This is the successor to the SR-71 Blackbird, and it is gorgeous [View all]

[MADem]

I have to say, up close and personal, the Habu (SR-71) was a pretty impressive piece of machinery. I wonder what this thing looks like IRL? The picture does have some 'wow' factor associated with it...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2013/11/01/this-is-the-successor-to-the-sr-71-blackbird-and-it-is-gorgeous/?wpsrc=AG0003247&clsrd

More than a decade after the last SR-71 was decommissioned, Lockheed Martin has unveiled the gorgeous-looking SR-72. It flies just as far and twice as fast as its predecessor — and, in a twist, it's now lethal, according to Aviationweek:

The SR-72 is being designed with strike capability in mind. “We would envision a role with over-flight ISR, as well as missiles,” Leland says. Being launched from a Mach 6 platform, the weapons would not require a booster, significantly reducing weight. The higher speed of the SR-72 would also give it the ability to detect and strike more agile targets. “Even with the -SR-71, at Mach 3, there was still time to notify that the plane was coming, but at Mach 6, there is no reaction time to hide a mobile target. It is unavoidable ISR,” he adds.

The jet accelerates by way of a two-part system. A conventional jet turbine helps boost the aircraft up to Mach 3, at which point a specialized ramjet takes over and pushes the plane even faster into hypersonic mode.
From Lockheed's mock-ups, there doesn't appear to be a bubble for the pilot — which suggests a windowless cockpit or fantasies about a future unmanned version of the plane. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.