The Lockheed D-21 is an American supersonic reconnaissance drone. The D-21 was initially designed to be launched from the back of an M-21 carrier aircraft, a variant of the Lockheed A-12 aircraft. The drone had maximum speed in excess of Mach 3.3 (2,200 miles per hour; 3,600 kilometers per hour) at an operational altitude of 90,000 feet (27,000 ...

The Museum's aircraft is an M-21, the first of the rare two-seat variants of the early A-12. Built for a CIA program code-named "Tagboard," it carried an unpiloted D-21 drone for intelligence gathering.

The A-12’s unique design and characteristics became the foundation for three other versions of supersonic aircraft that Lockheed built for CIA and the Air Force: the YF-12A, the M-21, and the SR-71.

Sep 10, 2021 · A Lockheed M-21 Blackbird variant with its D-21 drone mounted on the spine. The aircraft is the latest subject of Randy Malmstrom's Warbird Profile series. (image via Wikipedia)

The M-21 is a variant of the A-12, the earliest Blackbird type. Built for a CIA program code-named “Tagboard,” the M-21 carried unpiloted drones for intelligence gathering.

The Lockheed M-21 Blackbird is a unique variant of the A-12, the earliest Blackbird type. Built for a CIA program code-named "Tagboard," the M-21 carried unpiloted Lockheed D-21 vehicles for intelligence gathering.

6 days ago · The M-21 is an A-12-like aircraft designed to launch the once ultra-secret D-21 Drone. When the United States signed a treaty to end flights of manned vehicles over the Soviet Union, an unmanned vehicle was needed for reconnaissance.

22 December 1964: At Groom Lake, Nevada, a Lockheed M-21, a special two-place variant of the Central Intelligence Agency’s A-12 Oxcart Mach 3 reconnaissance aircraft, took off for the first time while carrying a D-21 drone. The pilot was William C. Park, Jr., Lockheed’s Chief Engineering Test Pilot.

Feb 28, 2025 · Lockheed M-21 – The Drone Carrier. The M-21 was a modified version of the A-12, specifically designed to carry and launch the Lockheed D-21 drone. The idea behind the M-21 was to create an unmanned reconnaissance platform, where the D-21 drone could be deployed over enemy territory and retrieve intelligence data without risking a pilot’s life.

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