X-20 DynaSoar and X-15 pilot Neil Armstrong. Via Boeing and NASA
Here Come the Hypersonic Attack Planes! -- Steve Weintz, War Is Boring
From Nazi origins to the Cold War—and beyond
Like a bolt out of the blue, Lockheed Martin’s renown Skunk Works publicly teased one of aviation’s great snark hunts—revealing plans for a successor to the SR-71, the legendary Mach 3+ reconnaissance plane designed with slide rules and retired when the Millenials were born.
That 55-year old aircraft, originally developed as an uber-interceptor, still holds the record for fastest sustained supersonic flight at 2,100 miles per hour—much faster than a .50-caliber bullet.
But the new plane just announced, the SR-72, will fly twice as fast—so fast that at top speed the very air entering its engines will be moving as fast as an SR-71. Keeping combustion and thrust going under such conditions has been likened to lighting a cigar in a hurricane. The SR-72’s planned ability to go from a standing start to Mach 6 and back again is a hat trick no one has been able to pull off. Yet.
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My Comment: I am not familiar with the technology .... but I suspect that the big obstacle in developing such a program will be this.
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