x
Article from Redaktionfuturezone.at • 3 hours ago
At the Oscar Awards last weekend, "Top Gun: Maverick" was honored with several awards. The arms company Lockheed Martin used the attention of the Hollywood gala for some mysterious hints.
Mysterious evidence of hypersonic fighter jet causes a stir © Lockheed Martin / Twitter
As a reminder, Skunk Works, the defense company's development arm, worked closely with Top Gun producers to bring the futuristic Darkstar fighter jet to the big screen.
Lockheed Martin tweets stir up dust
The jet appearing in the film is said to have some similarities to an as yet unknown future Lockheed Martin jet. It is said to be the successor to the legendary SR-71 Blackbird, which is considered the fastest aircraft in the world.
Lockheed Martin first posted a spectacular picture of the Darkstar jet on Twitter, saying that a few pictures of real aircraft will follow. One of those images showed the SR-71 Blackbird with the addition that the jet is still recognized as the fastest aircraft.
Related video: Artificial intelligence: fighter jet completes 17-hour test flight (Dailymotion)
Many, many hints
The photo in combination with the word order and the references to the fictional Darkstar jet have caused a great deal of interest ever since. The fact that Lockheed Martin uses the phrase "recognized" here is often interpreted as a reference to a new fighter jet that could achieve hypersonic speed .
In addition, the tweets read that Lockheed Martin could already be much further ahead with the development of a possible SR-72 than assumed. The wording would allow the conclusion that the armaments company is already testing a hypersonic aircraft, which is not yet public and therefore not yet recognized.
Is an SR-71 successor coming soon?
The Darkstar jet in the Top Gun film is known to reach a speed of Mach 10. The SR-71 Blackbird has a top speed of just over Mach 3. According to numerous speculations, a possible SR-72 could well reach Mach 5 - the limit above which hypersonic is spoken of.
With all the hints, collaboration with the Top Gun team, and projects known so far, Lockheed Martin might actually unveil a hypersonic jet in the near future. At least one demonstrator aircraft would be conceivable, with which future capabilities could be demonstrated
