May 12, 1999
Los Angeles Daily News
By Jim Skeen, Daily News Staff Writer
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE--Ten members of Congress are seeking to return to duty the SR-71 Blackbird spy planes, saying the high-flying, triple-supersonic jet would fill a ''gaping hole'' in the nation's intelligence capability at a bargain price. The congressional supporters of the SR-71, which include Rep. Howard P. ''Buck'' McKeon, R-Santa Clarita, asked the House Appropriations Committee to restore funding for the program, without specifying an amount.
President Clinton vetoed $39 million for the SR-71 program in late 1997. ''We are optimistic we will get the funding through the defense appropriations bill,'' McKeon spokesman David Foy said. ''This is certainly a high priority for congressman McKeon. McKeon wants to keep the Clinton administration from turning the SR-71 into museum pieces.'' In an April 21 letter to Rep. Bill Young, R-Fla., the Appropriations Committee chairman, the SR-71 supporters argued that the war in Kosovo, the vulnerability to missiles of U-2 spy planes and the cancellation of the robotic DarkStar spy plane point out the need for reactivating the Blackbird program. ''We may shortly be moving toward ground forces in Kosovo. We are aware that our intelligence collection system is stressed,'' the congressmen wrote. ''The SR-71's revival would fill a gaping hole in our intelligence architecture for a bargain price.''The Air Force is opposed to bringing the SR-71 back, stating its reconnaissance needs can be met with existing satellite technology and planned unmanned spy planes. Put into service in the 1960s, the SR-71 remains the fastest operational jet in the world. Needle-nosed and jet black, incorporating an early version of stealth technology, the SR-71 is capable of flying at speeds of more than 2,100 mph and can reach altitudes of more than 85,000 feet. With high-tech cameras and other top-secret reconnaissance gear, the airplanes are capable of surveying 100,000 square miles in an hour. The Air Force retired the aging planes in late 1989, citing limited financial resources and the development of other reconnaissance systems, such as unmanned drones and satellites. Spurred by accounts of field commanders not receiving the intelligence they needed during the Persian Gulf War, congress voted to restore the program. After a refurbishing and modification program by Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in Palmdale, two SR-71s were declared ready for spy missions on Jan. 1, 1997. In October 1997, Clinton put the program back into retirement with a line-item veto that struck down the funding for Blackbird operations.