Falcon HTV-2 - US HyperSonic Aircraft

[Arsalan]

An experimental unmanned aircraft that fly at 20 times the speed of sound is to undergo a crucial test flight on Thursday.

The Falcon HTV-2 will be launched on a rocket into space then will glide back down to Earth at speeds of 13,000mph.

The previous test flight lasted only nine minutes before being deliberately crashed as a safety measure due to technical difficulties.

Falcon HTV-2: The aircraft can travel at 20 times the speed of sound - or 13,000mph. It is part of research effort by DARPA to one day make long-duration hypersonic flight a reality

This mission, should it succeed, could set new records in sub-orbital space travel and pave the way for a generation of super weapons.

The rocket carrying the Falcon will take off Thursday, weather permitting, from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California aboard an Air Force Minotaur IV rocket, which is a decommissioned ballistic missile.

The test was originally scheduled for Wednesday.

The Falcon will then separate off and come back down at colossal speeds - it would take less than 12 minutes to fly from New York to Los Angeles, a journey which takes a normal jet more than five hours.

The project is being developed by The Pentagon and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) as part of a new generation of hypersonic weapons that can strike faster than missiles.

The U.S. military hopes it will enable them to hit terrorists or rogue states anywhere in the world in under an hour.

 

[Arsalan]

OH Boy, is US going through a bad patch . . .

Falcon HTV-2 is lost during bid to become fastest ever plane

US military officials lost contact with the fastest plane ever built on Thursday during a hypersonic test flight over the Pacific.

The Falcon HTV-2 launched aboard a rocket from Vandenberg air force base in California, on what at first appeared to be a flawless mission.

But after separating from the rocket at the edge of space and beginning its return to Earth, the aircraft went silent during the gliding stage of the test flight, where it was due to perform a serious of manoeuvres as it hurtled through the atmosphere.

Officials at the US Defence Advance Research Projects Agency (Darpa) announced they had lost communication with the speeding craft at 4.21pm BST, 36 minutes into the flight.

The unmanned "hypersonic technology vehicle" was expected to reach a top speed of Mach 20, or 13,000 mph, and withstand temperatures of 2000C caused by the ultrafast flow of air around the aircraft.

At that speed, the plane could travel from London to Sydney in less than an hour and cross the US mainland, from New York to Los Angeles, in a breakneck 12 minutes.

The plane was born from a Darpa plan called Prompt Global Strike, which sought to give military commanders the ability to strike targets anywhere in the world within an hour. Had the project worked, the Falcon HTV might have replaced intercontinental ballistic missiles.

The loss of the hypersonic aircraft is a serious setback for engineers trying to perfect the art of flying at such spectacular speeds. In April last year the first Falcon test flight, HTV-1, ran into trouble after nine minutes when computers picked up a glitch and steered the aircraft into the sea as a safety precaution.

Darpa only built two Falcon prototypes and has no plans to manufacture any more. This test flight was their last shot at success before the project is considered for closure.

Had the latest test flight gone to plan, the Falcon HTV-2 would have separated from its rocket high above the atmosphere and entered a steep dive before levelling out and performing a series of subtle manoeuvres to test its aerodynamic performance. At the end of the flight the plane would have rolled upside down and steered a graceful arc into the ocean.

Engineers hoped the flight would provide crucial information on the plane's performance, including the resilience of its carbon composite body and navigation systems supposed to keep it on course as it moved at almost four miles per second.

Falcon HTV-2 is lost during bid to become fastest ever plane | World news | The Guardian

 

[Thomas]

OH Boy, is US going through a bad patch . . .


Falcon HTV-2 is lost during bid to become fastest ever plane | World news | The Guardian

somthing went wrong but not until about 20 min's into the glide phase. Which is just before the terminal phase when it crashes into the ocean. keep in mind that it is new technology being tested. problems are pretty much a given. It was pretty opptimistic to think they would only need 2 prototypes to test with.

This darpa presentation shows the various stages of the test flight.

