Calif. (AFNS) -- Five years after the last of the world's fastest and highest flying airplanes left the Air Force, one SR-71 returned to the inventory June 28.

In a delivery ceremony at the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works facility, the company turned over to Air Force officials the first of two Blackbirds that have been undergoing refurbishment.

Brig. Gen. Bill Rutledge, 9th Reconnaissance Wing commander at Beale AFB, Calif., accepted the aircraft from Dennis E. Thompson, Skunk Works' vice president for business management.

"We are proud to be back in the SR-71 business, and are pleased to report that we are currently running ahead of schedule and significantly under budget," Thompson said.

Thompson read a letter from Maj. Gen. Kenneth R. Israel, director of the Defense Airborne Reconnaissance Office. "The hard work and dedication exhibited by the entire SR-71 team are a tribute to the enduring legacy of the Skunk Works," Israel said in his letter. "You get it right the first time."

The returned Blackbird was scheduled to make its first flight with a retrained crew June 30.

Work on the Blackbirds began earlier this year under a $30 million Air Force contract to refurbish two aircraft. The second airplane is still being reconditioned and is scheduled to rejoin the Air Force fleet in August, Lockheed officials said.

A third SR-71 -- like others in storage for the past five years -- is ready to be refurbished if the Air Force needs it.

The reconnaissance jets were originally designed and built at the Skunk Works in the 1960s when Cold War tensions peaked. Blackbirds overflew trouble spots worldwide for 24 years, gathering vital information for U.S. decision makers.

In 1990, Air Force retired the SR-71 fleet because of budget cuts. Many Blackbirds were given to museums, a small number were stored for possible future use, and three were loaned to NASA for scientific research work.

In late 1994 Congress allocated funds to recondition two or more SR-71s for reconnaissances missions.

Three two-member Air Force crews that once flew SR-71s are being retrained to operate the airplanes. Beginning this summer, the aircraft and crews will be based somewhere in southern California.