkstar's capabilities could be more than just fiction. They could be reality…”
Lockheed's corporate copy meets our Curiosity. Whether the SR-72 is a real program or if the aircraft is currently under development remains unclear – as is the nature of secret government weapons programs. Lockheed may have given us our first look at something that looks very similar to the SR-72. Or perhaps Cruise's SR-72 was pure fiction, an aeronautical diversion. The truth may lie somewhere in between; the real plane may resemble the movie plane, if not come anywhere close.
The SR-72 program was proposed in 2013 because of concerns that the satellites and UAVs used for the SR-71's reconnaissance mission would leave a coverage gap. The SR-72 was proposed as a gap cover to maintain a wide range of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) options.
We don't know much about the SR-72 program – but we do know that the SR-72 is expected to have an air-breathing hypersonic propulsion system. The air-breathing hypersonic propulsion system would power the SR-72 through every phase of flight required for such an advanced aircraft.
It is safe to assume that an aircraft like the SR-72, whatever it ultimately looks like, will fly sometime in the 2030s.
About the author: Harrison Kass
Harrison Kass is a defense and national security writer with over 1,000 articles on world affairs. Harrison is a lawyer, pilot, guitarist, and part-time professional hockey player. He joined the U.S. Air Force as a student pilot but was medically discharged. Harrison has a BA from Lake Forest College, a JD from the University of Oregon, and an MA from New York University. Harrison listens to Dokken.
Image credit: Creative Commons and/or Shutterstock.
