Die USA haben eine neue Waffe mit Hyperschallgeschwindigkeit getestet. Die "Advanced Hypersonic Weapon" soll weltweit jedes Ziel in weniger als einer Stunde zerstören.
Erstmals haben die US-Streitkräfte im Pazifik eine neue Superbombe getestet. Die neue "Advanced Hypersonic Weapon" wurde am Donnerstag gegen 1:30 Uhr (Ortszeit) vom Raketentestgelände auf der Hawaii-Insel Kauai abgefeuert.
Die Superbombe fliegt mit so genannter "Hyperschallgeschwindigkeit" und eröffnet den USA die Möglichkeit, weitweit jedes Ziel innerhalb nur einer Stunde zu treffen. Hyperschallgeschwindigkeit ist zwischen fünf und zehn Mal so schnell wie Schallgeschwindigkeit (343 Meter/Sekunde). Die neue Bombe fliegt demnach mindestens 6174 Kilometer, maximal 12.348 Kilometer pro Stunde (zwischen 1715 Meter und 3430 Meter pro Sekunde).
U.S. Army Tests Secret Hypersonic Weapon
Published November 17, 2011
| TechMediaNetwork
- The DARPA Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle (HTV)-2, one of several hypersonic test projects underway by various U.S. military agencies.
The U.S. Army's hypersonic weapon prototype streaked across the Pacific Ocean at several times the speed of sound Thursday, Nov. 17, in a flawless maiden test flight. The success could pave the way for a new military capability to strike targets anywhere on Earth in as little as an hour.
Such a hypersonic weapon concept flies at a relatively flat trajectory within the atmosphere, rather than soaring up toward space like a ballistic missile and eventually coming back down. Hypersonic speed is defined as being at least five times the speed of sound (3,805 mph, or 6,124 kph, at sea level).
The Army's Advanced Hypersonic Weapon launched aboard a three-stage booster system from the Pacific Missile Range Facility on the island of Kauai in Hawaii at 6:30 AM ET, deployed for its hypersonic glide, and eventually splashed down in the Reagan Test Site located near the Kwajalein Atoll.
Pentagon officials kept a careful watch on the flight test from space, air, sea and ground. That allowed them to collect data about aerodynamics, navigation, guidance, and control performance, as well as thermal protection technologies meant to shrug off intense heat during hypersonic flight.
Such success may provide some consolation to DARPA, given that its Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 (HTV-2) experienced problems in its two test flights that led to early crashes. HTV-2 reached a speed of Mach 20 during its latest test in August.
The Air Force has also tested its own X-51A Waverider vehicle, most recently on June 13, as an experimental platform for an air-breathing scramjet engine. During the latest test, the X-51A Waverider reached hypersonic speeds of at least Mach 5 before it failed to switch over to its main fuel source.
Having several hypersonic projects resembles the early days of U.S. rocket and missile development, when the Army and Air Force competed to get their rockets off the ground. But any success in the hypersonic realm seems likely to benefit the U.S. military's unified goal for a "Conventional Prompt Global Strike" weapon designed to speedily attack targets around the world.
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