Experimental Mach-20 aircraft set for launch at Vandenberg AFB

[Ed Jewett]

Experimental Mach-20 aircraft set for launch at Vandenberg AFB

The Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 is part of a program that would deliver a military strike anywhere in the world in less than an hour.

By W.J. Hennigan, Los Angeles Times
August 10, 2011
An experimental, arrowhead-shaped aircraft that could reach blistering speeds of 13,000 mph above the Pacific Ocean is set to blast off on a test flight Wednesday from Vandenberg Air Force Base, northwest of Santa Barbara.

The flight is scheduled to test new technology that would provide the Pentagon with a vehicle capable of delivering a military strike anywhere in the world in less than an hour.

The unmanned aircraft, dubbed Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2, is scheduled to be launched at 7 a.m. PDT into the upper reaches of the Earth's atmosphere aboard an eight-story Minotaur IV rocket made by Orbital Sciences Corp.

The aircraft will separate from the booster, dive back toward Earth, level out and glide above the Pacific at 20 times the speed of sound, or Mach 20.

To demonstrate how fast that is: an aircraft at that speed would zip from Los Angeles to New York in less than 12 minutes.

The aircraft is expected to splash down about half an hour later and sink near Kwajalein Atoll, about 4,000 miles from Vandenberg.

The launch Wednesday will be the second flight of the Falcon. The first flight, which took place in April 2010, ended prematurely with only 9 minutes of flight time.

The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which is funding the program, said the first flight was "used to improve aerodynamic models and to optimize the vehicle design and trajectory for flight 2."

Sustaining hypersonic flight, or speeds beyond Mach 5, has been extremely difficult for aeronautical engineers to perfect over the years.

In June, the U.S. Air Force had to prematurely end a test flight of its experimental X-51 WaveRider plane when a lapse in airflow to the jet engine caused a shutdown.

The second flight of the Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2, which is built by Lockheed Martin Corp., is set to be its last unless the government provides more funding. And unlike many rocket launches these days, it is not set to be webcast.

william.hennigan@latimes.com
Copyright © 2011, Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-va...2069.story

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Pentagon's Hypersonic Aircraft Test Flight Delayed Due to Bad Weather

Marisa Krystian | Aug 10, 2011 | 1min:08sec

Pentagon's Hypersonic Aircraft Test Flight Delayed Due to Bad Weather. The launch of the experimental hypersonic aircraft, capable of going zero to 13,000 mph, was postponed today due to bad weather at its launch site at Vandenberg Air Force Base, northwest of Santa Barbara, California.

http://tv.ibtimes.com/pentagon-s-hyperso.../1586.html

Video at link: launched rescheduled for tomorrow

****

"... [Re-scheduled] Liftoff is set for sometime between 7 a.m. and 1 p.m. PDT (10 a.m to 4 p.m. EDT).

Mach 20, or 20 times the speed of sound, varies depending on elevation and air temperature, but the Falcon will be traveling in excess of 13,000 mph. At that speed, it could travel from New York to Los Angeles in less than 12 minutes, and friction with the air can heat it up to 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit.....

The HTV-2 is part of a DARPA plan called Prompt Global Strike. If testing is successful, it could be used as an advanced weapons system whose incredible speed makes it capable of knocking out any target in the world within an hour of launch.



The Falcon hypersonic HTV-2 aircraft emerges from its payload fairing before gliding back to Earth.
CREDIT: DARPA
View full size image

DARPA will launch the second flight test of an unmanned hypersonic glider Thursday (Aug. 11) to test technologies needed for a new global strike bomber concept designed to fly 20 times the speed of sound.

The ultra-fast vehicle, called the Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2, is slated to launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California atop a Minotaur 4 rocket after a one-day delay due to bad weather. Liftoff is set for sometime between 7 a.m. and 1 p.m. PDT (10 a.m to 4 p.m. EDT).

Mach 20, or 20 times the speed of sound, varies depending on elevation and air temperature, but the Falcon will be traveling in excess of 13,000 mph. At that speed, it could travel from New York to Los Angeles in less than 12 minutes, and friction with the air can heat it up to 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit. [DARPA's Video Plan for Hypersonic Test Flight]

The HTV-2 is part of a DARPA plan called Prompt Global Strike. If testing is successful, it could be used as an advanced weapons system whose incredible speed makes it capable of knocking out any target in the world within an hour of launch.

