USAF vehicle breaks record for hypersonic flight

I saw the pic of the b-52 and thought "holy crap no way!!" ... But then I read the article.

Crazy stuff, but what would be a practical application for something going that fast?
 
The thing that amazed me was the acceleration. From maybe 0.80M to over 6.0M in :30? WOW...

FWIW, last flight of the X-15 reached M6.7 but the vehicle came back badly charred with some burn-throughs. But it was a rocket, not a scramjet.

And no. Unmanned.
 
Sprint100 said:
The only thing I can think of would be for R&D purposes.
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http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/military/4203874


Popular Mechanics thinks it's a technology testbed for higher speed and longer range conventional missiles... for when you absolutely, positively want to kill something before it has a chance to get away, but you also don't want to go out and drop a nuke.

Back in the Clinton administration they had a fix on Bin Laden's position, so they went after Osama with a conventional missile. Unfortunately the flight time was two hours, and by the time the missile hit, he was gone. The only thing faster out there was our ICBM's... but of course we did not want to go dropping a nuke to take out one guy or one camp. A super fast missile would allow one to hit targets with conventional munitions (or nuclear munitions for that matter) from a distance, yet still cover the distance before the mobile target has a chance to move (hopefully).
 
fish314 said:
http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/military/4203874


Popular Mechanics thinks it's a technology testbed for higher speed and longer range conventional missiles... for when you absolutely, positively want to kill something before it has a chance to get away, but you also don't want to go out and drop a nuke.

Back in the Clinton administration they had a fix on Bin Laden's position, so they went after Osama with a conventional missile. Unfortunately the flight time was two hours, and by the time the missile hit, he was gone. The only thing faster out there was our ICBM's... but of course we did not want to go dropping a nuke to take out one guy or one camp. A super fast missile would allow one to hit targets with conventional munitions (or nuclear munitions for that matter) from a distance, yet still cover the distance before the mobile target has a chance to move (hopefully).
Click to expand...

That's it right there. My prediction is that the future of airpower will be space based weaponry, drones (like this one), and COIN aircraft. Its stuff like this that will control the ultimate high ground. You can't really hide from something going mach 6 and up.
 
ppragman said:
That's it right there. My prediction is that the future of airpower will be space based weaponry, drones (like this one), and COIN aircraft. Its stuff like this that will control the ultimate high ground. You can't really hide from something going mach 6 and up.
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You're probably right. I'm doing my master's degree through an Air Force program, and so much of the new doctrine is written is along these lines. About the only "new sexy" that you left out was cyber-warfare.

I don't know about the COIN aircraft, though. We're developing a bunch, but the CSAF said that we would never buy less capable aircraft when our fighters can handle all those missions. Most of the COIN aircraft are supposed to get sold overseas, and we'll probably win up as "trainers."
 
fish314 said:
You're probably right. I'm doing my master's degree through an Air Force program, and so much of the new doctrine is written is along these lines. About the only "new sexy" that you left out was cyber-warfare.

I don't know about the COIN aircraft, though. We're developing a bunch, but the CSAF said that we would never buy less capable aircraft when our fighters can handle all those missions. Most of the COIN aircraft are supposed to get sold overseas, and we'll probably win up as "trainers."
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Oooh, Cyber-warfare, forgot about that one. But seriously, space is the key to dominating the battlefied (imo) you can't really hide from orbit. You can go underground, but a kinetic impactor, or a Mach 6 scramjet is just too fast to escape.

Cheap COIN aircraft that could be kept in the field and could provide quick close air support and go low and slow just sounds like a tactically good idea to me, however, you're probably right, and you'd know way more about it than I would.
 
ppragman said:
Oooh, Cyber-warfare, forgot about that one. But seriously, space is the key to dominating the battlefied (imo) you can't really hide from orbit. You can go underground, but a kinetic impactor, or a Mach 6 scramjet is just too fast to escape.

Cheap COIN aircraft that could be kept in the field and could provide quick close air support and go low and slow just sounds like a tactically good idea to me, however, you're probably right, and you'd know way more about it than I would.
Click to expand...

I agree (regarding the COIN aircraft) mostly due to the price tag. Of course, the F-16/F-35 counter argument would be the jack of all trades thing. If we wind up kicking off in a war with China or N. Korea (which in light of this week's events seems more likely than it did last week) those COIN aircraft are not going to be worth a whole lot. And besides, we already have the A-10, which is a heck of a lot beefier and survivable airplane than any of the COIN airplanes I've seen out there.

As far as cyber, I guess there is a future for it and space warfare as well. Right now, though, those capabilities mostly enhance and support the traditional air, land, and sea forces rather than apply kinetic force themselves. I think that is going to be the model for a number of years yet. Cyber and space already allow us to do things with 1 airplane that used to take 100. As that capability grows, we'll be able to do things with 1 UAV that today take 3 or 4 airplanes (my prediction).

I think the next real transformational space based capability might be anti-ballistic missile. The old Star Wars idea (the military program, not the movie) is still a very tempting and as yet unfulfilled need. I think that a constellation of geosynchronous satellites with lasers is still a tempting solution to that problem.
 
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