D-21 Drone: The Cold War Spy Platform Designed to Track Soviet Union & China

by Maya Carlin, Warrior Contributor, Weapons

While drone use may be considered a recent wartime innovation, the U.S. military has been developing unmanned aerial vehicles as a tool for reconnaissance for decades. 

Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works developed the D-21 spy drone in the late 1960s in collaboration with the CIA and U.S. Air Force. The U.S. at that time wanted an unmanned airframe that could conduct spy missions over the Soviet Union. 

Sending piloted airframes over USSR territory was risky, as proven by the downing of a U-2 in 1960. The spy drone developed to address that danger would remain a secret until it was abandoned.

What We Know About the D-21

According to declassified documents, the D-21 was developed to be fitted to a specially modified variant of the SR-71 Blackbird — the M21. Recognized as the fastest airframe on Earth, the Blackbird incorporated some of the earliest stealth technology.

The SR-71 could reach Mach-3.2 at 85,000 feet. The D-21 spy plane’s launch weight was 11,000 pounds, with a service ceiling of 95,000 feet. Able to evade detection better than its predecessors, the Blackbird was developed to play a leading role in the escalating Cold War. 

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