Experimental Aircraft to Go From Zero to 13,000 in Hypersonic Test Launch

Today, an unmanned plane will will take off from a California base for a test flight that will reach speeds of 13,000 miles per hour- fast enough that you could get from New York to California in 12 minutes.

It’s called the the Falcon HTV-2. Shaped like an arrowhead, it initially launches as part of a larger rocket, separates, and then cuts through the Earth’s atmosphere at an incredible gliding speed 20 times the speed of sound.

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This sounds awesome and scary at the same time! Can you imagine flying this or using it for war? Which I wouldn't be surprised the reason why this was design.

The goal of the project is to eventually enable the U.S. military to strike anywhere in the world in less than an hour.

Nuclear fallout anyone? Wow.. I wonder, if China is behind all the weapons firm hacks, if they were able to find out this technology to add to their arsenal. I read somewhere they already had a successful test flight of their very first stealth bomber, and now the U.S. comes out with this.. makes ya think huh? I also noticed the U.S. is admitting to a lot of new aviation technology recently, I hope it's not because we'll be seeing it used soon

EDIT: Then again.. we owe China so much money I guess we have nothing to worry about in this lifetime.

Originally posted by ManOfGod267 This sounds awesome and scary at the same time! Can you imagine flying this or using it for war? Which I wouldn't be surprised the reason why this was design.

This is exactly the reason why it was designed - from your own link provided

The goal of the project is to eventually enable the U.S. military to strike anywhere in the world in less than an hour.

You did read that, right?

reply to post by ManOfGod267


This is the next best thing from orbital weapons. Since countries can't deploy weapons in space because of that stupid treaty, this is a viable option. Like FOBS (Fractional Orbital Bombardment System) developed by Russia, the Falcon HTV-2 is a first strike and precision weapon.

If they wanted to, they wouldn't have to put a warhead on the HTV-2. Just use a solid chunk of titanium with guidance sensors and thrusters. Doing so will make it into a non-orbital version of a THOR shot. One application would be launching a number of these non-warhead "missiles" to destroy high-profile targets, like carriers, bases, and tank convoys. The KE would be enough to destroy anything.

And the practical purpose of this "glider" mounted on a one-way, expensive rocket is...?

Just another gimmick to get you used to exotic aircraft (most of which will never fly or will once or twice).

It is all to make a public show of where your aerospace defense money is going while they continue to build the triangle fleet, the real reason behind the Stragic Defense Initiative (Star Wars) programs..

I don't think that plane can fly faster than the TR-3B. And TR-3B is already very old that means that there are newer crafts out there faster than the TR-3B that is not being shared to us.

Didn't you no?
These are the new UFO interceptors there going to start giving the abduction fines to try and boost the economy

Now that is impressive.
We must be in the middle of that my stuff is better then your stuff display going on.
So now where do we stand does this trump the Missile that will kill an aircraft carrier? I`m thinking that bad boy right there is king now.

Falcon, Falcon
Oh greatness I feel so safe now.
What? Oh great what's this crap on the first launch link below. Sounds like this thing is using impact velocity for it`s destruction effect. Sounding like we aren`t going to be strapping nukes on it either. And it seems a ballistic missile is still 400mph faster. So this thing is just a very fast pup and not the big big dog?

First Launch Link

Man just when they get me all excited.
I don`t see why though we are investing in such expensive luxury items just to get rid of our old car that is still mighty impressive when it hits you.
Like shouldn`t we get paid by whoever wants us to dismantle our nukes? I mean we are broke aren`t we?

Good God the rest of the world has plenty of reason to be laughing at us on this one. Figure how much money it cost us to make all these nukes in testing and then how much this program cost during us getting rid of them. Where did the money go. I wonder.

I think it really looks like the toys are to big for the war game they want to play so the new rules are coming out so the game can be played.
Why else get rid of something that hasn`t been used for a long time and probably has stopped more Wars by just sitting there on the shelf.

2nd line

Cool we will be able to eliminate any target in the world with just over an hours notice.
I wonder what type of ordinance are in the works.

Originally posted by flyingfish
Cool we will be able to eliminate any target in the world with just over an hours notice.
I wonder what type of ordinance are in the works.

We already have the capability to eliminate any target in the world with about a half hours notice.

However, the flight plan looks identical to a nuclear ICBM (because it is a non-nuclear ICBM, but you can't tell the difference until too late).

So it is entirely an exercise to develop an ICBM-like capability which has a different trajectory.

Or more to the point, an exercise to transfer tax money to certain people .

Put a tungsten telephone pole with its own hypersonic engines under this and lob it with GPS guidance.

Aim this Experimental Aircraft to go into space and the tungsten telephone pole to go into a nice ballistic flight path and when it starts to come down the hypersonic engines on it bring it to incoming asteroid speeds and you have a Rod from God.
en.wikipedia.org...

Space treaties ban orbiting WMDs but if there is no orbit its not banned.
www.popsci.com...

I keep seeing military tech that could be used for Rods from God.
they never have tested a rod from god but they have over the years tested many systems if put together could be a Rods weapons system.

Live on twitter, theyre launching in around 30 min

no live feed though

@DARPA_news

Well T -3 minutes till

Let me know if you guys see anythign in the sky lol

Sorry for the short reply I'm on my iPhone at work. I'm from the UK, what bothers me is why dies the US Government always insisting building new products to make strikes around the world. Just wish for one time that the US Government concentrated on their own sodding country and to leave others to get on with running their own. Just seems like the answer to the US Governments problems ate just to bomb everything. As my eyes open wider I'm beginning to think the US is the biggest terrorism and world peace threat. Just makes me mad grr

I think this is related to the topic..

U.S. hypersonic glider launched, contact lost

The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency says contact with its experimental hypersonic glider was lost after launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base on the central California coast.

Fail. Not SSTO.

reply to post by JacKatMtn


Hmmm everything was going smooth for a while, wonder if its crashed already

If they are telling us they can hit 13k mph in a jet then they must have jets that can double or triple that, but most likely not in mass production, very top secret systems...however these disclosed tests are the precusor to a mass production project.

alittle bit at a time folks, remember the fog of war.

I can imagine how how fun it would be to ride in this .. Wouldnt be safe but it would fun to see the landscape change while go really fast

Originally posted by FuturePeace
reply to post by JacKatMtn

 

Hmmm everything was going smooth for a while, wonder if its crashed already

As a matter of fact it has...

Independent.co.uk

Hypersonic aircraft crashes on test flight

By Enjoli Liston Saturday, 13 August 2011

A hypersonic aircraft billed as the "world's fastest plane" has crashed into the Pacific Ocean after engineers lost contact with it, according to a US defence agency. The unmanned Falcon HTV-2, which is designed to travel 22 times faster than a commercial airliner at speeds of up to 13,000mph, was just nine minutes into a test flight on Thursday when, according to the plane's operators, the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency, officials lost contact with it. The agency is developing the aircraft with the capability to strike any part of the globe with a conventional warhead within one hour. It will travel at 20 times the speed of sound. A rocket launched from an air-force base in California carried the Falcon HTV-2 to the edge of space for this flight, its second so far. Engineers also lost contact with the aircraft on its first test flight in 2010. "We know how to insert the aircraft into atmospheric hypersonic flight," Air Force Major Chris Schulz of Darpa said. "We do not yet know how to achieve the desired control during the aerodynamic phase of flight. It's vexing."