X-51A WaveRider hypersonic scramjet testbed

The US Air Force Research Laboratory plans to launch the Boeing X-51A WaveRider hypersonic demonstrator on its first test flight on May 25, 2010. The X-51A is powered by a Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne hydrocarbon-fuelled scramjet. The vehicle is to be dropped from its B-52 mothership off the California coast at about 50,000ft and accelerated to around Mach 4.5 by a rocket booster. The booster will then separate and the scramjet ignite to accelerate the cruiser to beyond Mach 6. The fuel-cooled scramjet is designed to run for about 5min, after which the X-51A will splash down in the Pacific. Video animation by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• aviation
• aircraft
• hypersonic
• scramjet
• USAF
• Boeing
• X-plane
• X-51

[michael25xx]

@kirbyroxy CHINESE AIRCRAFT ARE LIKE THEIR TOYS MADE OF LEAD lol

[Savi141]

amazing how fast my money can fly

[ddnguyen278]

@stealth090 That's unlikely, dumb projectile technology is on its way out. Active defense is making them obsolete. No matter how fast your projectile, it can be intercepted and deflected or defeated.. Look at the active defense systems on tanks and project that forward 20 years. Tank rounds come in at mach 4 and they can be defeated by something like Arena..

[MrReparamos]

:))

[AtheistView]

@Savi141

fuck your money

[rodney0008]

@superbungabunga with the new discovers regarding Graphene, this will be possible. Graphene will become a very widely used material due to silicon reaching its max potential in computer hardware and graphene in theory can support a household computer's CPU at 100ghz 0.o. I can wait for this stuff to become commercial!!!

[KRWMSL]

esse novo projeto nem o Super man Acompanha.

[01SecretService]

how is that thing going to land?

[stealth090]

It will RAIN ASTEROIDS precision guided....travelling so fast that wind can not send it offcourse. Also ships can all of a sudden have a REDICULOUS payload after the railgun. Ships these days are built in compartments to seclude accidental blasts abourd a ship. The railgun eliminates that AND allows a new ALMOST unlimited amount of ammo...Each round for the railgun would cost almost nothing and it can RAIN all day. We can protect a diameter of 400 miles with 1 gun,1 ship. That is mind boggling!

[stealth090]

This weapon will be PERFECT to bridge the gap BEFORE the railgun is completed in Dahlgren, Virginia. After the railgun is completed this weapon will only be necessary in areas outside of the Navy's 200 mile range for the railgun....reason being one of these cruise missles is very expensive. But the Navy can fire 6-12 rounds per minute on the railgun...travelling at mind bending speeds of Mach 8 till they reach their target and close to free. A couple pound dead weight cost nothing to shoot....

[rmsolympic1]

@GuiltyIsland This grammar you do not like, the man? He speak fine, not good though but a fella engles man, you tube great!

[purpleravenstar]

@shinjiprofile There is no gold at Fort Knox.