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Aerojet Rocketdyne and the US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) have achieved a new record thrust output from a scramjet engine, providing a boost for hypersonic flight. A year of ground testing saw the engine generate 13,000 lb of thrust with over … Continue reading Aerojet Rocketdyne hypersonic scramjet engine sets new thrust record
Two variants of the Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC) being developed for DARPA and the US Air Force have completed their final captive carry flight tests and are now cleared for their first free-flight tests within the next year.Continue … Continue reading DARPA/US Air Force hypersonic air-breathing weapon ready for free flight
Lockheed Martin and the US Air Force have completed the first flight test of a tactical version of the hypersonic AGM-183A Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW). Strapped beneath the wing of a B-52 Stratofortress bomber, the missile was carried int… Continue reading Successful flight test for first tactical AGM-183A hypersonic missile
Stratolaunch, the company behind the world’s largest plane, has unveiled plans for a hypersonic vehicle it hopes will offer customers a way of rapidly testing advanced flight technologies. The Talon-A can be fitted out different payloads and is fully r… Continue reading Stratolaunch hypersonic vehicle to launch from world’s largest plane
The US Department of Defense (DOD) has completed a successful test of a hypersonic glide body that will be the basis for a future class of hypersonic weapons. The US Army and US Navy jointly launched the Common Hypersonic Glide Body (C-HGB) from the Pa… Continue reading US Department of Defense successfully tests hypersonic glide body
The first scramjet, an airbreathing jet engine capable of pushing an aircraft beyond Mach 5, was successfully flown in the early 1990s. But while pretty much any other technology you could imagine has progressed by leaps and bounds in the nearly 30 years that have passed, the state-of-the-art in hypersonic …read more
Continue reading 3D Printing May be the Key to Practical Scramjets
After a two-year upgrade of its test facilities, the AEDC Aerodynamic and Propulsion Test Unit at Arnold Air Force Base in Tennessee has finally been able to test the latest Northrop Grumman scramjet at simulated hypersonic speeds, setting a … Continue reading Northrop Grumman scramjet sets new thrust record in testing
At the Paris Air Show, Raytheon and Northrop Grumman announced they have formally agreed to collaborate on building an air-breathing hypersonic weapon for DARPA and the US Air Force. Under the new partnership, the two companies will develop, … Continue reading Northrop Grumman and Raytheon team up to develop air-breathing hypersonic missile
The US Air Force’s new hypersonic missile took to the air for the first time as an AGM-183A Air Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) went aloft on June 12th from Edwards Air Force Base, California. Strapped under the wing of a B-52 Stratofor… Continue reading US Air Force tests hypersonic missile on bomber flight
When Charles “Chuck” Yeager reached a speed of Mach 1.06 while flying the Bell X-1 Glamorous Glennis in 1947, he became the first man to fly faster than the speed of sound in controlled level flight. Specifying that he reached supersonic speed “in controlled level flight” might seem superfluous, but it’s actually a very important distinction. There had been several unconfirmed claims that aircraft had hit or even exceeded Mach 1 during the Second World War, but it had always been during a steep dive and generally resulted in the loss of the aircraft and its pilot. Yeager’s accomplishment wasn’t …read more
Continue reading Scramjet Engines on the Long Road to Mach 5