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from the Los-Angeles-to-Boston-in-less-than-an-hour dept.
In May of 2013, the Air Force successfully tested the X-51 WaveRider — an uncrewed, hypersonic "scramjet" capable of reaching Mach 5.1, or more than five times the speed of sound — by flying it at hypersonic speeds over the Pacific Ocean. Now, the Air Force is looking ahead to its next aircraft.
Air Force Chief Scientist Mica Endsley told Military.com this week that the agency is working on the next generation of its hypersonic vehicle. While the X-51 was a test designed to show that a scramjet craft was feasible, the Air Force now wants a vehicle that can "operate at the kind of temperatures you have when you are going at hypersonic speeds," and plans on building a guidance system that can also work at extreme speeds. The goal is to produce the new craft by 2023.
That is, of course, a long while away, and the US military has had some trouble with hypersonic defense technology. The X-51 was only successful after a string of high-profile failures, and last year, a hypersonic missile being tested by Department of Defense exploded during takeoff.
http://www.theverge.com/2015/6/2/8708255/x-51-waverider-mach-5-2023
Original Submission
(Score: 2) by novak on Friday June 05 2015, @04:58PM
Mach 5 was done in the 60s, but only under rocket power. Mach 3-4 is feasible for a ramjet engine, but mach 5 is pushing it. A scramjet is capable of going not only mach 5 but mach 10 or 15, or even more- look at the X43 project. What the air force wants is an aircraft, not a rocket plane and not a missile. In order to go mach 5+ in a maneuverable vehicle that can fly long distances efficiently, you pretty much require new engines and very special materials to withstand the heat.
novak