Lockheed Martin’s New Hypersonic Plane Will Be Airborne by 2018

Here is an interesting tidbit of actual news about a demonstrator aircraft that is planned on being airborne by 2018... Without all the speculation about other Black aircraft already flying I will be interested on what they release about this new bird if it really does make its' 2018 demonstrator schedule.

“We estimate it will cost less than $1 billion to develop, build and fly a demonstrator aircraft the size of an F-22,” Lockheed Martin CEO Marilyn Hewson said, according to Defense News. “We’re proving a hypersonic aircraft can be produced at an affordable price.”

www.thedrive.com...
There is a push back to the thinking that if you can run fast and high enough nothing can catch you.. Stealth seems to be losing its once invincible invisibility due to better hitech detection methods.

Lockheed says they see hypersonic weapons reaching production by the 2020s, and hypersonic planes—manned or unmanned—reaching the U.S. Air Force by the 2030s. And beyond that, well, who knows? You might be catching a Mach 5 flight from L.A. to Tokyo while you’re still young enough to enjoy it.

We hear allot about Lockheed because of some of their behind schedule and way over cost programs but NORTHROP GRUMMAN is not sitting by idly.
youtu.be...

a reply to: 727Sky

There is a push back to the thinking that if you can run fast and high enough nothing can catch you..

Then wait till it lands.

During WWII, P51 pilots couldn't hope to catch the Messerschmitt ME 262, but there is footage of them getting shot down while returning to base...

Or catch them on the ground, at the end in here...

originally posted by: intrptr
a reply to: 727Sky

There is a push back to the thinking that if you can run fast and high enough nothing can catch you..

Then wait till it lands.

During WWII, P51 pilots couldn't hope to catch the Messerschmitt ME 262, but there is footage of them getting shot down while returning to base...

Or catch them on the ground, at the end in here...

The ME-262 could have won the war for Germany if Hitler hadn't been so stupid and gone into full production in the first place IMO/// as to you other statement....All true but the SR-71 did not have that problem and I would assume the air defenses at a base this new bird will be landing at can defend against anything but a direct nuclear attack.

a reply to: 727Sky

The ME-262 could have won the war for Germany if Hitler hadn't been so stupid and gone into full production in the first place IMO

He did. But insisted they be used as bombers. Sort of like we are doing, currently.

Strike one...

...the SR-71 did not have that problem...

Though initially lauded as a fighter interceptor, that was dropped because of wide turn radius.

Strike two...

I would assume the air defenses at a base this new bird will be landing at can defend against anything but a direct nuclear attack.

And or cruise missiles. US airforce proved that against Assad's revetments during Desert Storm.

Strike three...

a reply to: 727Sky

It's more likely that they'll be flying missiles or missile sized platforms by next year than a demonstrator that size. No one has even come close to flying something that size hypersonically as an air breathing craft yet.

a reply to: 727Sky

$1 billion is an affordable price? greedy f***ers

a reply to: ware2010

For a hypersonic aircraft the size of an F-22? That's insanely affordable. The X-43 was only about 4 meters long, and the seven year program cost about $230M. The X-51 was estimated to cost about $8M a flight, each of which either failed, or lasted less than 10 minutes.

a reply to: Zaphod58

wow, very pricey, X-51 $8m a flight? goodness.

a reply to: ware2010

You're dealing with temperatures in both skin and engine that almost nothing short of a rocket has ever dealt with. To get to a speed where the engine can even operate right now, you need to use a rocket for a boost. A pure ramjet won't even ignite below about Mach 3. If Lockheed, or anyone else for that matter, can crack the combined cycle engine, it will open many doors.

a reply to: Zaphod58

I find that very interesting, after reading your comment I vaguely remember learning something about needing that initial speed to get it really going, I believe I am going to go do some reading on this.


and I have seen many of your post and comments, were you a pilot or work with aircraft in general?

a reply to: ware2010

I was a ramp rat. Everything from parking to fixing and just about everything in between. Flew some, studied a lot.

My "Spidey senses" tell me... if they are announcing that it "may" be feasible in the future, we have probably been doing it for years...

originally posted by: intrptr
a reply to: 727Sky

There is a push back to the thinking that if you can run fast and high enough nothing can catch you..

Then wait till it lands.

During WWII, P51 pilots couldn't hope to catch the Messerschmitt ME 262, but there is footage of them getting shot down while returning to base...

Or catch them on the ground, at the end in here...

So your argument is that if you wait for the plane that you can't shoot down because it's going too fast for you to slow down so you can catch it then you can shoot it down.

Or just wait till it's parked.

What a novel concept.

originally posted by: Shamrock6

originally posted by: intrptr
a reply to: 727Sky

There is a push back to the thinking that if you can run fast and high enough nothing can catch you..

Then wait till it lands.

During WWII, P51 pilots couldn't hope to catch the Messerschmitt ME 262, but there is footage of them getting shot down while returning to base...

Or catch them on the ground, at the end in here...

So your argument is that if you wait for the plane that you can't shoot down because it's going too fast for you to slow down so you can catch it then you can shoot it down.

Or just wait till it's parked.

What a novel concept.

Worked for the Allies.