US army tests hypersonic weapon over the Pacific

Gestart door VandeWiel, 18/11/2011 | 10:08 uur

jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)

Hypersonics - the New Stealth: DARPA Investments In Extreme Hypersonics Continue

Source: Darpa

DARPA's research and development in stealth technology during the 1970s and 1980s led to the world's most advanced radar-evading aircraft, providing strategic national security advantage to the United States. Today, that strategic advantage is threatened as other nations' abilities in stealth and counter-stealth improve. Restoring that battle space advantage requires advanced speed, reach and range. Hypersonic technologies have the potential to provide the dominance once afforded by stealth to support a range of varied future national security missions.

Extreme hypersonic flight at Mach 20 (i.e., 20 times the speed of sound)—which would enable DoD to get anywhere in the world in under an hour—is an area of research where significant scientific advancements have eluded researchers for decades. Thanks to programs by DARPA, the Army, and the Air Force in recent years, however, more information has been obtained about this challenging subject.

"DoD's hypersonic technology efforts have made significant advancements in our technical understanding of several critical areas including aerodynamics; aerothermal effects; and guidance, navigation and control," said Acting DARPA Director, Kaigham J. Gabriel. "but additional unknowns exist."

Tackling remaining unknowns for DoD hypersonics efforts is the focus of the new DARPA Integrated Hypersonics (IH) program. "History is rife with examples of different designs for 'flying vehicles' and approaches to the traditional commercial flight we all take for granted today," explained Gabriel. "For an entirely new type of flight—extreme hypersonic—diverse solutions, approaches and perspectives informed by the knowledge gained from DoD's previous efforts are critical to achieving our goals."

To encourage this diversity, DARPA will host a Proposers' Day on August 14, 2012, to detail the technical areas for which proposals are sought through an upcoming competitive broad agency announcement.

"We do not yet have a complete hypersonic system solution," said Gregory Hulcher, director of Strategic Warfare, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics. "Programs like Integrated Hypersonics will leverage previous investments in this field and continue to reduce risk, inform development, and advance capabilities."

The IH program expands hypersonic technology research to include five primary technical areas: thermal protection system and hot structures; aerodynamics; guidance, navigation, and control (GNC); range/instrumentation; and propulsion.

At Mach 20, vehicles flying inside the atmosphere experience intense heat, exceeding 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit, which is hotter than a blast furnace capable of melting steel, as well as extreme pressure on the aeroshell. The thermal protection materials and hot structures technology area aims to advance understanding of high-temperature material characteristics to withstand both high thermal and structural loads. Another goal is to optimize structural designs and manufacturing processes to enable faster production of high-mach aeroshells.

The aerodynamics technology area focuses on future vehicle designs for different missions and addresses the effects of adding vertical and horizontal stabilizers or other control surfaces for enhanced aero-control of the vehicle. Aerodynamics seeks technology solutions to ensure the vehicle effectively manages energy to be able to glide to its destination. Desired technical advances in the GNC technology area include advances in software to enable the vehicle to make real-time, in-flight adjustments to changing parameters, such as high-altitude wind gusts, to stay on an optimal flight trajectory.

The range/instrumentation area seeks advanced technologies to embed data measurement sensors into the structure that can withstand the thermal and structural loads to provide real-time thermal and structural parameters, such as temperature, heat transfer, and how the aeroshell skin recedes due to heat. Embedding instrumentation that can provide real-time air data measurements on the vehicle during flight is also desired. Unlike subsonic aircraft that have external probes measuring air density, temperature and pressure of surrounding air, vehicles traveling Mach 20 can't take external probe measurements. Vehicle concepts that make use of new collection and measurement assets are also being sought.

The propulsion technology area is developing a single, integrated launch vehicle designed to precisely insert a hypersonic glide vehicle into its desired trajectory, rather than adapting a booster designed for space missions. The propulsion area also addresses integrated rocket propulsion technology onboard vehicles to enable a vehicle to give itself an in-flight rocket boost to extend its glide range.

"By broadening the scope of research and engaging a larger community in our efforts, we have the opportunity to usher in a new area of flight more rapidly and, in doing so, develop a new national security capability far beyond previous initiatives," explained Air Force Maj. Christopher Schulz, DARPA program manager, who holds a doctorate in aerospace engineering.

