Message posted by Peter Merlin on March 14, 2008 at 7:37:34 PST:

The original question was about the difference between the A-12 and SR-71. The differences between the YF-12A and the other variants (A-12, M-21, SR-71) are even more dramatic.

The YF-12A has a large conventional radome to house the fire control radar. The chines end just aft of the radome break line. There are no "side intakes." The forward end of the chines had, at one point, IR sensor domes. Later, these were faired over. For a brief period, there were shaker vanes (small canards) mounted on the sides of the forward chines. The boat-tail was the same as on the A-12. To counteract the aerodynamic characteristics of the nose radome, ventral strakes were added on the bottom of the engine nacelles and a large folding ventral fin along the aft bottom centerline.

In Reply to: Re: cosmetic difference between A-12, SR-71 posted by Gordy on March 13, 2008 at 17:42:06 PST:

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