SR-71 Blackbird
While advances in air defense technology spelled a quick end for many of SAC’s aircraft, Lockheed’s SR-71 Blackbird was so advanced that only Pentagon politics could take it out of the sky. The Blackbird operated at 80,000 feet and could fly faster than Mach 3, meaning all the pilot had to do to evade a threat was to add throttle. During the Vietnam War, some 800 surface-to-air missiles were launched at SR-71s during strategic reconnaissance missions – none of which found their target.