The IH program is designed to address technical challenges and improve understanding of long-range hypersonic flight through an initial full-scale baseline test of an existing hypersonic test vehicle, followed by a series of subscale flight tests, innovative ground-based testing, expanded modeling and simulation, and advanced analytic methods, culminating in a test flight of a full-scale hypersonic X-plane (HX) in 2016. HX is envisioned as a recoverable next-generation configuration augmented with a rocket-based propulsion capability that will enable and reduce risk for highly maneuverable, long-range hypersonic platforms.

http://www.defense-aerospace.com/articles-view/feature/5/136696/hypersonics-are-the-new-stealth.html

jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)

Third X-51A Hypersonic Test Targeted For Mid-August

By Guy Norris. Source: Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

August 06, 2012

ATLANTA — U.S. Air Force officials say the third, and possibly final, attempt to reach or exceed sustained speeds beyond Mach 5 with the X-51A hypersonic demonstrator is set for Aug. 14.

Describing the X-51A as "the key to the next step in hypersonics," Air Force Research Laboratory Aerospace Systems Director Doug Bowers says that even the mixed success of the initial X-51A flights has proved invaluable to advancing the state-of-the-art. Speaking at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Joint Propulsion Conference earlier this week, Bowers said, "The first X-51 was mostly a success, the second flight was a hung store [failed to release from the B-2 mothership] and on the third the inlet started but un-started. Every flight test we've had has been a learning opportunity, and until we took it to flight we really didn't know the unknowns."

The latest X-51A includes a series of hardware and software changes to counter issues that are thought to have brought the last flight to a premature end after only 9.5 sec. of powered flight at around Mach 5. The second flight, on June 13, 2011, ended when the vehicle's Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne SJX61-2 engine failed to transition from ethylene fuel to JP-7. The ethylene is used to start the scramjet, while JP-7 is used for sustained flight.

Designed to demonstrate technologies for sustained, air-breathing hypersonic flight up to Mach 6.5, the first flight of the X-51 on May 25, 2010, reached Mach 4.88. Although the first X-51A did not reach Mach 5, the test was considered a technical success as some 143 sec. of the vehicle's 210 sec. of total powered flight time was under scramjet power, making the flight 11 times longer than any previous air-breathing flight with a scramjet. A fourth X-51A is close to completion at Boeing's Palmdale, Calif., facilities, but is currently not funded for flight testing.

http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=/article-xml/asd_08_06_2012_p02-01-483238.xml

jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)

US Military close to developing Hypersonic bombers

Press Trust of India | Updated: July 17, 2012

Washington: US is close to developing a hypersonic bomber able to reach any target on the globe in under an hour.

The US military hopes to fly such hypersonic planes capable of moving at 20 times the speed of sound by 2016, the NBC News reported quoting American officials working on the project.

The vehicle would be "recoverable", US government officials working on developing the full-scale rocket plane said.
DARPA has conducted two test flights of prototype hypersonic aircraft in the past two years. In August last year, the Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 (HTV-2) reached Mach 20, but only remained airborne for nine minutes.

The HTV-2 was developed in conjunction with the advanced Conventional Prompt Global Strike weapons programme with the goal of creating a bomber able to reach any target on the globe in under an hour.

The US government has started a new programme called Integrated Hypersonics with an aim to develop ultra-fast fighters and the project is in response to the US military advantage being threatened by other nations' increasing abilities in stealth and counter-stealth warfare.

"We do not yet have a complete hypersonic system solution," said Gregory Hulcher, director of strategic warfare at the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, said in a statement.

"Programme like Integrated Hypersonics will leverage previous investments in this field and continue to reduce risk, inform development and advance capabilities."

The programme's research will focus on five key areas: thermal protection system and hot structures; aerodynamics; guidance, navigation and control (GNC); range/instrumentation; and propulsion. Thermal protection is a crucial issue for hypersonic flight, which is defined as anything over Mach 5. A vehicle flying inside the atmosphere at Mach 20 would experience temperatures in excess of 1920 degrees Celsius - hot enough to melt steel. The project will also aim to improve design and manufacturing processes, in order to able faster production.

http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/us-military-close-to-developing-hypersonic-bombers-244256

jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)

Third X-51 hypersonic test vehicle to fly soon

By:   Dave Majumdar Washington DC

A third Boeing X-51 hypersonic test vehicle will fly shortly, a senior company official says.

