Project: The Pentagon test flew another hypersonic glider, dubbed HTV-2, earlier this year, which is capable of flying 16,776 miles per hour.
Zeroed in: The weapon, which could look similar to this Falcon HTV-2, left, was fired from Hawaii, glided south westwards through the upper atmosphere over the Pacific at 'hypersonic speed' before hitting its target on the Kwajalein atoll in the Marshall Islands - some 2,500 miles away.
WASHINGTON, 20 November 2011 (AFP) -The Pentagon on Thursday held a successful test flight of a flying bomb that travels faster than the speed of sound and will give military planners the ability to strike targets anywhere in the world in less than a hour.
Launched by rocket from Hawaii at 1130 GMT, the "Advanced Hypersonic Weapon," or AHW, glided through the upper atmosphere over the Pacific "at hypersonic speed" before hitting its target on the Kwajalein atoll in the Marshall Islands, a Pentagon statement said.
Kwajalein is about 2,500 miles (4,000 kilometers) southwest of Hawaii. The Pentagon did not say what top speeds were reached by the vehicle, which unlike a ballistic missile is maneuverable.
Scientists classify hypersonic speeds as those that exceed Mach 5 -- or five times the speed of sound -- 3,728 miles (6,000 kilometers) an hour.
The test aimed to gather data on "aerodynamics, navigation, guidance and control, and thermal protection technologies," said Lieutenant Colonel Melinda Morgan, a Pentagon spokeswoman.
The US Army's AHW project is part of the "Prompt Global Strike" program which seeks to give the US military the means to deliver conventional weapons anywhere in the world within an hour.
On August 11, the Pentagon test flew another hypersonic glider dubbed HTV-2, which is capable of flying 27,000 kilometers per hour, but it was a failure.
The AHW's range is less than that of the HTV-2, the Congressional Research Service said in a report, without providing specifics.
The Pentagon has invested 239.9 million dollars in the Global Strike program this year, including 69 million for the flying bomb tested Thursday, CRS said.dents Cup golf tournament against the Internationals at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Melbourne November 20, 2011.
4 comments:
I would use it to blast away the eye of the coming hurricane so it has no chances to continue its course to land on any US coastal area.
But the problem is which insurance company will help pay me to defray the cost.
Here it come, China
That should give the chinese premier goose bump.
With that kind of flying bomb at mach 5, the chinese should be very careful about its claim over the spratly and the paracel. Maybe the chinese will reassess its boundary in the south china sea.
Here come weapon race. This is a second attempt to test this weapon by U.S Air Force. They've finally succeed it. The first one gone missing. This AHW is similar to ICBM(Intercontinental Bullistic Missile). In this case, the warhead traveled at Mach 5 down to its target. Very impressive with the falling speed but what about the target accuracy. Now, wouldn't it be easier to just have this weapon waiting in space and just simply shoot it down to the target on earth from space. This idea probably violate the Star War agreement signed in the 80's, that is no weaponization of space. In any case, one thing for sure, no ground weapon is able to shoot it down, at least for now. Just like any weapon, the enemy will eventually find a counterstrike.
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