Flight Overview slide--UPDATED as of 29 Jul 11

 

[anon45]

somthing went wrong but not until about 20 min's into the glide phase. Which is just before the terminal phase when it crashes into the ocean. keep in mind that it is new technology being tested. problems are pretty much a given. It was pretty opptimistic to think they would only need 2 prototypes to test with.

This darpa presentation shows the various stages of the test flight.

Flight Overview slide--UPDATED as of 29 Jul 11

true, but the program is being considered to be cut last I heard. This is an improvement on the last test, but might not be enough to escape the chopping block.

 

[Arsalan]

with all the economic problems, will it be good to keep on pursuing this multi billion dollar project that have failed both times during evaluation?
i don't think US will be giving a good message to the countries that gives loan to US.

 

[anon45]

with all the economic problems, will it be good to keep on pursuing this multi billion dollar project that have failed both times during evaluation?
i don't think US will be giving a good message to the countries that gives loan to US.

Quite frankly the countries giving loans to the US are stuck with it, as has been shown by the lack of action after this whole debt ceiling fiasco.

 

[Leader]

somthing went wrong but not until about 20 min's into the glide phase. Which is just before the terminal phase when it crashes into the ocean. keep in mind that it is new technology being tested. problems are pretty much a given. It was pretty opptimistic to think they would only need 2 prototypes to test with.

This darpa presentation shows the various stages of the test flight.

Flight Overview slide--UPDATED as of 29 Jul 11

it seems it is yet far from being ready, and another failure could end the project or halt to it, but surely it could add up as very important predator to AF1.

 

[silko]

i saw something similar in history channel, dogfights of the future.

if i'll find it ill post it. but i dont know if that is this!

EDIT: i found it, but not the exact one. just see through all of them to see it. a bit off topic but can someone identify if that is what is shown here!

 

[Mosamania]

If it was to be used for civilian purposes then I am all for it. Going anywhere in the globe in less than an hour is like a dream come true. But we all know the US is going to stick bombs in it anyways.

 

[ChineseTiger1986]

If it was to be used for civilian purposes then I am all for it. Going anywhere in the globe in less than an hour is like a dream come true. But we all know the US is going to stick bombs in it anyways.

Building up a good economy is boring, war and destruction sounds much cooler.

 

[Manticore]

DARPA loses contact with HTV-2
DARPA loses contact with HTV-2

 

[notsuperstitious]

If it was to be used for civilian purposes then I am all for it. Going anywhere in the globe in less than an hour is like a dream come true. But we all know the US is going to stick bombs in it anyways.

Well said.

Unrelated - Saudi spends 11% of their GDP on defence.

 

[Mani2020]

Working of HTV-2

HTV-2 is an unmanned, rocket-launched, maneuverable aircraft that glides through the Earth’s atmosphere at incredibly fast speeds,approximately 13,000 miles per hour.The HTV-2 vehicle is a “data truck” with numerous sensors that collect data in an uncertain operating envelope

HTV-2 flew its maiden flight on 22 Apr 2010, collecting nine minutes of unique flight data, including 139 seconds of Mach 22 to Mach 17 aerodynamic data.That flight achieved many “firsts”

Deployed largest number of sea, land, air and space data collection assets in support of hypersonic flight test
Maintained Global Positioning System (GPS) signals while traveling 3.6 miles per second
Validated two-way communication with the vehicle
Verified effective use of the Reaction Control System (RCS)


After the HTV-2 program , the nest intended program was Blackswift/HTV-3x .he Blackswift was a proposed aircraft capable of hypersonic flight designed by the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works, Boeing, and ATK.It was stated that that the "Blackswift flight demonstration vehicle will be powered by a combination turbine engine and ramjet, an all-in-one power plant. The turbine engine accelerates the vehicle to around Mach 3 before the ramjet takes over and boosts the vehicle up to Mach 6.

But later the program was cancelled due to the unavailability of funds

Here is proposed design

 

[500]

Its basically just suborbital rocket, something from 50 years ago:

 

[Cambodia Spirit]

Does China have a variant one???

It show how ridiculous about the U.S. whining about China threat while they, USA, keep producing such evil thing to harm the World peace!!!???