"We're planning to fly another vehicle shortly," says Joe Vogel, Boeing's hypersonics director. The test vehicle will fly as soon as the government gives its assent. "It'll be this year."

That would be the missile-like test vehicle's third flight. Two earlier tests successfully demonstrated hypersonic flight, but the air vehicles did not fly for as long a duration as was expected.

"I consider it successful," Vogel says of the truncated previous flights.

Vogel notes that the first flight set a world record for duration at hypersonic speed while the second flight ended with a controlled landing into the ocean.

There is also a fourth test vehicle available to the programme. If the third flight proves to be completely successful, that remaining test article could be used for materials testing or testing different flight profiles, Vogel says.

Boeing is working on the supersonic combustion ram jet, or scramjet, with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), US Air Force Research Laboratory and Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne.

If successful, the endeavor could yield new missiles, aircraft and space-launch vehicles, Vogel says. A flight from New York to Los Angeles could take less 39 minutes at Mach 5, he adds.

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/third-x-51-hypersonic-test-vehicle-to-fly-soon-373383/

jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)

Pentagon explains why hypersonic, Mach 20 drone failed (bekijk de link voor de video)

Published April 23, 2012

WASHINGTON –  The Pentagon has finally released a report about what went wrong when its Hypersonic Technology Vehicle (HTV-2) failed just minutes into a test flight last year and barreled into the Pacific Ocean.

The unmanned, arrowhead-shaped aircraft, which one day could allow the US to strike anywhere across the globe in less than 60 minutes, was strapped to a rocket and launched from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base last August.

The drone coasted at speeds of 13,000mph (21,000kmph) -- 20 times the speed of sound -- through the Earth's atmosphere for less than three minutes before ultimately failing and switching into abort-mode just nine minutes into the flight. It splashed down short of its intended target near the Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific.

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) said an analysis of the crash showed that high speeds peeled off larger-than-expected portions of the vehicle's skin.

'HTV-2's first flight test corrected our models regarding aerodynamic design.'

- Air Force Maj. Chris Schulz

Officials anticipated some of the outer shell would gradually wear away, but rapidly-forming gaps on the skin created strong shock waves around the HTV-2 and caused it to roll abruptly, the report said.

Military researchers, however, were hopeful that they could learn from the mistakes of the failed flight, especially after the first HTV-2 mission in April 2010 -- which also terminated early -- prompted successful adjustments to the craft's aerodynamic design.

"HTV-2's first flight test corrected our models regarding aerodynamic design within this flight regime," Air Force Maj. Chris Schulz, DARPA program manager, said in a statement. "We applied that data in flight test two, which ultimately led to stable aerodynamically controlled flight."

Schulz added that data collected during the second test flight "revealed new knowledge about thermal-protective material properties and uncertainties" for flights at such a high speed in our atmosphere. Going forward, that data will be used to modify how the vehicle's outer shell responds to heat stress, DARPA said.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/04/23/pentagon-explains-why-hypersonic-mach-20-drone-failed/#ixzz1sxZoBLS8

IPA NG

Is dat niet de entry vehicle voor de Prompt Global Strike?
Militaire strategie is van groot belang voor een land. Het is de oorzaak van leven of dood; het is de weg naar overleven of vernietiging en moet worden onderzocht. --Sun Tzu

jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)

Twintig keer sneller dan het geluid

Amerikaanse militaire superstraaljager
zondag 22 april 2012
Door: Hans van den Nieuwendijk
Categorie: Wetenschap

Het Amerikaanse ministerie van defensie heeft een gevechtstoestel ontwikkeld dat binnen één uur overal ter wereld een aanval kan uitvoeren. De resultaten van een testvlucht vorig jaar zijn nu bekend gemaakt.

