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US tested hypersonic missile in mid-March but kept it quiet to avoid escalating tensions with Russia:
US tested hypersonic missile in mid-March but kept it quiet to avoid escalating tensions with Russia
The Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC) was launched from a B-52 bomber off the west coast, the official said, in the first successful test of the Lockheed Martin version of the system. A booster engine accelerated the missile to high speed, at which point the air-breathing scramjet engine ignited and propelled the missile at hypersonic speeds of Mach 5 and above.
The official offered scant details of the missile test, only noting the missile flew above 65,000 feet and for more than 300 miles. But even at the lower end of hypersonic range -- about 3,800 miles per hour -- a flight of 300 miles is less than 5 minutes.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday April 06 2022, @09:14PM
I am no member of the Military Industrial Complex, past or present. In my youth during the latter half of the Cold War I did read Popular Mechanics fairly avidly, and I recall them publishing many issues talking about scramjets. A lot of it was associated with Star Wars (the anti-ICBM defense system, not the movies), but they were definitely working on it back then.
In fact, I recall not too many years ago some article on Soylent or /. talking about how they finally got scramjets working properly.
They must have working models in a shed.
Washington DC delenda est.