The SR71 Blackbird super high performance recon aircraft was born out of the cold war requirement for an information gathering aircraft which could operate over potentially unfriendly skies without getting shot down. The Blackbird effectively replaced the covert U-2 which had been successfully used for a few years in this role until the plane flown by Powers was shot down. The SR71 was a true quantom leap forward in aviation. The awe-inspiring performance of over three times the speed of sound, at heights in excess of 85,000 ft was unmatched. This extreme performance was required to give the Blackbird virtual invulnerability when on an intelligence gathering mission.