Stealth Aircraft designs of the 1970s - A speculative question

[Graham1973]

This is a spin-off of my Fictional Warships thread. The most recent novel I have added is "Poseidon's Shadow" by A . P. Kobryn, a 1979 technothriller which has a brief appearance by a stealthy successor to the SR-71 'Blackbird' which the novel describes as a "...distant predecessor..."

It's pretty clear from the novel that the author was drawing from information in the public domain to craft this story, so I am wondering just what was in the public domain about:

(a.) Stealth Aircraft
(b.) SR-71 Successors

During the 1970-79 time period.

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Well, Aviation Week reported on the original DARPA award for "high-stealth aircraft" studies to Lockheed, Northrop and McDonnell-Douglas in its Jun 25 1975 issue and then in Jan 19 1976 reported on AF FDL intentions to award ATF stealth study contracts to Northrop and Lockheed as they were already working on this field for the DARPA contracts. However the first mention of a "stealth fighter' actually being built would be August 2 1976 (this issue is missing from the online archive), then 14 Feb 1977 (a story on Lear Siegler providing the FBW controls for the Lockheed Stealth Fighter mentioned in the previous article) and then in 20 June 1977 a story with more details including the engines being J85s. By the end of 1977 it was pretty well known.

 

[Graham1973]

Thanks for that, now any information on just when the SR-71 became public knowledge?

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

24 July 1964.

 

[Graham1973]

24 July 1964.

Thanks again, that early reveal would have sparked a lot of speculation that 'something better' must exist in secret.