Three D-21 drones

Three D-21 drones
Edwards AFB, California (CA), US
The Lockheed D-21 was a Mach 3+ reconnaissance drone that began development in October 1962. Originally known by the Lockheed designation Q-12, it was intended to be launched off the back of the A-12 Oxcart for extra-long range flights and/or missions that were too dangerous for a manned vehicle. The A-12 variant developed to launch the D-21 drone was designated the M-21. The D-21, with a single Hycon high-resolution photographic camera, was designed to fly over a pre-programmed location, and then drop the hatch containing the camera into the ocean, where it could be retrieved.
The Lockheed D-21 was a Mach 3+ reconnaissance drone that began development in October 1962. Originally known by the Lockheed designation Q-12, it was intended to be launched off the back of the A-12 Oxcart for extra-long range flights and/or missions that were too dangerous for a manned vehicle. The A-12 variant developed to launch the D-21 drone was designated the M-21. The D-21, with a single Hycon high-resolution photographic camera, was designed to fly over a pre-programmed location, and then drop the hatch containing the camera into the ocean, where it could be retrieved.
View in Google Earth Airplanes - Military - Parked - Utility
Links: en.wikipedia.org
By: kjfitz

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kjfitz picture
kjfitz
@ 2008-02-12 12:08:27
Probably these three from earlier imagery:
http://virtualglobetrotting.com/map/13346/

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