The SR-71A reconnaissance missions of the US Air Force’s 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing to gather intelligence information on the South African nuclear facilities in 1978-1979 were among the longest ever flown by reconnaissance aircraft worldwide.

The flight from the airfield on Diego Garcia Island in the Indian Ocean to the Kalahari Desert in present-day Namibia was approximately 8,500 km one way (and almost as far back).

Diego Garcia is located in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the nation of Sri Lanka. It’s a part of an archipelago consisting of 2,300 islands. Diego Garcia occupies a strategic location in the central Indian Ocean, which is successfully utilized by the United States and the United Kingdom for military and intelligence purposes. During the Cold War, its main task was to look over the increasing Soviet military and economical activities in the South African region.