Fastest Hypersonic Aircraft
Few countries have been developing hypersonic aircraft hypersonic flight technology just passed a hugely significant milestone and countering them during their cruise phase will require radar with longer range as well as space-based sensors and systems for tracking and fire control today the buzz would like to present the 10 fastest hypersonic aircraft in the world this may include space planes and glide vehicles too and will also include those which have been decommissioned and prototyped so stay tuned.
XCOR LYNX
At number 10 is the XCOR LYNX this was a proposed suborbital horizontal takeoff horizontal landing rocket-powered space plane that was under development by the california-based company x-core aerospace the lynx was intended to have four liquid rocket engines at the rear of the fuselage burning a mixture of lox kerosene each engine producing 2 900 pounds force of thrust and it was intended to fly four or more times a day and would have had the capacity to deliver payloads into space the speed of the lynx was approximately around mach 5.
x-51 wave rider
At number 9 we have the boeing x-51 wave rider this is an unmanned research scramjet experimental aircraft for hypersonic flight the x-51 and booster detached from a b52a was propelled to mach 4.8 by the booster rocket, then cleanly separated from the booster and fired its own engine, the test aircraft then accelerated to mach 5.1 and flew for 210 seconds until running out of fuel and plunging into the pacific ocean off point mogu for over six minutes of total flight time and this test was the longest air breathing hypersonic flight.
Rel skylon
At number eight is the Rel skylon this is a series of designs for a single stage to orbit space plane by the british company reaction engines limited using saber a combined cycle air breathing rocket propulsion system the skyline is a fully reusable single stage to orbit vehicle able to achieve orbit without staging which is intended to be used principally as a reusable launch system the vehicle design is a hydrogen-fueled aircraft that would take off from a purpose-built runway and accelerate to mach 5.4 at 26 kilometers altitude.
HSTDV
Number seven on the list for the top 10 fastest hypersonic aircraft is the HSTDV this is an unmanned scramjet demonstration aircraft for hypersonic speed flight is being developed as a carrier vehicle for hypersonic and long-range cruise missiles and will have multiple civil applications, including launching small satellites in low cost the hst dv program is being run by the defense research and development organization the eventual target is to reach mach 6 at an altitude of 32.5 kilometers.
sr-72
At number six we have the lockheed martin sr-72 called quality referred to as the son of blackbird it is an american hypersonic uav concept intended for intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance proposed privately in 2013 by lockheed martin as a successor to the retired lockheed sr-71 blackbird the company expects an sr-72 test vehicle could fly by 2023 with the growth of anti-satellite weapons denial of access area tactics and anti-stealth technologies it had been thought that a high-speed aircraft could penetrate protected airspace and observe or hit a target before enemies could detect or intercept it the sr-72 is envisioned with an air-breathing hypersonic propulsion system that has the ability to accelerate from standstill to mach 6 using the same engine making it about twice as fast as the sr-71.
north american x-15
At number five we have the north american x-15 this was a hypersonic rocket-powered aircraft operated by the united states air force and the national aeronautics and space administration as a part of the x-plane series of experimental aircraft the x-15 set speed and altitude records in the 1960s reaching the edge of outer space and returning with valuable data used in aircraft and spacecraft design the x-15's highest speed was achieved in october 1967 when william j knight flew at mach 6.70 at an altitude of 102 100 ft or 19.34 miles this set the official world record for the highest speed ever recorded by a crude powered aircraft which remains unbroken.
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| NASA x43 |
Number four on the list is nasa x43 this is an experimental unmanned hypersonic aircraft with multiple plane scale variations meant to check various aspects of hypersonic flight it had been a neighborhood of the x-plane series and specifically of nasa's hyperx program the x-43a was designed to be fully controllable in high-speed flight even when gliding without propulsion however the aircraft wasn't designed to land and be recovered the x-43 set a record at approximately mach 9.6 but the test vehicle crashed into the pacific ocean when the test was over.
DF-ZF
Number three we have the df-zf this is a chinese hypersonic light vehicle the dfz-f is designed to be mounted on df-17 and the dfzf is thought to reach a maximum speed of mach 10. the glider could be used for nuclear weapons delivery but also could be used to perform precision strike conventional visual missions which could penetrate the layered air defenses ofa u.s carrier strike group the hypersonic glider vehicles are less vulnerable to an anti-ballistic missile counter measures than conventional re-entry vehicles.
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| SHEFEX 2 |
At number two is that the SHEFEX 2 referred to as the sharp edge flight experiment this hypersonic plane is an experiment conducted by german aerospace center for the event of some new cheaper and safer design principles for space capsules hypersonic vehicle and space planes with re-entry capability in the atmosphere and their integration into a complete system on 22nd june 2012 shafix 2 was launched from andoyo rocket range in norway it reached a height of about 180 kilometers and the speed of mach 11.
Avangard
Now at number one spot we have the Avangard this is a russian hypersonic light vehicle which can deliver both nuclear and conventional payloads according to open source analysis by james avangard may be a pure glide vehicle without an independent system when approaching a target the glider is capable of sharp high-speed horizontal and vertical evasive maneuvers in flight which russian officials claim makes it invulnerable to any missile defense system the blast yield of a nuclear warhead carried by the avant-garde is reportedly more than two megatons tnt it was stated that the glider flew at 27 times the speed of sound invulnerable to interception.