Convair Kingfish (1959)
High Altitude Reconnaissance Aircraft Project
STATUS: RETIRED
Production Run: 2022-2023
STATUS: RETIRED
Production Run: 2022-2023
About the Design
By the mid-1950s, it became clear to the U.S. Air Force that their U-2 spy plane was becoming dangerously vulnerable to Russian anticraft radar and missile attacks. In 1957 it called upon America's top aerospace companies to develop alternatives.
Ultimately, the contest to replace the U-2 came down to two Mach 3 designs: Convair's Kingfish and Lockheed's A-12. The Convair design incorporated a classic delta wing -- the virtual trademark of the company's post-War jets -- with two engines buried in the fuselage. Its edges were angled to offer a low radar cross-section (RCS), a strategy later incorporated into the F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter. In 1959, the Mach 3 recon jet contract was ultimately awarded to Lockheed's A-12, which would eventually become the celebrated SR-71. Work on the Kingfish continued for a few months, but then funds ran out, dooming it to be an eternal "What If?" |
About the Model
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