The US Navy will place its first at-sea hypersonic missiles aboard one of the service’s three Zumwalt-class destroyers in four years (by 2025). These will likely be hypersonic warheads on regular vertically launched missiles. Hypersonic warheads can go faster and can move around more than regular warheads. Hypersonic weapons go at 5 times the speed …
The US Congress is looking to spend $6 billion in 2021 for a Pacific Deterrence Initiative which would be funding for operations in the Pacific to counter China. The general in charge of the U.S. Air Force in the Pacific would like to see some of it spent on hypersonic weapons. General Wilsbach has no …
The U.S. Navy plans to put hypersonic missiles on Virginia Attack Submarines, Zumwalt Destroyers and all Arleigh Burke-class destroyers. The Conventional Prompt Strike program will provide hypersonic missile capability for faster missiles with longer ranges according to National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien. The Navy’s Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) program was given $278 million in fY2019 …
The US Military Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC) will have a first free-flight testing within the calendar year. They are developing critical technologies to enable an effective and affordable air-launched hypersonic cruise missile. Lockheed Martin and Raytheon Technologies have each tested advanced air vehicle configurations that promise to achieve and sustain efficient hypersonic flight. They …
A team led by Fan Xuejun at the Institute of Mechanics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences has developed a type of scramjet that ran continuously for 600 seconds in a ground test, Weihutang, a program on military affairs affiliated with state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV), reported on over the weekend. This broke the …
SpaceX is planning Starship and Raptor engine gigafactories. In 2021, Elon Musk plans to scale the workforce at Boca Chica to 3,000 employees to eventually manufacture two SpaceX starships every week. There are currently 300 employees. This manufacturing rate will be comparable to the speed of construction of commercial wide-body airplanes. Elon has said that …
The US Navy will focus in 2020 on developing hypersonic weapons at breakneck speed and will have hypersonic weapon tests through the year according to the Acting Secretary of the Navy, Thomas Modly. In 2018, Russia claimed to have already deployed hypersonic missile systems. The US Navy plans to demonstrate the Navy-designed Hypersonic Glide Body. …
Reaction Engines has successfully tested its innovative precooler at airflow temperature conditions representing Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound, marking a significant milestone in the development of its SABRE engine and paving the way for a revolution in hypersonic flight and space access. The precooler heat exchanger is a vital component of …
The US is increasing hypersonic weapon investment in 2020 to $2.6 billion. The UK has a $12 million contract with Rolls-Royce to develop high-Mach aircraft propulsion systems. Russia has the Avangard and the 3M22 Tsirkon (aka Zircon)—and has reportedly fielded the Kh-47M2 Kinzhal (“Dagger”), a maneuvering air-launched ballistic missile. The US believes the Avangard will …
Startup First Light Fusion (FLF) claims it is on target to achieve fusion gain (more energy out than goes in) by 2024. They are not using lasers or intense magnetic fields which can prove to be very complicated and costly to build. Pulsed power is their main technology. They hope to have reduced the cost …
Raytheon and Northrop Grumman are developing 3D printed engines for smaller hypersonic missiles that could be deployed in at lower cost in swarms. The air-breathing scramjet will use regular aviation fuel. Northrop Grumman has new materials and technology to 3-D print the entire engine (the combustor). 3D Printing will make construction faster and significantly less …