DARPA's first Falcon test, HTV-1, did not go as planned. Researchers lost contact with the vehicle nine minutes into the first flight test in April 2010, and failsafe programming caused the Falcon HTV-2 to make a controlled dive into the ocean.....

The HTV-2 could replace the current intercontinental ballistic missile systems. There were only two HTV-2 prototypes built and DARPA has no plans to build more, so after the failure of the first test, DARPA has only one more shot at a successful flight or the project will be discontinued."

Image: http://i.space.com/images/i/11460/i02/fa...1312990725

More and a video at the link:

http://www.space.com/12601-darpa-falcon-...htv-2.html

[Bernice Moore]

http://www.takepart.com/news/2011/08/10/...plane-ever
LAX to JFK in Under 12 Minutes: U.S. Military Tests Fastest Plane Everhutup:

[Magda Hassan]

:plane::flypig::orly:

[Ed Jewett]

Wednesday, August 10, 2011
US asks China to explain why it needs aircraft carrier

http://www.activistpost.com/2011/08/us-a...needs.html

[Ed Jewett]

New submarine supermissile can pierce ABM shield

Published: 10 August, 2011, 14:12

The new Russian liquid-fuel Liner missile is world's most advanced submarine-based strategic weapon with range and payload capabilities surpassing every model deployed by any other country, its developer says.
The submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) Liner can carry up to 12 low-yield MIRV nuclear warheads and has a payload/mass ratio surpassing any solid-fuel strategic missiles designed by the US, UK, France and China, the developer Makeyev State Rocket Center said in a statement. It is very flexible in terms of what its payload can be, varying and mixing warheads of different capabilities.

The design bureau believes that the missile, which was first tested on May 20, will ensure the use of Delta IV class submarines until at least 2030.

There are seven vessels of this class in the Russian Navy, and they are armed with the SLMBs Sineva. The Liner is a highly advanced version of the Sineva missile.

There is little further detail about the Liner's specifications so far. Sineva is a three-stage ballistic missile. It has a reported operational range of almost 12,000 kilometers, listed throw-weigh of 2.8 tonnes and can be launched from up to 55 meters deep.

Russia is the only nation that uses liquid-fuel submarine-based nuclear missiles. All other nations deploying SLBMs opt for solid propellants, since they allow for the building of more reliable missiles, which are simpler and cheaper to operate.

Russia has a solid-fuel SLBM in development too. The Bulava missile, which is the designated armament for the advanced Borey-class submarines, has seen several delays and setbacks over the years, but now it is slated to enter service after a series of successful test fires in 2010-2011.

Military experts say there is a certain competition between the two design approaches, but each has its own niche in the Russian Navy.

"The Bulava, which is similar to the American Trident II missile, is not able to replace the heavy liquid-fuel missile Sineva and its advanced version, the Liner. Only such heavy liquid-fuel missiles are capable of throwing big payloads to very long ranges," military analyst Igor Khokhlov told RT.

The use of such missiles is necessary due to specifics of the missions,which the Russian Navy has to carry out, as well as its structure and nature, the expert says. Historically, Russia has perceived a land invasion as the primary military threat, while the Navy's task was to protect the coastline rather then serve as an attack force. Liquid-fuel missiles are part of this force and will remain an integral part of Russia's nuclear deterrence for at least several decades to come.

"Submarines armed with such missiles can operate from Russia's safe territorial waters, where they are covered by the Russian Air Force and its surface Navy. They can also have electronic equipment, necessary to suppress the US antiballistic missile system, as part of their payload in addition to the warheads themselves," Igor Khokhlov from the Institute of World Economy and International Relations explained.

Building heavy liquid-fuel SLBMs is a scientific and engineering task, which only Russia can carry out at the moment, Khokhlov added. No other technology can provide similar capabilities now, unless an unexpected sudden breakthrough happens.

http://rt.com/news/new-nuclear-submarine-missile/

[Charles Drago]

If hypersonic flight is being discussed and demonstrated openly, it -- and something that makes it look like surfboarding -- has been around for at least 20-30 years.

