Current US hypersonic weapons projects. (General)

Well the whole thing is stated to weigh 2000lbs.

red admiral said:
Any idea on why 15ft long? Isn't that too big for F-35 internal?
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Yes, but it's range is 350nm (~650km) so it's clearly aimed at being a standoff weapon, eliminating the need for stealth. And a B-1B could likely carry 24 of them internally, which would present an interesting problem for any navy.

Would probably fit in the F-117A's bays too, if anyone resurrects it in an emergency. F-111 too, but that's even less likely.

NGAD / F/A-XX might have bigger bays too.
 
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red admiral said:
Any idea on why 15ft long? Isn't that too big for F-35 internal?
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Aircraft carrier weapon elevator length. HALO has the same requirement almost certainly, which most likely means a HAWC/HACM solution of booster-cruiser is going to be too long.
 
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sferrin said:
Forest Green said:
It's exactly 350lbs for what it's worth.
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The warhead weight? That's pretty heavy for a "Small Scale" weapon.
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Well about the only air-surface PGMs with lower warhead weights are ARMs or Maverick. I take "small scale" to mean "not a penetrating warhead good for 2 meters of steal reinforced concrete".
 
I was looking over the NG/ATK solid rocket motor catalogue so here’s probably a naive or outright dumb question but could the US military just say “see this GEM40 solid rocket motor [or some other flight proven motor] modify it so it can carry this BGV” and would this be any faster or efficient way to produce an MRBM/IRBM?
 
TomcatViP said:
www.defensenews.com

Anduril moves into hypersonics with acquisition of rocket motor maker

Anduril's purchase of a rocket maker marks an expansion from its past focus on artificial intelligence, counter-drone systems and autonomous air systems.
www.defensenews.com www.defensenews.com
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Adranos is best known for its creation of ALITEC, an aluminum-lithium alloy fuel for solid rocket motors that it claims can produce up to a 40% range increase. (Anduril)
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US9850182B2 - Solid-rocket propellants - Google Patents

Solid-fuel rocket propellants comprising an oxidizer, an oxophilic metal-halophilic metal formulation, and a binder are described herein. Further described are processes for preparing such propellants and methods of reducing hydrogen chloride production via the combustion of such propellants...
patents.google.com
 
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bobbymike said:
George Allegrezza said:
Thanks sferrin for pulling this together. I'd concur with your assessment that the story around item 8 is a bit muddled.

I'd suggest that this be a pinned topic in Missile Projects. We can then hang links off this to the specific program topics (e.g., ARRW).

I'd also suggest that the Prompt Global Strike topic may have outlived its usefulness, since it's a melange of the original PCGS programs, AHW, manned and unmanned hypersonic air vehicles, the current hypersonic projects mentioned above, and God knows what else. I'd be happy to opine to a willing moderator how it might be split up when someone has the time and inclination to do so.
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Or restrict the PGS thread to strategic systems, although there has been a dearth of those stories lately. At this time overcoming the "It looks like an ICBM" may be too big of a political hurdle.
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That's definitely a major issue, and part of why Conventional Trident was vetoed.
 
bobbymike said:
Searched back didn’t see this older story posted.

interestingengineering.com

New High-Speed Propulsion System Paves Way for Hypersonic Flight up to Mach 16

A team of researchers developed a hypersonic reaction chamber for jet engines.
interestingengineering.com interestingengineering.com

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The team's new system would allow for air travel to reach speeds of Mach six to 17 using the power of an oblique detonation wave, which is stationary and stabilized.
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Damn, the X-30 NASP might be possible after all.
 
TomcatViP said:
www.defensenews.com

Anduril moves into hypersonics with acquisition of rocket motor maker

Anduril's purchase of a rocket maker marks an expansion from its past focus on artificial intelligence, counter-drone systems and autonomous air systems.
www.defensenews.com www.defensenews.com
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I took an interest in Adranos years ago as I have an interest in energetics. Anduril appears thus far to be a company using tech for interesting military applications. I am optimistic this is a good fit to bring innovative systems to the warfighter.
 
sferrin said:
I wonder how large the Zeus 1 & 2 motors are.
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“The Kratos Zeus 1 is the first of two high-performance 32.5-inch diameter solid rocket motors internally developed and funded under the Kratos Zeus Program, with the larger Zeus 2 motor scheduled for static test later this year.”

Zeus 2 is described as larger but that appears to be length not diameter.
 
Ronny said:
kinda sound like another failure or near failure
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Of course. Now they'll give up on that one. I wonder if it even got the point of releasing the glider. Given it got an actual number (AGM-183) it's difficult to believe this was never intended to go into production.
 
It would be kind of awkward for there to be a successful test when SecAF and the civilian side of the DAF are requesting termination of the program.
 
GeorgeA said:
It would be kind of awkward for there to be a successful test when SecAF and the civilian side of the DAF are requesting termination of the program.
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The testing phase is still going to be completed regardless of what happens. But it seems unlikely that it will be purchased given its numerous testing failures and its high expense.
 

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