| Submit your comments on this article |
| Science & Technology |
| Boeing Completes Successful Boost Test Of HyFly Hypersonic Demonstrator |
| 2005-10-19 |
| Boeing, in partnership with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Office of Naval Research, have successfully demonstrated boost phase performance of a hypersonic strike demonstrator vehicle called HyFly on Aug. 26. A Boeing F-15E launched the HyFly vehicle during the test over the U.S. Navy's sea range at the Naval Air Weapons Center – Weapons Division at Pt. Mugu, Calif. The solid rocket booster successfully ignited and accelerated the HyFly to a speed of greater than Mach 3 – three times the speed of sound. This test was the second of five HyFly flight tests that are scheduled from 2005 to 2007. In the first flight test, conducted on Jan. 26, 2005, an un-powered HyFly vehicle demonstrated safe separation from an F-15E as well as vehicle guidance and control functions. During the next three test flights, the HyFly vehicles will be powered by a booster and a dual combustion ramjet, or DCR, engine at speeds up to Mach 6 –six times the speed of sound. The Hypersonics Flight Demonstration program (HyFly) will develop and demonstrate advanced technologies for hypersonic flight. Flight-testing will be initiated early in the program and progress from relatively simple and low-risk tests through the demonstration of an increasingly more difficult set of objectives. The ultimate goals of the program are to demonstrate a vehicle range of 600 nautical miles with a block speed of 4,400 feet per sec, maximum sustainable cruise speed in excess of Mach 6, and the ability to deploy a simulated or surrogate submunition. Technical challenges include the scramjet propulsion system, lightweight, high-temperature materials for both aerodynamic and propulsion structures, and guidance and control in the hypersonic flight regime. |
| Posted by:DanNY |
| #1 Whenever you see DARPA mentioned, be sure to hum a few bars of "The Empire Strikes Back" theme. It just seems to fit, for some reason. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2005-10-19 11:32 |