U.S. Air Force’s Mach 6X-51 Cruise Missile Ready to Race! (video-10x's faster then ones now!)

By the end of Tuesday, the Air Force could be a whole lot closer to a hypersonic cruise missile — a Mach 6 weapon that’s 10 times faster than the old-school type.

After some technical issues forced a testing delay, the Air Force’s X-51 WaveRider will make its first flight attempt Tuesday. And if all goes to plan, it will be the longest-ever hypersonic flight powered by scramjet propulsion — little more than air and plain ol’ jet fuel.

The X-51 flight is all part of an effort to develop a new class of cruise missile that can handle hypersonic flight, a concept that overlaps neatly with the Pentagon’s interest in what it calls “prompt global strike” — the ability to reach out and blast a target over long distances, on extremely short notice.

But it’s also technically challenging. Sustained hypersonic flight is considered to be real stretch for an air-breathing vehicle — this excellent primer by Noah Shachtman explains why — but the WaveRider’s unique shape employs the shockwaves created by hypersonic flight to create lift, as well as compress the air from the atmosphere to mix and burn with its fuel.

The test will be run from Edwards Air Force Base, California. As this conceptual video shows, a B-52 will carry the WaveRider aloft. Once it reaches 50,000 feet, the B-52 will release its payload. The solid rocket booster will then kick in, taking the aircraft to about Mach 4.5. After the booster falls away, the scramjet is supposed to take the aircraft up to Mach 6.

Other hypersonic test vehicles have gone faster. The X-43A hit Mach 9.7. But it used hydrogen, not simple hydrocarbons, for fuel. And its engine burned away after 10 seconds. The X-51 could fly for as long as 5 minutes.

WaveRider is a collaboration between Boeing Phantom Works and engine maker Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne. The project has been funded by the Air Force, NASA and Darpa, the Pentagon’s far-out research arm.

Source: www.wired.com...



Good news. More for the USAF Global Strike Command to have in its arsenal.
This stuff is kick-butt. One thing for the US-it always has high-tech stuff.

I just hope it is enough for the next world war. I think what they re-confirmed (at least for now), no matter how much tech chit you got-you still need feet on the Ground. (I will never forget that-as taught to me when I was in the Army).

Hope it works. The video is awesome. Enjoy.

Great another weapon of destruction in the hands of the Genocidal American Empire.

China must make USA collapse economically , so that USA stops mass murdering people in Third world countries.

USA can't handle its debts and deficits , can't handle a disaster in Gulf of Mexico (worser than Chernobyl) ,can't pay its public servants etc. yet can spend money on these weapons and murdering/harassing dissenters

I just hope it is enough for the next world war.

the next world war is economic and not military , and USA will lose it to China sooner or later.

[edit on 25-5-2010 by sadchild01]

Wow, scramjet technology... the same things the Germans used in ww2 with the v1 flying bombs. Scalar weaponry makes this redundant, weapons company posturing. If it is destroyed before getting within 400km of its target by a tesla dome it's pretty useless.

Neat missile... I wonder how many Americans could have gone to college for the price of each one? Your standard cruise missile is ~$600,000, so you can bet these are a few million a piece. That's what, 20+ people (more like 100 probably) assuming 50k for a 4 year degree? But I guess being able to kill people in a slightly different way than before is also important to America.

Doesn't that bother Americans? Isn't having a military 20x better than everyone else combined enough? Having one 21.3x better is that important? I don't get it.

Originally posted by GhostR1der
Wow, scramjet technology... the same things the Germans used in ww2 with the v1 flying bombs. Scalar weaponry makes this redundant, weapons company posturing. If it is destroyed before getting within 400km of its target by a tesla dome it's pretty useless.

Pretty lame post dude - the V1's used Pulse jet engine's - not scram jets, a pulse jet can operate from a standing start (more or less, I believe they were actually catapulted) - a scram jet will only work when sufficient air speed has been attained - that is key to their function.

Also it's applications are not solely for weapons, a cruise missile is a test bed or a proof of concept.