What is the name of this aircraft?

[Jon39]

If this video is AI, then forget my question, but otherwise I would be interested to know more about the aircraft.
US Air Force presumably. Tiny cockpit windows.

https://youtu.be/cltnYz6-FBE?is=BLulLJqKXUhxbbvF

[Mabbs9]

AI I think.

[unzippy]

Lockheed Martin SR-72 Darkstar - fictional.

[lufbramatt]

Popularised in Top Gun Maverick

[CLK-GTR]

unzippy said:

Lockheed Martin SR-72 Darkstar - fictional.

Almost.

Nothing has been built (publicly) but Lockheed have confirmed its been on the drawing board for years.

[unzippy]

CLK-GTR said:

unzippy said:

Lockheed Martin SR-72 Darkstar - fictional.

Almost.

Nothing has been built (publicly) but Lockheed have confirmed its been on the drawing board for years.

I Imagine many, many things have been on Lockheed's drawing boards. They are all fictional until they are tangible

[Landlubber]

Looks a bit like the Wobbling Goblin

[Simpo Two]

Cobblers. Even the first still you posted looks fake.

[rodericb]

Simpo Two said:

Cobblers. Even the first still you posted looks fake.

If it was Russian that would be its NATO name.....

[IanH755]

Just some more info - For the film Top Gun:Maverick the film producers went to Lockheed Martin's "Skunkworks" dept who create prototypes for the US military and asked them to design a plane for their film which was called the DarkStar.

This was then built as a full size model and was so convincing that the Chinese, when they saw it on satellite images after it was left outside during filming, though it was real.

As Skunkworks had designed the SR-71, and were supposed to have started design work the replacement SR-72 in around 2007-ish (which never got built), many people believe this Top Gun model was a very close approximation to what a "real" SR-72 would have looked like, based on Skunkworks own concept artwork which was released in 2013.

There's a whole wiki page about it here - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin_SR-7...

[Simpo Two]

rodericb said:

Simpo Two said:

Cobblers. Even the first still you posted looks fake.

If it was Russian that would be its NATO name.....

I can hear Raymond Baxter announcing it now. Along with the Mikoyan Horsecrap and the Sukhoi Balderdash...

[Jon39]

Thank you for all your interesting replies.

Therefore the latest real flying aircraft of this design, I assume is the B2.





What remarkable progress in aircraft appearance, since 1903.





One of my grandfathers was born before humans could fly powered aircraft, then lived until men walked on the Moon.
I wonder what technological progress will occur during our lifetimes?

[carl_w]

Jon39 said:

Thank you for all your interesting replies.

Therefore the latest real flying aircraft of this design, I assume is the B2.

B-21 Raider has flown but not yet in active service.

[gotoPzero]

OP your screen shot is from Flight Simulator 2020 I expect.

The most advanced aircraft thats actually flying is either the B21 mentioned above or this



China 6th Gen aircraft. J36.

When I say actually flying - I mean that we can prove.

[Eric Mc]

Jon39 said:

Thank you for all your interesting replies.

Therefore the latest real flying aircraft of this design, I assume is the B2.





What remarkable progress in aircraft appearance, since 1903.





One of my grandfathers was born before humans could fly powered aircraft, then lived until men walked on the Moon.
I wonder what technological progress will occur during our lifetimes?

Not bad for 1947 then -

[2xChevrons]

Just to fill out this discussion a little more - the 'footage' in the original video is screen capture from Microsoft Flight Simulator (and MSFS running at fairly low graphics settings, hence the fuzzy ground textured and malformed 3D photometric buildings).

Microsoft produced a flyable 'model' of the Darkstar for the sim as part of a promotional package for Top Gun: Maverick.

[Simpo Two]

Jon39 said:

One of my grandfathers was born before humans could fly powered aircraft, then lived until men walked on the Moon.
I wonder what technological progress will occur during our lifetimes?

Not nearly as exciting. Internet was the big one, then its portable version the smartphone (which everyone keeps with them 24/7/365 to do everything except use as a phone). AI, electric vehicles, the rise of the East over the West. But who knows. Nobody in 1926 could have imagined what would happen in the rest of the century.

[rodericb]

gotoPzero said:

OP your screen shot is from Flight Simulator 2020 I expect.

The most advanced aircraft thats actually flying is either the B21 mentioned above or this



China 6th Gen aircraft. J36.

When I say actually flying - I mean that we can prove.

ignore the IAIO Qaher-313 at your peril!

[pushthebutton]

Or this:

https://share.google/q0g6Ax3jUb6fXa5Y1

https://theaviationist.com/2026/06/04/mysterious-n...

[bergclimber34]

There is an awful lot of drone stuff flying about that we see glimpses of from guys like Uncanny Exp and a few others.. the rumored new B2 is probably and been flying for years
.

And no clue what China could be doing, you cant really access their areas much, but they still seem incapable of really working out engines!! But they will get there surely