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Old CIA Drone in China

1. mousewallratSalvaged from archive31 Jan 2010, 18:36
   first 2 pics, wreckage of D-21 Drone recovered (1971) in Yunnan province of China The Lockheed D-21 was a Mach 3+ reconnaissance drone. The drone was originally designed to be launched off the back of its A-12-based M-21 aircraft. Development began in October 1962. Originally known by the Lockheed designation Q-12, it was intended for reconnaissance missions deep into enemy airspace. The D-21 was designed to carry a single high-resolution photographic camera over a pre-programmed path, then release the camera module into the air for retrieval, followed by the drone's self-destruction. (...) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D-21_drone Four operational missions took place under the name SENIOR BOWL, from November 9, 1969 to March 20, 1971, all over the People's Republic of China to spy on the Lop Nor nuclear test site. On the first mission, the Chinese never spotted the stealthy drone, but it disappeared and was not recovered. Once again, the Lockheed engineers went back to the drawing board. Another test flight was conducted on 20 February 1970, and was successful. However, the second operational mission was not until 16 December 1970. The D-21B made it all the way to Lop Nor and back to the recovery point, but though the hatch was dropped as planned, it did not deploy its parachute and was destroyed on impact. The third operational flight, on 4 March 1971, was even more frustrating. Once again, the D-21B traveled to Lop Nor and back, and properly discarded the hatch. The hatch deployed its parachute, but the midair recovery failed, and a destroyer that tried to retrieve the hatch from the sea ran it down. The hatch sank and was lost. The fourth, and last, flight of the D-21B was on 20 March 1971. It was lost over China on the outbound leg. According to recent information out of China, it mulfunctioned and crashed in a forest. It is said to be largely intact and wreckage collected by the Chinese military. the remains are from the fourth operational flight. http://www.apacheclips.com/files/0bd102b459f3.jpg
2. ROSSDSalvaged from archive14 Feb 2010, 19:47
   What a waste, they probably spent billions in todays money for no result.
3. RaidenatorSalvaged from archive15 Feb 2010, 00:56
   DAMN THOSE LIBERALS!

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