I understand the SR-71 had to deal with a lot of issues in order to keep its speed (special fuel which leaked on the runway, titanium fuselage and probably other stuff). But wouldn’t the same type of engine be able to power a relatively slower fighter jet capable of easily cruise at match 2-2.5, so it doesn’t have to deal with so much friction as the SR-71 at match 3.
But while the engines exist since the 1960s, relatively few fighters go faster than match 2 and it took all the way to the 21st century to have fighters capable of supercruise (and still below match 2). So I guess there has to be a reason for that.
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There actually are good reasons for that — that sort of high top speed is just not useful at all in combat. Caught a [pretty good video](https://youtu.be/Xo3arfoGbvc) on the topic a little while back, but the TLDW is that you sacrifice too much manoeuvrability to go that fast.
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