Good job! Now let’s see the technology scaled up into something useful. 😀
Boeing X51 Waverider Breaks Record in 1st Flight
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif., May 26, 2010 — In its first flight attempt, the Boeing [NYSE: BA] X-51A WaveRider today successfully completed the longest supersonic combustion ramjet-powered flight in history — nearly three and a half minutes at a top speed of Mach 5.The unmanned aerial vehicle was released from a U.S. Air Force B-52H bomber off the southern California coast around 10 a.m. today. It flew autonomously for more than 200 seconds, powered by its Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne supersonic combustion ramjet (scramjet) motor, as it transmitted telemetry data to ground stations. Something then occurred that caused the vehicle to lose acceleration. At that point, the X-51A was terminated as planned.
“The technology proven today is something The Boeing Company has worked on for the past seven years,” said Alex Lopez, vice president of Advanced Network & Space Systems, a division of Boeing Phantom Works. “It is thrilling to be a part of history and advance hypersonic science to the next level. Boeing is looking forward to transitioning the technology to operation in the near term, but for now, we are exhilarated.”
Even before analyzing the terabytes of telemetry data transmitted by the X-51A during flight, Air Force officials called the test an unqualified success.
more at link…
By: sferrin - 6th June 2010 at 14:14
BrahMos II is said to have a SCRAMJET engine as well. Has it flown already?
On paper maybe. If that.
By: mabie - 6th June 2010 at 11:31
BrahMos II is said to have a SCRAMJET engine as well. Has it flown already?
By: sferrin - 5th June 2010 at 15:49
That thing was huge. I wonder if it will be one of those paradigms where you lose sixteen times the range to go two times as fast as a conventional supersonic cruise missile.
High speed doesn’t automatically mean huge. Also it doesn’t necessarily mean you lose that much range.
HyFly:
“The ultimate goal of the program is to demonstrate vehicle performance that could lead to an operational tactical surface launched missile range of 600 nautical miles. Specifically, the program will demonstrate an F-15 launched missile configuration with a range of 400 nautical miles, a maximum sustainable cruise speed in excess of Mach 6, and the ability to accurately terminate the missile on a GPS guided impact target. “
and the Mach 5.4 ASALM. SRAM-sized and 300 mile range. The B-1 would have carried 24 of them, each with a 200kt warhead.
In the case of the X-51 they probably looked at how fast it needed to go for ignition, looked around for an off the shelf booster and discovered the size of the stack demanded the B-52. Remember, Mach 4.8 was the start point for the X-51 where the other two didn’t need to get anywhere near that for their engines to start.
By: MadRat - 27th May 2010 at 13:03
That thing was huge. I wonder if it will be one of those paradigms where you lose sixteen times the range to go two times as fast as a conventional supersonic cruise missile.
By: QuantumFX - 27th May 2010 at 08:16
From : The Official Web site of the United States Air Force
X-51 Waverider makes historic hypersonic flight
http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123206525
http://www.af.mil/shared/media/photodb/photos/091209-F-6680C-640.jpg
http://www.af.mil/shared/media/photodb/photos/090717-F-0289B-222.jpg
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May 27, 2010 at 4:03 am