The Darkstar also known as Lockheed Martin Darkstar, is a hypersonic Mach 10+ capable aircraft flown by Pete Mitchell in Top Gun: Maverick.
History[]
The Darkstar was supposed to be a proposed prototype hypersonic aircraft designed by the Navy that Maverick was assigned to fly to achieve Mach 09 on a particular date. However, it turns out that Chester Cain has decided to cancel the program to fund drone projects because he said the aircraft had fell short of its contract threshold. The contract threshold was Mach 10. As a result, Maverick, wanting to save the program from cancellation, decides to put the aircraft to Mach 10. Although he successfully is able to reach Mach 10, he decides to push the prototype beyond limits, which causes the prototype to be destroyed.
Behind the scenes[]
The Darkstar was designed by Daniel Simon and Jeremy Hindle, and later, with the help of Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works Division.[1] It was inspired by SR-71 Blackbird and SR-72 concepts.[2]
A mockup of Darkstar was built by Lockheed Martin. It was 21.18 meters long with a wingspan of 10.06 meters.[2] Some of its parts, such as instrumental and flight stick inside the cockpit, were actual prototypes lend by Lockheed Martin.[1] The mockup was used for filming the ground scene and as a reference for the VFX team to work on the aerial scene.[3] Taking-off and flight sequences were performed by an F/A-18, which was replaced digitally by Darkstar.[4]
Other[]
The Darkstar was featured as a playable aircraft in Microsoft Flight Simulator Top Gun: Maverick expansion[5] and ACE COMBAT 7: Skies Unknown Top Gun: Maverick Edition.[6] It was also featured in various Top Gun: Maverick merchandises.
The mockup was Darkstar was on display at the 2022 Aerospace Valley Open House, Air Show, & STEM Expo at the Edwards Air Force Base in October 2022.[7]
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Jazz Tangcay (2022-12-09). ‘Top Gun: Maverick’: How Real-Life Engineers Inspired the DarkStar Plane. variety.com. Retrieved on July 16, 2023.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Daniel Simon. Daniel Simon | Top Gun: Maverick. danielsimon.com. Retrieved on July 16, 2023.
- ↑ Vincent Frei (2023-03-14). Top Gun – Maverick: Seth Hill – VFX Supervisor – Method Studios. artofvfx.com. Retrieved on July 18, 2023.
- ↑ Mike Seymour (2023-02-14). Flying Top Gun: Maverick with Ryan Tudhope. Retrieved on July 18, 2023.
- ↑ Microsoft Flight Simulator Team (2022-05-25). BECOME A TOP GUN PILOT IN FREE EXPANSION AVAILABLE TODAY. flightsimulator.com. Retrieved on July 16, 2023.
- ↑ ACE COMBAT 7: SKIES UNKNOWN. bandainamcoent.eu. Retrieved on July 18, 2023.
- ↑ Edwards Air Force Base (2022-10-13). [https://www.facebook.com/EdwardsAirForceBase/posts/pfbid02g9ZAMKh4YX1mKbi78dCPMPukKkkz3VtC5rZL95NSeFvQD17nuXYaUKANXySw3MW5l Yes, the rumors were TRUE! 📝 The Lockheed Martin Darkstar IS at Edwards and will have its world debut at] (Status update). Facebook.