"We're poised on the brink of a new era in air transportation," McBride said. "We do need to go faster. There is a market for supersonic flight over land in an efficient manner that can fly without being an annoyance to everyone on the ground."NASA also is exploring ways to improve the efficiency and reduce the environmental impacts of subsonic aircraft. Engineers are experimenting with blended wings and other innovations.Smith admitted that the difficulty that Congress and the president have experienced in passing budgets has caused problems in sustaining research."None of that is conducive to good work getting done in an efficient way," Smith said. "And we can do better. We need to get to the point where continuity actually lasts beyond just one administration, much less beyond tomorrow. And we're with you on that."Bedke said there is no time to waste in moving these programs forward."It is inevitable that hypersonic technologies are going to happen," he said. "It is not inevitable that we are going to be the country to do it first. But we can be the country to do it first, but we're going to have to put our minds to it, and we're going to have to stop the history of fits and starts, of throwing money at a big program, achieving a wild success, and then having no follow-up. Or throwing a lot of money at too big a program, taking too giant a bite, failing miserably and then deciding hypersonics isn't going anywhere. Neither of those must be allowed to happen in the coming years."
Hypersonic Flight Is Coming: Will the US Lead the Way?http://www.space.com/34631-hypersonic-flight-technology-united-states.html
Russia Is Building a Nuclear Space Bomberhttp://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/07/14/russia-is-building-a-nuclear-space-bomber.htmlRussia reveals hypersonic stealth bomber that can launch nuclear attacks from space: Radical plane could begin testing in 2020http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3689325/Russia-reveals-hypersonic-stealth-bomber-launch-nuclear-attacks-space-Radical-plane-begin-testing-2020.html
When is the next hypersonic test planned?
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I've also very doubtful the X37b is not big enough for a nuke, given you can put one in a 155mm or 200mm artillery shell and naval shells are being fitted with control fins and GPS to improve their accuracy.
The MADM(Medium Atomic Demolition Munition) weighed 181kg/400 pounds was a variable-yield from 1 kiloton up to 15 kilotons equivalent of TNT. Based off of the W45 warhead.The SADM(Special Atomic Demolition Munition) Based off of the W54 warhead which was used on the Davy Crocket weapons system which had a warhead that weighed approx. 23kg(51 pounds) with its TNT equivalent between 10 tons and 1 kiloton.I would have to agree that at least one of these devices could be loaded aboard an X-37BPics1)MADM2)SADM3)XW-54 detonation yield at 6 kilotons TBT equivalent4)Davy Crocket recoilless rifle system (2,100 built)
I think there might also be some real questions about viability of any kind of high altitude bomber-like based attack. Sounds like a sitting duck for missile defenses.
Quote from: RDoc on 01/01/2017 11:07 pmI think there might also be some real questions about viability of any kind of high altitude bomber-like based attack. Sounds like a sitting duck for missile defenses.There's plenty of reason to question such an idea. Like weaponizing a Skylon, if you have the skills to do it, you have the skills to cause trouble a lot more easily and cheaply. It's a plot line from a straight-to-download thriller.
Leading development of hypersonic engines and spaceplaneshttp://www.nextbigfuture.com/2017/02/leading-development-of-hypersonic.html
Quote from: Star One on 02/09/2017 08:24 pmLeading development of hypersonic engines and spaceplaneshttp://www.nextbigfuture.com/2017/02/leading-development-of-hypersonic.htmlThat's just click-bait masquerading as a re-hash of old news and advertising. It isn't even current, making statements like:"Hypermach has completed final detail design of the first stage turbine core of a hypersonic engine. Manufacturing of this first stage has begun and is expected to be finished in 2016" -- Hello? It's 2017 already.and "Reaction Engines of the UK is a leader in developing a hypersonic vehicle and hypersonic components" -- If anyone on the planet is a "leader in developing a hypersonic vehicle and hypersonic components" it would have to be the Hyshot team, not them.No, nothing to see here.. move along!
Less than four years ago, it seemed that the U.S. Air Force was on the brink of developing the first generation of air-breathing high-speed strike weapons following the success of the experimental scramjet-powered Boeing X-51A. Now a classified report warns that the U.S. may be losing its lead in hypersonics to China and Russia. Although parallel research on hypersonic glide vehicles under DARPA’s HTV-2 program suffered failures in 2010 and 2011, the Air Force by 2013 appeared ...
Others involved in U.S. hypersonics support the report’s recommendations. Kevin Bowcutt, senior technical fellow and chief scientist for hypersonics at Boeing Research and Technology, says “many lessons on the path to X-51A success were hard-earned. Given the criticality of hypersonics as articulated in the report and with X-51A under our belt, there would be obvious value in leveraging this extensive experience and know-how to accelerate full-scale development of an operational hypersonic vehicle or weapon.”Bowcutt also believes the U.S. needs to create “a comprehensive national plan with adequate funding that fields offensive and defensive hypersonic capabilities as quickly as technology maturation, system integration and capability demonstration allow.”“It is a big problem for us. We have been kind of resting on our laurels,” says Leon McKinney, president of McKinney Associates and former executive director of the U.S. hypersonics industry team. “The U.S. has been fighting wars and terrorism, so that is one of the reasons why we have not seen a burst of capability developments. But it seems our adversaries are catching up.”McKinney backs a three-phased approach to spurring development of a boost-glide capability, starting with a focus on an offensive hypersonic system that he believes could still be fielded within three years. Development of a defensive system, which McKinney says is “tough,” would aim at characterizing Chinese and Russian vehicle maneuvering capabilities to produce a “threat tube,” to enable effective interdiction. A third element would include development of a maneuvering target vehicle “which we could engage as a simulated threat.”The report does not specify that current programs should be abandoned, “but we think there are some programmatic changes we need to see,” says Lewis. “We just say, step on the gas and move these programs forward. If you want to map out a strategy to get you from the things we have tested to an operational system, one would argue we are not on that track.”
Classified Report On Hypersonics Says U.S. Lacking Urgency
Quote from: Star One on 02/17/2017 06:36 pmClassified Report On Hypersonics Says U.S. Lacking UrgencySounds to me more like a call for more money by someone frustrated at the current lack of progress.. After all, it wouldn't be the first time in the history of aerospace that "The Russians Are Coming!" evoked a response from those holding the purse-strings.
Before anyone posts anything about hypersonic flight, they should read T. A. Heppenheimer's bookFACING THE HEAT BARRIER: A HISTORY OF HYPERSONICS (NASA-SP-2007-4232). It's probably available free from the NASA History Program website and is the best popular history of this field. Any sane person who reads this book won't be fooled by scare stories in the tabloid press about impossible Russian and Chinese hypersonic aircraft.