YF-12A Interceptor

Did you ever think: yea, the Blackbird is cool and all, but it needs weapon dang it!

Well, this is for those who do think like that. What many people don’t know: Even though the Blackbird is very famous, it was actually the last aircraft to be built in a series of the aircraft starting with the A-12 Cygnus developed by the CIA as spyplane. The A-12 fullfilled the same role as the SR-71 more or less, most significant (visible) difference is that the A-12 was a sinngle-seat aircraft. The YF-12A was built from the design of the A-12 with the intention of making it an interceptor aircraft armed with long range AIM-47 Falcon missiles. The YF-12A never made it past the prototype stage however and was later used by NASA. The SR-71A was a further development of the YF-12 replacing the weapon stations with camera equipment for spy missions.