Concept Aircraft : Aurora Hypersonic Spy Plane (1986)

Aurora Hypersonic Spy Plane (1986)

Since the mid-1980s, there has been much speculation about the development of a super-secret scramjet-powered spy plane powerful enough to reach speeds of Mach 6. Over the years, information about this project, dubbed "Aurora," continued to leak into the general press. That the SR-71 Mach 3 reconnaissance aircraft was retired in 1990 with little or no resistance from the Air Force only added further credibility to the belief that something much faster than the fabled "Blackbird" was already in operation.

Although no official pictures of the "Aurora" have yet to surface, enough bits and pieces about the technical requirements of hypersonic aircraft have made it into circulation for experts to develop a reasonable guess as to what this plane might look like. The triangular, "all fuselage" design of this concept would be perfect for high-altitude, high-speed flight, naturally compressing air into the scramjet intakes while providing excellent lift and stealth capabilities.