US military to launch fastest-ever plane

[Mal_Adjusted]

US military to launch fastest-ever plane

Unmanned Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 can travel from London to Sydney in less than an hour

Alok Jha, science correspondent
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 10 August 2011 19.53 BST

By the time you finish reading this sentence, the Falcon HTV-2, the fastest plane ever built, could have flown 18 miles. It would get from London to Sydney in less than an hour, while withstanding temperatures of almost 2,000C, hotter than the melting point of steel.

At 3pm BST on Thursday , the US Defence Advance Research Projects Agency will launch the Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 on the back of a rocket from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. If all goes to plan, engineers will launch the Falcon HTV-2 to the edge of space, before detaching the plane and guiding it on a hypersonic flight that will reach speeds of 13,000mph (about 20 times the speed of sound) on its return to Earth.

The Falcon started life in 2003, part of a US military research project to build a plane that could reach (and potentially deliver bombs to) any part of the world in less than an hour.

The plane has been tested in computer models and wind tunnels, but they can only simulate speeds up to Mach 15 (11,400mph). A real test is the only way to determine if the plane will remain flying at high speeds.

Thursday's flight will also test the carbon composite materials designed to withstand the extreme temperatures the plane will experience on its skin and also the navigation systems that will control its trajectory as it moves at almost four miles per second.

The design and flight pattern of the plane has been tweaked since an aborted test flight in April last year. Nine minutes into that mission, which succeeded in flying for 139 seconds at Mach 22 (16,700mph), the onboard computer detected an anomaly and ordered the plane to ditch into the ocean for safety reasons.

Unlike most other rocket launches, this one will not be shown live online, though it will be possible to follow the plane's progress via tweets from @DARPA_News.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/au ... ane-falcon

 

[ramonmercado]

Lets hope the Taliban don't shoot it down.

 

[Mal_Adjusted]

don't think anyone, let alone the Taliban, has any missiles quick enough to get it - let alone the advanced tracking / radar systems required to acquire target and shoot anything at it in real time.

 

[TinFinger_]

the russians proved along time ago that pot shots can hit there mark..

 

[Philo_T]

update : should be "US military loses fastest-ever plane"

 

[ramonmercado]

don't think anyone, let alone the Taliban, has any missiles quick enough to get it - let alone the advanced tracking / radar systems required to acquire target and shoot anything at it in real time.

Aaaaaargghhh! I was being ironic. Remember the Taliban shot down a Chinook with an rpg last week.

 

[Trevp666]

Yep....hypersonic plane lost after launch.
Apparently the last time they launched one they lost contact with that too, and it ended up crashing into the pacific (which it is actually designed to do anyway as part of it's testing).
Considering that it can reach anywhere on earth in under an hour, and cost millions to make etc, DARPA really should take better care of it.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-14497641

And oooh, here's a nice animated vid of it!
(but without the crashing bit)

http://www.space.com/video

(drop down menu on the right has the HTV vid)

 

[TinFinger_]

shot down?

 

[GNC]

shot down?

By the fastest ever missile?

 

[Mythopoeika]

Whatever happened to tracking devices? I guess they forgot to install one.

 

[Trevp666]

Whatever happened to tracking devices? I guess they forgot to install one.

They didn't 'forget' to install a tracking device, it was all there ready to be fitted but they lost it....

 

[TinFinger_]

shot down?

By the fastest ever missile?

em no you just need to know its trajectory
just like in the olden days of battle ships duels
you shoot where its gona be not where it is

its not too stealthy with all the infra red emissions (heat)