Project Isinglass

Project Isinglass
Role Reconnaissance aircraft
Status Cancelled 1967
Primary user Central Intelligence Agency
Number built 0

Project Isinglass was the code name given to two heavily classified, crewed reconnaissance aircraft studied by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) as potential replacements for the Lockheed A-12 and SR-71 during the mid-1960s.[1] The first proposal under the Isinglass name, a high-altitude plane to fly at Mach 4 – Mach 5 (4,900–6,100 km/h; 3,000–3,800 mph), was considered an insufficient advancement over existing aircraft; the second, much more advanced design, sometimes referred to as Project Rheinberry,[2] was an air-launched, Mach 20 (24,500 km/h; 15,200 mph) rocket-powered boost-glide aircraft that would use a very-high-altitude trajectory to avoid defenses. This aircraft was considered too costly for development, and the project was abandoned in 1967.

  1. ^ "A-12 OXCART Reconnaissance Aircraft Documentation, Program Progress Report, Attachment II, ISINGLASS". CIA, Page A01. 1967-06-02. Archived from the original (gif) on 2012-03-23. Retrieved 2010-01-02.
  2. ^ Richelson 2001, p.100.