SR-72 Confirmed: Mach 6 Project Blackswift

a reply to: mightmight

Of course they wont build it, that’s not the point. Unless you want to believe that Boeings CTO was talking out of his ass when offering specific details on what they can do with turboramjet tech, the simple truth is, Mach 5 is very possible.

Depends on the audience he is aiming for. The investor types will run across his comments and think Boeing has an interest that in that market. That would steer investment away from any companies that might be trying to build a supersonic aircraft. I've seen CTOs and CEOs of tech and aerospace companies pull this crap over and over. It has nothing to do with what is possible or not - in fact, oft times those who know the subject are left with a wtf expression - but rather all about steering where the dinero is going.

That latter is the case, I'm pretty sure here and, hence, I think he's full of it.

Jack O’Banion, Vice President of Strategy and Customer Requirements, Advanced Development Programs for Lockheed Martin may have just unintentionally revealed that America’s next hypersonic warplane is much farther along the development process than previously suggested.

The purpose of O’Banion’s presentation of the SR-72 and its scramjet engine was to explain the critical role of digital advancements in designing and testing the aircraft and its engine in digital 3D models. He claims the digital transformation in recent years allowed the design to be robust with no moving parts, and to be extremely agile at hypersonic speeds.

Back in June, The War Zone reported that it was likely that the SR-72 was further along in development than initially presumed, and now it seems all but confirmed to be well clear of the conceptual and modeling phases of development, and possibly operational. The entire presentation seems to heavily suggest that Lockheed Martin either has completed an operational aircraft, or is incredibly close to achieving an operational aircraft.

jalopnik.com, Jan. 8, 2019 - Lockheed Martin May Be Closer To Completing The Hypersonic SR-72 Than We Thought.

Surprised this was not already posted! Speaking of VPs talking smack...

Except I do not think this is a spearfishing/fund raising attempt. Add the sighting last summer at the Lockheed hangar and the highlighted statement makes even more sense using the term "operational". At least a scale version is flying around it seems.

originally posted by: anzha

That latter is the case, I'm pretty sure here and, hence, I think he's full of it.

Then we have to agree to disagree i guess.
The statement he made adds up with what we know about the Green flame and other efforts prior to TBCC. I see no reason not to believe that a Military Mach 5+ turboramjet platform was not done ages ago.
Whether Boeing in particular would actually be able to build a viable civilian version is beside the point.

originally posted by: TEOTWAWKIAIFF
Jan. 8, 2019 -

actually 01/08/18 as in August 1st 2018
It was mentioned here at the time.

a reply to: TEOTWAWKIAIFF

I have actually put together a pretty solid timeline. I got a few interesting pictures at Plant 42 over the years that don't show much detail but match up with things released and said over the years.

a reply to: Zaphod58
Has your timeline already been posted here ? If so, i didn´t notice, but in any case a brief reminder would be very much appreciated, only if you can.

a reply to: Fastmover

One of the pictures was, I'm pretty sure. It was around the time of the bomber selection. Beyond that I can't go into a lot of detail.

a reply to: Zaphod58
Thanks man. By the way, someone is making progress...:www.defense-aerospace.com...

a reply to: mightmight


And guess what, I am still writing checks with "2018" on them!! lol. *facepalm*

Thanks for not laughing too hard at me!!



@Zaphod58, figured that something was zipping around esp. when the seismometer data started to be monitored closely (as said in the other thread).

They're running a little behind, but...

Simulation of hypersonic flows with equilibrium chemical reactions on graphics processor units

Authors:

Emelyanov et al

Abstract:

When hypersonic vehicle travels in the atmosphere with a high speed, the surrounding gas experiences complicated physical and chemical processes producing high-temperature gas effects. High-temperature gas effects are a key issue related to hypersonic aerodynamic design and optimization. The finite volume method is applied to solve unsteady three-dimensional compressible Navier–Stokes equations on unstructured meshes. High-temperature gas effects altering the aerodynamics of vehicle are taken into account. Possibilities of the use of graphics processor units (GPUs) for the simulation of hypersonic flows are demonstrated. Solutions of some benchmark test cases on GPUs are reported, and a comparison between computational results of chemically equilibrium reacting and perfect air flowfields is performed. Speedup of solution of the problems of interest on GPUs with respect to their solution on central processor units (CPUs) is compared. The results obtained provide promising perspective for designing a GPU-based software framework for applications in CFD.

www.sciencedirect.com...

I think it's funny that the OP's alleged 'inside source' was wrong about Blackswift, which was cancelled in 2008.

Talk about a blast from the past!

This discussion still has some life to it.

X-43A Hypersonic Scramjet Flight 2 Highlights Mach 7 2004 NASA Langley-Dryden Hyper-X Program

youtu.be...

originally posted by: MrSporkster
I think it's funny that the OP's alleged 'inside source' was wrong about Blackswift, which was cancelled in 2008.

