Hypersonic weapon: New US bomb kills long before you hear it!!

This is frightening yet pretty cool at the same time.

The US Army has tested a hypersonic missile, which travels six times faster than the speed of sound. It is part of a larger plan to have the capability to strike any place on the planet within an hour.

The missile, called the Advanced Hypersonic Weapon (AHW), was launched from Hawaii on Thursday, the Pentagon reported. A rocket delivered it to suborbital altitude, after which the glider went for its target on the Marshall Islands, some 3,700 kilometers away.

It hit less than 30 minutes later, which means its speed was at least 7,400 kilometer per hour, or about Mach 6. An aircraft must be able to fly faster than Mach 5, to qualify as hypersonic.

A Mach number is used to describe the speed of an object or a fluid in comparison to the speed of sound in that medium. Mach 1 means the object travels at the same speed as sound. However the speed of sound may vary depending on such conditions as temperature and composition, so the speed expressed in Mach number is also variable. The now-retired Concorde supersonic passenger planes used to fly at a cruising speed of about Mach 2.

The test was aimed at gathering data on "aerodynamics, navigation, guidance and control, and thermal protection technologies," the Pentagon said.

The AHW is one of several projects of the Prompt Global Strike program. It is aimed at developing several weapons which can be launched from American territory and reach their destinations within an hour.

On August 11 the US Air Force tested another hypersonic glider called the HTV-2. It is faster than the AHW, with speeds reaching 27,000 kilometer per hour. But unlike the Army’s vehicle, it does not work well – the test was aborted due to a technical failure.

The Soviet Union developed ramjet engines capable of hypersonic locomotion and even tested one design, which successfully reached Mach 5.7. The work was stalled by the collapse of the USSR, and no weapon using this technology was ever produced.

It truly makes you wonder what really they have that we don't know about? I am one for technology but can't it be directed more at peaceful uses, than warring? They have all this knowledge at their fingertips and it would be nice if we had a piece of it.

rt.com...

Peaceful uses?

"Introducing the all new hypersonic toilet paper roll, you'll be clean before you hear the turd splash!" lol

got a link, or maybe
a title to search for a source?

Originally posted by rubbertramp
got a link, or maybe
a title to search for a source?

Sorry bout that...link is posted now.

reply to post by chrismicha77

Link to source?

I would really like to see when this happened, especially given all the news regarding Russia supplying Syria with all those missles.

I think we are now in a new "Who's got the biggest d*ck" contest with Russia and China. Things are getting pretty scary!

Thanks for the thread.... I would love to see the source and date!

Originally posted by chrismicha77

Originally posted by rubbertramp
got a link, or maybe
a title to search for a source?

Sorry bout that...link is posted now.

thanx buddy.

not a big fan of rt news, but these guys have been on the money about much military stuff.

2,400 Miles in Minutes? No Sweat! Hypersonic Weapon Passes ‘Easy’ Test

link to wired article

Just wanted to say that the V-2 rocket used by Germany against England during WWII traveled at speeds well in excess of the speed of sound. The citizens of London only knew one was coming when it blew up half of the block that they lived on.

Before someone jumps on me, I am well aware of the differences in the speed of a V-2 and this new hypersonic weapon, I am just addressing the title of the thread. Getting hit before you hear the missile coming is nothing new.

Originally posted by chrismicha77

The US Army has tested a hypersonic missile, which travels six times faster than the speed of sound. It is part of a larger plan to have the capability to strike any place on the planet within an hour.

And yet the US government still wants to cover the globe in it's ground forces even though it has this super high-tech killing machine that reaches anywhere on the planet.

All funded by taxpayers while their country goes bust.

If God blesses America in it's present state then he is up to something.

reply to post by chrismicha77



This was already posted about a week ago.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Originally posted by butcherguy
Just wanted to say that the V-2 rocket used by Germany against England during WWII traveled at speeds well in excess of the speed of sound. The citizens of London only knew one was coming when it blew up half of the block that they lived on.

Before someone jumps on me, I am well aware of the differences in the speed of a V-2 and this new hypersonic weapon, I am just addressing the title of the thread. Getting hit before you hear the missile coming is nothing new.

But you are exactly right on your main point. That being WHAT THE :HELL IS THE BIG DEAL OVER THIS?

So it is a sub-orbital winged rocket that is of long-duration firing.

Although the military applications of hypersonic missiles are obvious, the data recovered about thermal interferance and effects on the projectile would be very useful to NASA and other space agencies, as it would give them a good idea of how to go about developing thermal shielding for craft designed to enter hostile atmospheres, and the guidance data would similarly be of use to such agencies, for reasons I need not go into due to the simplicity of them.

However, the idea that a bomb could hit before being heard is not a new one. Its perfectly normal for a bullet to arrive before the sound of its passing.

Even a 1950's Russian SKS fires supersonic, most kills in WWII were before the shot was heard.

ICBMs are faster than that. So was the space shuttle for that matter.
The US already has the capability to hit anywhere on the planet in less than an hour. So does Russia for that matter.

Originally nukes were going to be refitted with conventional warheads but deeper thinking made it clear that isn't a very good idea. Russia might get a little upset if they detected a ballistic missile that they didn't expect, even if it wasn't coming their way. The trick is that this thing doesn't act like an ICBM so if Russia sees one flying it's much less likely for a nuclear exchange to ensue.

In any case the concept is still very much under development.