This program was called the ‘National Aerospace Plane (NASP)’. The US embarked on a major research project in the 1980s to develop a hypersonic, reusable single stage to orbit passenger ‘airplane’. The dream of an operational powered reusable hypersonic vehicle is not new. Numerous hypersonic research experiments follow a similar re-entry flight-path with interim pull-up/glide and manoeuvring phases. The Space Shuttle and other re-entry vehicles pass though the hypersonic regime when entering the atmosphere (80 km altitude) at Mach 20+ and decelerate during the dive. The X-15 experimental, manned vehicle with liquid rocket propulsion reached a speed record of Mach 6.7 at an altitude of 59 km in 1967. Research in hypersonic flight has a long history 2 reaching back to the X-15 program, which aimed at preparation for space-flight. These are the classical rocket-powered exo-atmospheric ballistic missiles, which are not further discussed in this paper, even though they operate in the hypersonic speed regime. Obviously, these vehicles need to fly lower in the atmosphere to ensure the oxygen supply for the engine.Įxo-atmospheric ballistic missiles. This allows the vehicle to operate at considerably high speeds, theoretically getting efficient at about Mach 5. These are variants of a ramjet (RJ) air-breathing jet engine in which combustion takes place in supersonic airflow throughout the entire engine. Supersonic Combustion Ramjet (SCRJ) powered vehicles. This type is also known as hyper-glide vehicle (HGV). An unpowered hypersonic vehicle is carried to altitude (boosted) by a rocket, detaches in the vicinity of 100 km altitude, and subsequently glides on the top of the atmosphere at speeds of 8–10 Mach. Generally, three different vehicle types may be considered for the hypersonic flight regime:īoost glide vehicles. Hypersonic flight has no agreed upon scientific definition but is typically understood as flight within the atmosphere at speed of Mach 5 and beyond, which is five times the speed of sound. Research, Experiments, Science & Technology Challenges Definition and Types Part A – An Introduction to Hypersonic Flight The second part will explore the feasibility, benefits, and timeline projection of potential future military applications, concluded by a summary and remaining considerations. The first part will provide an introduction to hypersonic flight, the current achievements in related research, experiments, and the further science and technology challenges concerning hypersonic vehicle development. 1 The remainder of the article will be split into two parts.
This essay is based on a presentation given on behalf of the Applied Vehicle Technology (AVT) Panel at the 2016 NATO Science & Technology Symposium on ‘The Future of Warfare’, a collaborative venture between the NATO Science and Technology Organization (STO) and Allied Command Transformation (ACT). In addition, the extreme speed of hypersonic penetrating systems makes kinetic intercept by the adversary very difficult.
As adversaries push out the boundaries of contested areas with advanced Anti-Access/Area-Denial (A2/AD) capabilities involving most modern Integrated Air Defence Systems (IADS), hypersonic flight counters the trend and allows greater standoff operations for first strike.
Serving the ‘speed is life’ tenet, high speed would allow for rapid regional or global strikes against time critical targets from standoff distances, while keeping the launch platform out of highly contested areas. Most obvious is the rapid delivery of weapons. Different applications are conceivable for hypersonic flight vehicles in order to enable new or advanced military capabilities. Hypersonic technologies offer potential solutions and applications that could have a strong impact on doctrine and conduct of future military operations.
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