Is The SR-72 'Darkstar' We Saw In Top Gun: Maverick A Real Plane?

When "Top Gun: Maverick" begins, U.S. Navy aviator Captain Pete "Maverick" Mitchell (Tom Cruise) is working as a test pilot on the highly secret "Darkstar" project. The aircraft is a scramjet-powered hypersonic aircraft, which is theoretically designed to reach Mach 10 (7,672.7 mph). Maverick tests the aircraft and pushes it beyond the envelope, making it to Mach 10, which he wasn't meant to do, resulting in the destruction of the prototype. Maverick ejects just in time, forgetting that this would insta-kill him in real life, and walks away to return to the Top Gun school at NAS North Island to prepare for a dangerous mission. 

The Darkstar aircraft is only briefly featured in the film before it meets its untimely end, but that doesn't make it any less fascinating. Viewers likely walked out of the theater wondering if such a jet existed, as there is a well-known predecessor, the famed SR-71 Blackbird. It stands to reason that the next jet in the series would be assigned the designation SR-72, and as it happens, there is such an aircraft in development.

Unfortunately, it's not what you see in the film, and there's not a lot that's known and even less is confirmed about the project as of early 2025. Still, because some information has been revealed and rumored over the years, as it's been in development for a long time, it doesn't entirely exist in a vacuum. There have been many fascinating rumors about the SR-72 Darkstar jet, and they might surprise you as they aren't much like the film's version. Here's what is known, or rather suspected, about the Blackbird's successor.

The SR-72 is a concept aircraft that's likely been in development since the early 2000s. In 2017, Lockheed Martin suggested it could take to the skies as early as 2025, so it may be fast approaching a service-entry date, possibly sometime in the 2030s. The SR-72 jet is being developed by Lockheed's Advanced Development Programs (ADP), also known as Skunk Works, just like its predecessor. The targeted speed isn't Mach 10; it's Mach 6 (4,603.6 mph), which is still incredibly fast. It is designed to be both a strike and reconnaissance aircraft.

This is different from the SR-71, which was used only for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR). Because of its speed capabilities, it's probable that the SR-72 will be armed with hypersonic missiles, which are also being developed by defense contractors in the United States. Regarding its nickname, the SR-72 isn't officially called anything, including "Darkstar," though many have taken to dubbing it "Son of the Blackbird." Also, unlike the aircraft featured in the film, it likely won't be crewed and will instead be an incredibly fast, stealthy drone.

Of course, much of this information is speculation, but should the SR-72 abandon the need for onboard operators, that could help in enabling its desired speed. Building a plane that can move people along at Mach 5.0 is far more complicated than doing so without the need to keep pilots alive, and the future of military aviation is creeping ever closer to all-out drone warfare. Regardless, when the SR-72 finally enters the inventory, don't expect much information to leak beyond what's being speculated at this time due to the highly classified nature of the project.