[mamelukesabre]

What is that thing on teh back of that SR-71?

[null and void]

It's a D-12 drone. An early RPV, it was to allow intel gathering where even the SR-71 feared to tread.

IIRC, it was intended to be used once, and crashed at high Mach numbers at the end of its mission.

(Since then we've figured out how to land an RPV)...