Lockheed D-21

D-21
General information
TypeHigh-altitude and high speed reconnaissance drone
National originUnited States
ManufacturerLockheed
Primary usersCentral Intelligence Agency
Number built38
History
Introduction date1969
First flight22 December 1964
Retired1971

The Lockheed D-21 is an American supersonic reconnaissance drone. The D-21 was initially designed to be launched from the back of an M-21 carrier aircraft, a variant of the Lockheed A-12 aircraft. The drone had maximum speed in excess of Mach 3.3 (2,200 miles per hour; 3,600 kilometers per hour) at an operational altitude of 90,000 feet (27,000 meters). Development began in October 1962. Originally known by the Lockheed designation Q-12, the drone was intended for reconnaissance deep into enemy airspace.

The D-21 was designed to carry a single high-resolution photographic camera over a preprogrammed path, then release the camera module into the air for retrieval, after which the drone would self-destruct.[1] Following a fatal accident when launched from an M-21, the D-21 was modified to be launched from a Boeing B-52 Stratofortress. Several successful test flights were made, followed by at least four unsuccessful operational D-21 flights over China, before the program was canceled in 1971.

  1. ^ Donald 2003, pp. 154–56.