Editing SPOILER: Hopewell Facility (section)

=== Blackbird (OXCART / A-10 / A-11 / A-12 / SR-71) program ===
Even before U-2 development was complete, Lockheed began work on its successor, the [[CIA]]'s ''OXCART'' project, a [[Mach number|Mach]]-3 high altitude [[reconnaissance]] aircraft later known as the [[SR-71 Blackbird]].  The Blackbird's flight characteristics and maintenance requirements forced a massive expansion of facilities and runways at Groom Lake.  By the time the first A-12 Blackbird prototype flew at Groom in [[1962]], the main runway had been lengthened to 8500 ft (2600 m), and the base boasted a complement of over 1000 personnel.  It had fueling tanks, a control tower, and a [[baseball]] diamond.  Security was also greatly enhanced, the small civilian mine in the Groom basin was closed, and the area surrounding the valley was made an exclusive military preserve (where interlopers were subject to "lethal force").  Groom saw the first flight of all major Blackbird variants: A-10, A-11, A-12, RS-71 (renamed [[SR-71]] by USAF Chief of Staff [[Curtis LeMay]] and not by a presidential error as popularly believed), the abortive YF-12A strike-fighter variant, and the disastrous D-21 Blackbird-based drone project.