A US Air Force Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird’s Engine Exploded Over the Baltic in June 1987 With Soviet Fighters Ordered to Force It Down, and Two Swedish Fighters Escorted It at 18,000 Feet Until US Jets Took Over

A US Air Force Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird’s Engine Exploded Over the Baltic in June 1987 With Soviet Fighters Ordered to Force It Down, and Two Swedish Fighters Escorted It at 18,000 Feet Until US Jets Took Over

On June 29, 1987, an SR-71 lost an engine to an explosion over the Baltic with Soviet airspace to its right, fell from 80,000 to 25,000 feet, and was met over Gotland by two Swedish Viggens while Soviet fighters had orders to force it into Soviet airspace and destroy it. It landed at Nordholz, West Germany, with hydraulic fluid for one braking attempt.