Experimental Aircraft

Experimental Aircraft to Go From Zero to 13,000 in Hypersonic Test Launch

DARPA - Falcon HTV-2 is an arrowhead-shaped aircraft that launches in a rocket, separates and then glides at hypersonic speeds of 13,000 mph through the Earth’s atmosphere.
Wednesday’s launch marks the aircraft's second flight. In April 2010, the Falcon flew for nine minutes, including 130 seconds of Mach 22 to Mach 17 flight, according to DARPA, the military's research arm.
That flight ended prematurely when the onboard computer cancelled the flight, and rolled the aircraft into the ocean.
The goal of the second flight is to "validate our assumptions and gain further insight into extremely high Mach regimes that we cannot fully replicate on the ground," Air Force Maj. Chris Schulz said in a DARPA news release.
Engineers adjusted the vehicle’s center of gravity, decreased the angle of attack flown and will use the onboard reaction control system to augment the vehicle flaps to maintain stability during flight operations, DARPA said.
The goal of the project is to eventually enable the U.S. military to strike anywhere in the world in less than an hour.