De experimentele en onbemande superstraaljager steeg in augustus op bovenop een raket van Vandenberg Air Force Base in Californië en klom naar een hoogte die niet wordt vrijgegeven. Daar kwam de zogeheten Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 vrij van de raket en nam het een snoekduik terug naar aarde. Vervolgens kwam het weer horizontaal en behield drie minuten lang een snelheid van 20 keer sneller dan het geluid (Mach 20). Een kleine mislukking omdat het toestel eigenlijk 30 minuten lang over een afstand van bijna 6500 kilometer naar het westen moest vliegen, maar omdat er delen van de buitenkant van het toestel afvielen, moest dat na negen minuten al afgebroken worden.

In april 2010 werd de allereerste vlucht met een soortgelijk toestel uitgevoerd en ook die vlucht werd vroegtijdig afgebroken. Er staan vooralsnog geen nieuwe testvluchten gepland. Het project kost 320 miljoen dollar.

Met Mach 20 duurt een vlucht van New York naar Los Angeles iets minder dan 12 minuten.

Bron: Los Angeles Times


http://www.welingelichtekringen.nl/20489-twintig-keer-sneller-dan-het-geluid.html

jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)

Air Force Hypersonic Weapons Face Critical Tests

CHARLESTON, S.C. — The Air Force expects to see significant progress in its pursuit of hypersonic weapons.

In May, a U.S.-Australia scramjet will perform a flight test from the Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai. The HiFiRE (Hypersonic International Flight Research Experimentation) program has seen two previous successful tests, reaching speeds five times the speed of sound.

In June, the Air force will hold an "industry day" for companies to learn how they can help the service achieve its goal of a performing a high-speed strike weapon demonstration by fiscal year 2017.

And in August, the X-51 test vehicle will make its third flight test. The first took place in May 2010, when the demonstrator reached Mach 5 speed but fell short of its goal of a 300-second flight. The second test occurred in June 2011 and had to be cut short when the scramjet engine failed to transition to full power.

All of these efforts go a long way toward gathering the information needed to design a successful long-range strike capability, said John Leugers, principal aerospace engineer in the munitions directorate at the Air Force Research Laboratory.

The Air Force is seeking to develop missiles that can reach targets anywhere in the world within minutes. Several more test flights are planned over the next several years. Each experiment gives researchers more data about issues such as aerodynamics, engine performance and heating.

Meanwhile, studies such as Technology for Responsive Precision Air Land Sea Strike, or TRESPALS2, are looking at "how fast is fast enough for high-speed weapons," according to a briefing Leugers gave April 18 at the National Defense Industrial Association's annual science and engineering technology conference.

The need for hypersonic cruise missiles is based on an assessment of threats on the horizon, he said.

"You're going to need long-range," Leugers said. "Trust me."

A great deal of work still has to be done on advanced guidance systems as well as tailoring warheads to specific targets. The airframes, which would be expected to travel more than 500 miles, also need to be lightweight and able to withstand high temperatures, Leugers said.

Tests with X-51 also are informing research into creating a hypersonic spy aircraft that could cruise at speeds greater than Mach 4 but still take off and land on a runway. Leugers described the investigation of such an aircraft as more in the exploration stage. Challenges remain, including how to make a potential platform affordable.

Surprisingly, studies have shown that a hypersonic missile may not be as expensive as initially thought, Leugers said.

The Defense Department supports these efforts. Initially, the Pentagon wanted the Air Force to be able to perform a weapon demonstration in 2014. The Air Force is hoping to accomplish the feat now by the 2017-2018 timeframe, though Pentagon officials at the conference said they are still holding out hope it could happen in 2016.

http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/blog/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=761

VandeWiel

Citaat van: jurrien visser op 19/11/2011 | 08:59 uur
Maar met hypersonische snelheid slaat een raket zo snel in dat andere kernmachten kunnen zien dat de lading conventioneel is voordat ze "nucleaire vergelding" hebben kunnen zeggen. 

http://www.bnr.nl/programma/denktank/253602-1111/overal-ter-wereld-toeslaan-binnen-een-uur

Dat is natuurlijk onzin. Binnen een uur hebben ze al lang een paar keer op de rode knop gedrukt.