Or is that simply what they'd like us to conclude?

[Jan Klimkowski]

If hypersonic flight is being discussed and demonstrated openly, it -- and something that makes it look like surfboarding -- has been around for at least 20-30 years.

Or is that simply what they'd like us to conclude?

Indeed.

Deep covert-funded science is usually a couple of decades ahead of white, open, science.

So this baby bird has likely been operational for at least 10 years.

However, reading below, it's being framed as if it's all a high risk experiment.

Hence Charles is correct to raise the possiblity that we're being played.

Engineers hope to answer two main questions:

1) Can a plane that averages 13,000 miles per hour, or 20 times the speed of sound, withstand the 3,500-degree Fahrenheit temperatures that occur at such a high velocity?

2) Will a plane travelling that fast rip apart in mid-air?

"It's time to conduct another flight test to validate our assumptions and gain further insight into extremely high Mach regimes that we cannot fully replicate on the ground," said Air Force Major Chris Schulz, in a DARPA press release.

The plane's history dates back to 2003, when it was part of a project to potentially deliver bombs to any part of the world in less than an hour, reports The Guardian.

The stakes of the flight are enormous, notes Wired .

Darpa has no plans to build a third vehicle. And, unless this test goes well, it's unlikely that the Air Force or any other branch of the military will pick up on the agency's work

OK - that's the MSM script.

This emphasises the point:

The HTV-2 is part of a DARPA plan called Prompt Global Strike. If testing is successful, it could be used as an advanced weapons system whose incredible speed makes it capable of knocking out any target in the world within an hour of launch.

"if successful"
"could be used"

I suspect the mockingbirds are earning their wages of sin.....

[Charles Drago]

Indeed.

No mention of peaceful uses of this technology ... BIG surprise.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to reiterate that I don't see military and deep political uses of advanced human technology -- including Nazi advances -- and non-terrestrial origins of some UFO and USO phenomena to be mutually exclusive.

[Ed Jewett]

DARPA issues statement on failed flight of hypersonic aircraft
August 11, 2011 | 4:31 pm


The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency released a statement on today's flight of the Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2.

According to the statement [ http://www.darpa.mil/NewsEvents/Releases...LEDGE.aspx ], DARPA, as the agency is known, said that everything was going to plan up until the glide phase, which occurred about nine minutes into flight.

As we reported earlier: The Falcon launched at 7:45 a.m. from Vandenberg Air Force Base, northwest of Santa Barbara, into the upper reaches of Earth's atmosphere aboard an eight-story Minotaur IV rocket, made by Orbital Sciences Corp.

After reaching an undisclosed sub-orbital altitude, the aircraft jettisoned from its protective cover atop the rocket, then nose-dived back toward Earth, leveled out and began to glide above the Pacific at 20 times the speed of sound, or Mach 20.

Then the trouble began.

"Here's what we know," said Air Force Maj. Chris Schulz, DARPA's program manager. "We know how to boost the aircraft to near space. We know how to insert the aircraft into atmospheric hypersonic flight. We do not yet know how to achieve the desired control during the aerodynamic phase of flight. It's vexing; I'm confident there is a solution. We have to find it."

DARPA also said that information was gathered from more than 20 air, land, sea and space data collection systems.

"We'll learn. We'll try again. That's what it takes," said DARPA Director Regina Dugan.

That's an interesting statement because Thursday's launch was the second and last scheduled flight for the Falcon program, which began in 2003 and cost taxpayers about $320 million.

"DARPA has assembled a team of experts that will analyze the flight data collected during today's test flight, expanding our technical understanding of this incredibly harsh flight regime," said Schulz, the prograam manager. "As today's flight indicates, high-Mach flight in the atmosphere is virtually uncharted territory. "

A more in-depth story is posted here: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-va...3143.story

Take a look at the animated video above on what DARPA envisioned the Falcon's test flight accomplishing.



92-second animation embedded at this link:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technolo...darpa.html

[Bernice Moore]

:plane::flypig::orly:

Superfast Military Aircraft Crashed in Pacific Ocean, DARPA Says

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/superfast-milit...01382.html