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Title: Superfast Military Aircraft Hit Mach 20 Before Ocean Crash, DARPA Says
Source: [None]
URL Source: https://www.space.com/12670-superfa ... itary-aircraft-darpa-htv2.html
Published: Aug 18, 2011
Author: SPACE.com Staff
Post Date: 2017-08-06 20:01:14 by BTP Holdings
Keywords: None
Views: 622
Comments: 8

Superfast Military Aircraft Hit Mach 20 Before Ocean Crash, DARPA Says

By SPACE.com Staff | August 18, 2011 10:34am ET

A superfast unmanned military plane traveled at 20 times the speed of sound and managed to control itself for three minutes before crashing into the Pacific Ocean in a recent test, military officials said.

The prototype Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 (HTV-2), billed as the fastest aircraft ever built, splashed down in the Pacific earlier than planned on Aug. 11 shortly after launching from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base on its second-ever test flight.

The HTV-2 experienced some sort of anomaly, prompting the vehicle's autonomous flight safety system to guide it to a controlled splashdown, according to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which oversaw the flight.  [Photos: DARPA Hypersonic Glider's Mach 20 Test]

Despite the problem, the aircraft reached speeds around Mach 20 (about 13,000 mph) and was able to control its flight for several minutes, officials said. "HTV-2 demonstrated stable, aerodynamically controlled Mach 20 hypersonic flight for approximately three minutes," said DARPA director Regina Dugan in an Aug. 14 statement. "We do not yet know the cause of the anomaly for Flight 2."

An artist's illustration of DARPA's Hypersonic Test Vehicle-2 flying at speeds of Mach 20.

Credit: DARPA The HTV-2 is part of an advanced weapons program called Conventional Prompt Global Strike, which is working to develop systems to reach an enemy target anywhere in the world within one hour. It launches on a rocket, then comes streaking back to Earth at enormous speeds, at times heating up to temperatures of nearly 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit.

DARPA officials said last week that the Aug. 11 test flight collected more than nine minutes of data during the entire mission.

The first test flight of the HTV-2 took place in April 2010. That flight lasted about nine minutes, also ending when the aircraft detected an anomaly and crashed itself into the ocean. [10 Military Aircraft That Never Made it Past Testing]

An analysis conducted by an independent engineering review board prompted engineers to adjust the HTV-2's center of gravity and make several other changes before the second test. Those fixes apparently corrected the first problem, officials said.

"An initial assessment indicates that the Flight 2 anomaly is unrelated to the Flight 1 anomaly," said Air Force Maj. Chris Schulz, DARPA HTV-2 program manager.

Another independent review board will look into what went wrong with the second flight test in the coming weeks, DARPA officials said.

Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 7.

#1. To: BTP Holdings (#0) (Edited)

The HTV-2 experienced some sort of anomaly.....

No kidding. That airplane IS an anomaly.

I'm betting there are pilots lined up and drooling at the chance to explode into sub-atomic particles along with it,though.

Come to think of it,that aircraft will be useless to the military as a war plane. It's so fast any missile it fired would be behind it by the time it armed,and would espend itself trying to chase the plane down. Or would just explode in the tube if fired from a tube.

sneakypete  posted on  2017-08-06   20:58:25 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


#5. To: sneakypete (#1)

Come to think of it,that aircraft will be useless to the military as a war plane. It's so fast any missile it fired would be behind it by the time it armed,

At that speed the missile would have a fair chance of exploding or disintegrating when it came in contact with the air. Surely it would need to be stored internally to allow the plane to hit mach 20. And it would likely need to be a new missile design to handle that kind of speed.

I would expect any ordinance it would dispense at that speed, even if it were a missile, could only be done by ejecting it out the back end of the plane. The missile would have a half second or so to slow from mach 20 to mach 5, after which it would arm and fire it's propellant, and turn on it's target which would be moving at a relative snail's pace of perhaps mach 2.

At mach 20, even if a missile were to manage to detonate even inches behind the aircraft, I would think that the exploding shrapnel would likely fail to catch up to the aircraft to cause any damage at all.

Pinguinite  posted on  2017-08-07   2:31:06 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


#7. To: Pinguinite (#5) (Edited)

At mach 20, even if a missile were to manage to detonate even inches behind the aircraft, I would think that the exploding shrapnel would likely fail to catch up to the aircraft to cause any damage at all.

Good point..

DEATH RAYS! DEYS GOONA BE ARMED WID DEATH RAYS!

LAWD,LAWD,LAWD,SUMBODIE SABE DE CHIL-RUNS!

Actually,I see their roles are replacments for the SR-71 Blackbirds,which are now almost old enough to collect social security,and possibly as a model for "earth to orbit" conventional aircraft. Using "conventional aircraft" that can take off and land has long been a goal for replacing personnel and supplies aboard the Space Station and a Moon Base. It would be a tremendous savings in money as well as time. Maybe even in safety.

sneakypete  posted on  2017-08-07   10:08:27 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


Replies to Comment # 7.

#8. To: sneakypete (#7) (Edited)

DEATH RAYS!

Why don't we just bring back My Favorite Martian?

BTP Holdings  posted on  2017-08-07 18:46:47 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


End Trace Mode for Comment # 7.

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