Zodra de hypersonische raketten worden uitgerust met atoom koppen loop je hetzelfde risico. Dus even afspreken dat allemaal braaf niet te doen ;)

Enige echte voordeel is dat het vluchtpad niet over en richting landen met klamme handjes hoeft te gaan.

jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)

Overal ter wereld toeslaan, binnen een uur

Door Bas Benneker

18 november 2011 17:40 | bnr.nl

De VS hebben donderdag met succes een hypersonische superraket getest die binnen een uur overal ter wereld een vernietigende lading kan afleveren.

Osama
Op 20 augustus 1998 vuurde een Amerikaans fregat in de Arabische Zee een Tomahawk-raket af op een trainingskamp in Afghanistan. Doelwit: Osama bin Laden. De raket deed twee uur over de 2000 kilometer, genoeg om de terroristenleider ruimschoots de tijd te geven het hazenpad te kiezen.

Hadden de Amerikanen toen kunnen beschikken over het "Advanced Hypersonic Weapon" (AHW) dat ze donderdag met succes hebben getest, dan hadden de torens van het World Trade Center vandaag nog fier overeind gestaan.

Mach 5+
Geen wonder dus, dat het Pentagon de afgelopen jaren miljarden dollars heeft besteed aan het zogeheten Prompt Global Strike programma. Missie: binnen een uur overal ter wereld kunnen toeslaan. Dat programma leverde donderdag dus een eerste succes op.

De raket werd gelanceerd vanaf Hawaiï en reisde met hypersonische snelheden - alles boven Mach 5, of vijf keer de snelheid van het geluid (1200 km/u) - om 4000 kilometer verderop in te slaan op het koraaleiland Kwajalein, bij de Marshalleilanden.

27000 km/u
Het Pentagon heeft niet onthuld welke snelheden het AHW haalde, maar bij een eerdere, mislukte test met een soortgelijk projectiel werd 27000 km/u bereikt. Anders dan een ballistische raket kan het AHW tijdens de vlucht bestuurd worden, en dus ook bewegende doelen treffen.

Het project is onderdeel van het Prompt Global Strike programma, waar alleen dit jaar al 240 miljoen dollar (175 miljoen euro) in is gestoken. De donderdag geteste raket kostte bijna 70 miljoen dollar (51,1 miljoen euro).

Revolutionair
Het Amerikaanse leger beschrijft het project als "transformatief". En terecht, want als de hypersonische rakettechnologie gebruiksklaar is, betekent dat niet minder dan een strategische revolutie.

Voordeel van de supersnelle raketten is niet alleen dat ze inslaan voordat de vijand kan reageren, maar ook dat ze het mogelijk maken landen als Iran en Noord-Korea aan te vallen met conventionele wapens zonder kernmachten als China en Rusland te alarmeren - en een nucleair Armageddon te ontketenen.

Noordpool
Nu moeten Amerikaanse langeafstandsraketten richting zulke landen over de Noordpool vliegen. Tijdens hun vlucht zijn ze niet te onderscheiden van kernraketten voor de Chinezen en Russen beneden, die dan in paniek op hun rode knoppen zouden kunnen drukken.

Maar met hypersonische snelheid slaat een raket zo snel in dat andere kernmachten kunnen zien dat de lading conventioneel is voordat ze "nucleaire vergelding" hebben kunnen zeggen. 

http://www.bnr.nl/programma/denktank/253602-1111/overal-ter-wereld-toeslaan-binnen-een-uur

Harald

De test is uitgevoerd met een HTV-2 ??

Advanced Hypersonic Weapon (AHW) is to provide a transformational capability on the order of 6,000 KM [3200 NM] range with 35 minute time-of-flight and < 10 meter accuracy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DARPA_Falcon_Project


X51 is ook interessant, maar heeft een bereik van 400+ miles (640+ km)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_X-51

http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/military/waverider/docs/X-51A_overview.pdf


jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)

Citaat van: VandeWiel op 18/11/2011 | 10:15 uur
6000kmu? Dan heb je niet veel meer aan je Stinger als beveiliging... Ik ben benieuwd of er op dit moment uberhaupt iets is wat dit kan stoppen. :sick:


En 4000km bereik? Dat betekent perfect voor een scenario tegen China waarbij je niets/zeer weinig hebt aan carriers en bases in de directe regio omdat die per direct uitgeschakeld zouden worden.


