The fastest jet to ever fly the skies is surprisingly not a fifth-generation platform designed in the last decade. In fact, the world-record-breaking aircraft that holds this title is a Cold War-era conception. Designed in secrecy in the 1950s, the American-made SR-71 “Blackbird,” perhaps shockingly, even has its F-35 Lightning II and F-22 Raptor successors beat when it comes to speed. This high-altitude, long-range, Mach-3 strategic reconnaissance jet incorporated “impossible” technologies for its time. In fact, when the Blackbird was designed, “everything had to be invented,” according to the head of the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works team that made the SR-71 a reality.

The SR-71 Blackbird’s Origin Story

During the Cold War, the United States relied heavily on surveillance of the Soviet Union made possible by spy aircraft. The Lockheed-designed U-2 “Dragon........

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