In mid-November this year, the United States conducted another test of hypersonic weapons. According to the designers, the tests were successful.
Hypersonic aircraft are vehicles capable of reaching speeds of more than five M (1M = 1.1-1.2 thousand km / h). Hypersonic vehicles are capable of dynamic gliding over long distances while maintaining the acquired speed.
Falkon Project
Since 2003, in the United States, in accordance with the promising defense research developments "DARPA", design and test work has been carried out to create a hypersonic aircraft. The project was named "Falkon".
A dozen companies took contracts worth about half a million dollars each. In 2004, within the framework of DARPA, well-known corporations received contacts - Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co, Andrews Space Inc and Northrop Grumman Corp. Under contracts worth more than a million dollars each, corporations were required to design a hypersonic transport aircraft.
Before the project was delivered:
-building a transport platform capable of developing hypersonic speed and carrying hyper-missiles or cruise missiles. It is possible to use the platform for non-military purposes;
- building a prototype Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 1. Tests canceled;
- construction of Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2. Tests are underway;
- building Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 3. The project is frozen. There is unofficial information that, in connection with the tests that took place in November, the work was resumed;
- construction of a small-sized carrier SLV and an engine for designing the X-41 CAV.
The main task is to create a new rocket "Hypersonic Cruise Vehicle", which has the ability to fly about 20 thousand kilometers in 120 minutes. The goal is to deliver to the target the main unit (designed as a missile warhead - warhead) weighing up to 6 tons. The flight speed is about 20 M, the flight must take place at high altitudes.
The tests are carried out according to the following scheme: the prototype with the help of a carrier or an aircraft rises to a great height and is displayed in horizontal flight. Further, the prototype gains hypersonic speed, at a given point, the aircraft is disconnected, which starts dynamic flight while maintaining a given speed. The aircraft has a delta wing. There is practically no data on the design, photographs of which are filled with the Internet. It is not known exactly whether the prototypes look like photographs and drawings.
Wave flight
The Boeing company presented its development - the Kh-51A Waverider aircraft. 4 prototypes of this project have been created.
According to the technical requirements for the project, the X-51A must have a speed rating of 7M. after all tests have been carried out, a decision will be made on the fate of the Kh-51A hypersonic missile.
The prototypes are built for one-time use. After testing, the missiles are not restored.
The first successful tests took place at the end of May last year. The B-52 aircraft with the X-51A product on board ascended to an altitude of 15,000 meters and disconnected the product. The Kh-51A, using rocket boosters, gained almost 20,000 meters and had a speed of 4.8M, the speed index of 5M was covered by the rocket at a distance of 21,300 meters above sea level.
After dialing 5M, the Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne hypersonic engine is turned on, which worked for 110 seconds, after which it malfunctioned. However, the engine continued to work further until it completely failed at 143 seconds of flight. The X-51A missile could not overcome Mach 6. The designers quickly announced that the rocket had to pick up speed in 5M during the tests, overcoming the speed in 6M was not the result.
As a result, the tests were recognized as successful, and the result is the best at this time.
Still, the flight was planned on a hyperdrive for about 4 minutes. After the perfect flight, it was revealed that the product could not accelerate as planned, quickly overheated and minor failures occurred when transmitting information to the ground.
The next tests took place in mid-June this year. Engine failures recurred, but they could not restore engine operation. The tests were found to be unsuccessful. Work is underway to identify engine failures. The date of the next tests is unknown.
Failure Leads to Success
The first flight of the Falcon HTV-2 prototype took place at the end of April this year. The flight was carried out using the Minotaur IV carrier, which is a conversion version of the MX ICBM. It was expected that the product will fly over 7.5 thousand kilometers in 30 minutes. The tests ended unsuccessfully.
According to available data, Minotaur IV brought the product to the design height and accelerated to 20M, which is about 23,000 km / h. After that, all communication with the product was lost. Presumably, there was a violation of stabilization, which led to destruction upon entry into a dense atmosphere.
The next test takes place in August 2011. The prototype takes into account the errors of the first test. The prototype is successfully separated from the carrier at 20M and goes to dynamic planning. However, overheating of the product begins here, and after 540 seconds the product loses its stabilization, which ultimately led to a command to self-destruct. The tests were found to be unsuccessful.
And finally, on November 17, the third test of the Falcon HTV-2 takes place. The prototype flew 3.7 thousand kilometers in about half an hour and fell into the water in a given area. The tests were found to be completely successful.
Additional Information.
The Falcon HTV-2 is considered by some to be a gliding bomb, but in reality it is more of a warhead with a number of gliding enhancements. We may soon hear how the United States, following Russia, will announce the presence of ICBMs with hypersonic warheads and other solutions using hypersonic capabilities.
On November 22, the head of the Russian military department said at the board of the military council that the aerospace defense, which is being created in Russia, will cope with any missiles, including hypersonic ones. Russia began to declare the presence of hypersonic warheads in 2005.
