A collaboration between the US administration and military contractors have completed a milepost test of their Hypersonic Air - respiration Weapon Concept ( HAWC ) , achieve a blistering stop number of Mach 5 and succeeding in all test objectives . The examination were designed to get more data on thehypersonicscramjet projectile system that will form the next multiplication of sail missile in the US military .
Air - launched by a B-52 bomber , the HAWC carried a first phase that is similar to a skyrocket destined for space , which it used to reach a target altitude before the scramjet fired . From there , it move 300 marine land mile and pass on a maximum altitude of over 18,300 meters ( 60,000 feet ) and assumedly crash into the sea or a recoverable locating . This is now the quaternary trial run of the system and officially contribute the program to a close .
" Affordability and reliability are essential as we work to develop operational hypersonic solutions , " said John Clark , frailty president and universal manager Lockheed Martin Skunk Works ® , in astatement .
" Both of our HAWC flight tests launched from an operational aircraft and meet performance models and predictions to help low-cost , rapid development of succeeding hypersonic weapons . "
The HAWC was build up by DARPA in collaboration with Lockheed Martin , Aerojet Rocketdyne , and Air Force Research Lab and has been pass on in relative secrecy over the years , with the latest trial run happening on an unrevealed date in January .
concord to DARPA , the route to HAWC was not a smooth one . “ We had our share of difficulty , ” Said Andrew “ Tippy ” Knoedler , the HAWC programme manager , in astatement .
“ Through a pandemic , a laboured supply Ernst Boris Chain , andatmospheric river , our industry partner forged ahead , palliate the risks where they could and accept others . They delivered on their promise , proving the feasibility of the concept . ”
The HAWC data will now be used in a new programme , More Opportunities with HAWC ( MOHAWC ) , to make hypersonic test vehicles to be acquired by the military .