Van de andere kant heb je ook geen F35's meer nodig voor de eerste golf aangezien je toch heeeel ver weg blijft ;)


Met al die nieuwe wapens, heel cynisch, wordt het niet eens tijd dat de VS weer een high intensity oorlog krijgen om ze uit te proberen en te verkopen?

Aktie en reactie...

Als dit soort systemen over een aantal jaar operationeel worden dan kan je er natuurlijk op rekenen dat men anti systemen gaat ontwikkelen,

Op dit moment (2011) denk ik dat geen enkel systeem in staat is een hypersoon wapen tegen te houden, hooguit de meest geavanceerde CIWS systemen voor de marines die nu in ontwikkeling zijn.

Systemen als F35 worden in de hypersone wereld overbodig, je kan op grote afstand in een zeer beperkte tijd vrijwel alle viltale doellen uitschakelen waarna drones het werk afmaken.


VandeWiel

Nog wat info:

On 17 November 2011, the US Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command conducted the first test flight of the Advanced Hypersonic Weapon (AHW) concept. At 6:30 a.m. EST (1:30 a.m. Hawaii-Aleutian Time) the test vehicle was launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility, Kauai, Hawaii to the Reagan Test Site, US Army Kwajalein Atoll. The objective of the test was to collect data on hypersonic boost-glide technologies and test range performance for long-range atmospheric flight. Mission emphasis was on aerodynamics; navigation, guidance, and control; and thermal protection technologies.

During the 17 November 2011 test, a 3-stage booster system launched the AHW glide vehicle and successfully deployed it on the desired flight trajectory. The vehicle flew a non-ballistic glide trajectory at hypersonic speed to the planned impact location at the Reagan Test Site. Space, air, sea, and ground platforms collected vehicle performance data during all phases of flight. The data collected was to be used by the Department of Defense to model and develop future hypersonic boost-glide capabilities.


http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/ahw.htm


Wederom een niet-nucleair-niet-ballistisch wapen dat andere landen niet doet denken dat er een ICBM aanval komt.

Misschien dat dit tzt ook wel de VS variant van een carier killer wordt? Ik weet niet of het geschikt is of gemaakt kan worden tegen bewegende doelen?

VandeWiel

6000kmu? Dan heb je niet veel meer aan je Stinger als beveiliging... Ik ben benieuwd of er op dit moment uberhaupt iets is wat dit kan stoppen. :sick:


En 4000km bereik? Dat betekent perfect voor een scenario tegen China waarbij je niets/zeer weinig hebt aan carriers en bases in de directe regio omdat die per direct uitgeschakeld zouden worden.


Van de andere kant heb je ook geen F35's meer nodig voor de eerste golf aangezien je toch heeeel ver weg blijft ;)


Met al die nieuwe wapens, heel cynisch, wordt het niet eens tijd dat de VS weer een high intensity oorlog krijgen om ze uit te proberen en te verkopen?

VandeWiel

HONOLULU: The Army on Thursday conducted its first flight test of a new weapon capable of traveling five times the speed of sound.

The Army launched the Advanced Hypersonic Weapon from the military's Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai at about 1:30 a.m.      The weapon's "glide vehicle" reached Kwajalein Atoll – some 2,300 miles away – in less than half an hour, said Lt. Col. Melinda Morgan, a Pentagon spokeswoman.

Earlier this year, the Congressional Research Service said in a report the Advanced Hypersonic Weapon is part of the military's program to develop "prompt global strike" weapons that would allow the U.S. to strike targets anywhere in the world with conventional weapons in as little as an hour. The Air Force and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, are developing a similar vehicle.

The Pentagon said the Advanced Hypersonic Weapon, or AHW, vehicle is designed to fly long ranges within the earth's atmosphere at speeds that are at least five times the speed of sound.

The objective of Thursday's test was to collect data on technologies that boost the hypersonic vehicle and allow it to glide. The Army was also testing how the vehicle performed in long-range flight.

The Congressional Research Service report said the AHW would be able to maneuver to avoid flying over third party nations as it approached its target. The weapon would use a precision guidance system to home in on the target, it said.


http://www.dawn.com/2011/11/18/army-tests-hypersonic-weapon-over-the-pacific.html