Air Force's Experimental Hypersonic Aircraft Disappears Again

Air Force's Experimental Hypersonic Aircraft Disappears Again

gizmodo.com

I don't know what the hell is going on with the Falcon Hypersonic Test Vehicle 2, but the Air Force just lost it again. Last year, the first Falcon vanished over the Pacific Ocean, leaving absolutely no trace.

Now it has happened again. The Falcon HTV-2 launched today from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on top of a Minotaur IV Lite rocket.

After successfully separating from the missile, the Falcon reoriented itself for reentry using its Reaction Control System. During the reentry, it used RCS and its aero controls to fly into Earth's upper atmosphere, passing to the pull-u

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First of all, how cool is it that we are actually testing an aircraft that could go 20 times the speed of sound? I think it's just incredible.

I'm certainly glad the thing has a built in self destruct if anything goes wrong because yikes if it came crashing through your roof.

It appears the first test of the aircraft also resulted in failure after about 9 minutes (second link in OP). It was supposed to set down gently in the Pacific but they never found it. They also don't seem to have a firm handle on what exactly happened. I'm wondering what it costs to build and test just ONE of these guys, and how many more tests there will be.

This brings me to a couple questions for aircraft buffs out there. How much faster is this thing compared to the second fastest out there? Has anything ever even gotten close to the speeds we are talking about here? Would this actually be a cost effective replacement for ICBMs? TO me it certainly doesn't seem like it would be cheaper to use these to deliver payloads but apparently they won't look like a Nuke freaking out other countries.

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(visit the link for the full news article)

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Everytime they send rockets up they punch a huge hole in the Ionosphere and ozone layer.

Just saying.

I just read this story and then logged into ATS to see what the news was on it here...funny that this just got posted.

13,000 mph and that was just an estimate I guess...might explain some of the sightings that are UFO linked!

putting a gps tracker on the next one might help them find it if it crashs...

reply to post by fatdad


Yeah that was my first thought too. I suppose it wont help much if the thing auto destructs but in the event it lands slowly in the ocean you would think there would be a tracking unit. How are thy flying it accurately if there isn't a positioning system/

What if they are going to scheduled destinations that are unknown for the general populace?

Perhaps it is still there, however, it is now traveling back in time?

Great Scot!


Or were you thinkin' more along the lines of ET is capturing it?

Im not sure i understand..whats the point of a craft like this in the first place?

reply to post by PhoenixOD


It's essentially a very fast means of delivering weapons. Like a missile but with more control and I believe speed. It also won't look like an incoming ICBM so less chance of nuclear holocaust.

Originally posted by PhoenixOD
Im not sure i understand..whats the point of a craft like this in the first place?

Its probably going to carry some kind of weapon. What else would it be for! Paying debt, save one poor American at a time by transporting him very fast to a new location?

reply to post by spy66


strike anywhere on the planet in less than an hour without looking like you are launching a nuclear attack

Originally posted by Domo1
reply to post by PhoenixOD

 

It's essentially a very fast means of delivering weapons. Like a missile but with more control and I believe speed. It also won't look like an incoming ICBM so less chance of nuclear holocaust.

At that speed and great American quality of engineering, it is a weapon itself, no need to have payloads, just "test fly" it towards a bunker and you got yourself a bunker buster.

Originally posted by PhoenixOD
Im not sure i understand..whats the point of a craft like this in the first place?

The Hypersonic Cruise Vehicle (HCV) would be able to fly 9,000 nautical miles (17,000 km) in 2 hours with a payload of 12,000 lb (5,500 kg).[12] It is to fly at a high altitudes and achieve speeds of up to Mach 6.

DARPA Falcon Project

They are trying to gain knowledge of the benefits of hypersonic flight. Would be a big asset to have a craft flying 12,000 MPH patrolling the skies. Could be anywhere the remote pilot would want it to go in hours, if not minutes. And I'm sure it could carry a pretty hefty payload to drop on an unsuspecting target.

My belief is that they didn't really lose these things at all. They are still up there just waiting for the next command. How does the USAF/DARPA just lose something worth millions of dollars? And then allow that million dollar piece of equipment fall in international waters? Doubt it.

reply to post by Domo1

How much faster is this thing compared to the second fastest out there?

Quite a bit actually. Mach 20 is quite a jump from previous records.

The last record setter was NASA's X-43, topping out around mach 9.

The third flight of the X-43A set a new speed record of 12,144 km/h (7,546 mph), or Mach 9.8, on November 16, 2004.

But it looks as though it's been replaced by Boeings X-51, but the new aircraft hasn't beat the X-41's record yet.

The most recent success in the X-plane series of aircraft until it was replaced by the X-51, the X-43 was part of NASA's Hyper-X program, involving the American space agency and contractors such as Boeing, MicroCraft Inc, Orbital Sciences Corporation and General Applied Science Laboratory (GASL).

Source

If Earth gets a huge earthquake while she's up there, I'm heading to the bunker...

(not kidding)

Originally posted by iforget
reply to post by spy66

 

strike anywhere on the planet in less than an hour without looking like you are launching a nuclear attack

That is indeed the stated objectives... It is a DARPA project, after all.

However, there are secondary aspects to this as well, such as studying what happens when you attempt controlled flight at Mach 20 (versus the controlled fall of a Shuttle reentery at Mach 23)

I think i understand how they would use it now. Drop it from space where it gains 20x the speed of sound and then let it glide towards the target under radar with no rocket trail to be picked by sensors.

reply to post by PhoenixOD


From my understanding, the shock bow of something moving at Mach 20 would be very visible on radar...