SR-71 Blackbird

The Blackbird (occasionally SR-71 by multiplayer announcers), is a killstreak reward in Call of Duty: Black Ops.

Campaign
The SR-71 Blackbird was first seen in the Call of Duty: Black Ops teaser trailer. In the game it appears in the campaign level "WMD". In the cockpit of the Blackbird "Big Eye 6", the playable character Mosely is prompted to activate the jet's engines, and then pull back on the stick during take-off. Major Neitsch then uses the SR-71's reconnaissance equipment to guide a squad of four friendly soldiers past enemy patrols in the Ural Mountains. Once this is accomplished, players then takes control of Hudson on the ground hiding from the patrols. Once they go away, the mission continues.

Multiplayer
The Blackbird appears as an 8-killstreak award (7 with Hardline) in multiplayer, and cannot be shot down. It is an advanced radar, giving real-time updates of where enemies are positioned and in which direction they are facing. The Blackbird lasts about a minute. Counter-Spy Planes block the Blackbird. The Blackbird shows all enemy players, even Ghost Pro users.

Strategies
While using the Blackbird and playing Domination or Capture the Flag, use the Blackbird while the enemy are holding a flag, since it will make it easy to find out if there are players there and how many are there protecting the flag. Also, in demolition it can be used to tell if enemies are guarding objectives and which way they are facing, so player can sneak around them and flank them, although this might be best used with the Ninja (Pro) perk so that enemies won't hear you.

Blackbirds are also very useful for building killstreaks. While most other killstreaks simply help attain more kills, Blackbirds allow players to get more kills with their own guns and thus move up the killstreak. Thus, it's generally a good idea to have the Blackbird set as a second killstreak with a costlier one right after it such as a gunship.

This killstreak can be devastating in Free-For-All matches as all players will be highlighted and there is no way to shoot it down. This makes it next to impossible for any other player to flank you.

Even if you rarely get high killstreaks, consider setting this streak up as your third in case you go on a roll. If you manage to get it, it will be easier for more experienced players to get their killstreaks.

Counter-Spy Planes will still scramble the mini-map, even if a blackbird is active. If the enemy calls one in, you cannot shoot it down.

One way of reducing the efficiency of an enemy Blackbird is by throwing Decoy grenades, as they will show up as red arrows. If you are playing in a party, this tactic will be very confusing for the enemy team, as the whole map will be full by red arrows, especially if your team is using Warlord Pro.

The Blackbird is considered to be the most useful killstreak in Black Ops. This is most likely because the killstreak allows all players on the user's team to be able to kill any enemy almost all of the time. Considering the reletively long time of effect, this results in many kills and opportunities for your team. This can also lead to more killstreaks for the entire team, which allows for even more kills.

Operators

 * Neitsch
 * Mosely

Trivia

 * Unlike the Spy Plane Kill streak, Blackbird will also reveal players using Ghost.
 * The avatar pilot suit which is given to those who pre-ordered the game when it is released would be the same in the Blackbird. It can also be purchased in the Xbox Live Marketplace and the Alter Ego store in PlayStation Home, for Xbox and PS3 respectively.
 * The 1963 flight data of the SR-71 can be found in U.S.D.D. and "Five". The name of pilot Sullivan is a possible reference to Tom Sullivan from World at War.
 * It seems that even if the player does not pull back on the stick, the Blackbird will eventually take off successfully.
 * It is possible to Counter the Blackbird with Decoy Grenades as they move on the Map. This is odd, since the Blackbird is manned by experienced personnel. It also uses thermal images, so the Pilot wouldn't mark a target unless it had a heat signature and/or looked like a person, which a decoy wouldn't, this was perhaps kept for game balancing reasons.
 * When the killstreak is called in you can sometimes see the plane itself. The Blackbird can be seen in Hanoi and Jungle, for example. It is a white dot in the sky.
 * A Counter-Spy Plane is also a recommended choice that can also be used to counter Blackbird.

Images
SR-71