Or was it?

a reply to: MrSporkster

Wow, so you totally missed the point.

For those that need a refresher every now and then... there is a nice write up at Hackaday about scram jet tech. They spend two paragraphs on skin materials which is a shame because that is interesting in and of itself. High temperature ceramics have come a long way. But the scramjet info is nice to have all in one place. Enjoy!

hackaday.com - Scramjet Engines on the Long Road to Mach 5.

originally posted by: MrSporkster
I think it's funny that the OP's alleged 'inside source' was wrong about Blackswift, which was cancelled in 2008.

Did you read this thread?

originally posted by: Wgeorge666
a reply to: SpeedFanatic

Sacramento ca. Was on flight path of McClellan afb. No sound. Both times ive seen it was after midnight . no basis to know if manned or unmanned. But was amazing to see.

I live right outside Beale and remember things were REALLY interesting in the 90’s... there was definitely some exotic tech flying around. The 2000’s seemed much quieter. When did you see this and are you sure it was McClellan? If I remember right McClellan was BRAC’d in the early to mid 90’s. However I do remember seeing the F-117 from time to time on approach in the 90’s. A very vivid memory stands out in the early 90’s of a really loud jet engine overhead, and when I looked up it appeared to be a triangle shape up front “connected” to a square shape in the rear. It was pretty high up, but by then I was pretty damn good at ID’ing aircraft and this one was weird. It was late afternoon, which was weirder. Could have been something or maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me but it almost reminded me of the old F-19 models, but more angular edges.

Anyway, I knew a lot of guys in the SR-71 and U-2 programs and they’d recall, unprompted, the infamous “brown outs” that would happen late at night at Beale and instructions to stay off the flight line. Something definitely visited Beale from time to time that was completely consistent with the famous AW&ST article. Aurora may have been BS, but something definitely moved in right when the Blackbird was laid down for her nap (the first time)... maybe coincidence, maybe not.

Fast forward to today, I’ve talked to a few intel guys that all but acknowledge activity in the desert that is consistent with this thread, and another more “colorful” thread. My theory based on some interesting, but certainly non-incriminating, discussions is that there are other agencies operating platforms similar to how the A-12 was independently operated out of Groom. Again, my theory only. Anyway, based on what I can tell from my little vantage point (which isn’t worth much, believe me), this program is alive and well.

a reply to: megamac

Hey megamac,
Great post, mate.

As for your sighting in the early 90's of a really loud aircraft that had 'triangle shape up front “connected” to a square shape in the rear.'.
You said it was late afternoon, so was it still daylight/sunset or so?
How would you describe size of the bird and what colour it had?

I suppose a location of the sighting was Cali?

Cheers!

originally posted by: SpeedFanatic
a reply to: megamac

Hey megamac,
Great post, mate.

As for your sighting in the early 90's of a really loud aircraft that had 'triangle shape up front “connected” to a square shape in the rear.'.
You said it was late afternoon, so was it still daylight/sunset or so?
How would you describe size of the bird and what colour it had?

I suppose a location of the sighting was Cali?

Cheers!

Yeah, northern CA north of Sacramento and still quite a bit of daylight (probably 3-4 in the afternoon). I remember it being a dark gray color and probably about the size of an F-15 or so. It was pretty high up so there wasn’t much perspective to compare it to, but that seemed about right. It did not seem to be in Beale’s pattern though... it was much too high for that. It was really loud, but in a different tone than I was used to. Remember I grew up under the path of SR-71’s coming and going but this was definitely different, almost a “sharper” report if that makes any sense. With a dozen or so “assumed” black projects unaccounted over the past 20-30 years, it might have been one of them or it might have been the first clue of bad eyesight (although I was really good at spotting other known aircraft so who knows).

a reply to: megamac

Is it close to what you've seen as a loud 'triangle shape up front “connected” to a square shape in the rear' bird in the early 90's?


What altitude would you say it travelled at?

Effects of an accompanied gas jet on transverse liquid injection in a supersonic crossflow

Authors:

He et al

Abstract

A liquid injection scheme in a supersonic crossflow, namely transverse liquid injection accompanied with a gas jet, is proposed and investigated experimentally and numerically. High-speed photography was adopted to capture the jet spray in the experimental work; while a discrete phase model was utilized to simulate the liquid jet penetration and gas-liquid interaction in the numerical study. The differences between transverse liquid injection with and without an accompanied gas jet were analyzed. The effects of an accompanied gas jet were determined. Both the experimental and computational results indicate that an accompanied gas jet can significantly enhance liquid jet penetration. Simulation results also indicate that gas injection would cause additional total pressure losses.

www.sciencedirect.com...