Photo: DARPA
Before long, the world will have to face another type of destructive weapon. Maybe not as devastating as nuclear devices, but certainly just as frightening. We're talking about hypersonic weapons, currently being developed by opposing nations around the world.
In the U.S., several branches of the military and companies are working on such projects. It was only last month when we learned about the Navy conducting a successful live-fire test of a hypersonic rocket.
Meant as a means of propulsion for missiles, these technologies should be capable of achieving speeds of between Mach 5 and Mach 10 (3,836 mph/6,173 kph to double that).
That means remote targets could be hit in the blink of an eye, and no technology currently available would be able to stop the incoming threat. But what happens if the target is much closer to the maximum range such a weapon has to travel before its fuel runs out?
It is exactly what DARPA and Aerojet Rocketdyne tried to find out as they performed a test back in May at the Army’s Redstone Test Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
As part of the American agency’s Operational Fires (OpFires) program, which seeks to develop “new technologies for ground-launched medium-range hypersonic weapons,” a full-scale static test firing of a second stage propulsion system was performed.
Described as being unique, the system, a solid-fuel “throttleable” rocket motor, has the capability to turn off before all of its fuel had been depleted. This capability, called on-demand thrust termination, should open up a wide range of targets “located anywhere within a medium-range continuum,” but also create ways for the rockets’ trajectories to be adjusted on the fly.
The OpFires program is presently Phase 2, with the delivery of a fully functional rocket not expected until Phase 3b. What that means in terms of years is anybody’s guess.
Meant as a means of propulsion for missiles, these technologies should be capable of achieving speeds of between Mach 5 and Mach 10 (3,836 mph/6,173 kph to double that).
That means remote targets could be hit in the blink of an eye, and no technology currently available would be able to stop the incoming threat. But what happens if the target is much closer to the maximum range such a weapon has to travel before its fuel runs out?
It is exactly what DARPA and Aerojet Rocketdyne tried to find out as they performed a test back in May at the Army’s Redstone Test Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
As part of the American agency’s Operational Fires (OpFires) program, which seeks to develop “new technologies for ground-launched medium-range hypersonic weapons,” a full-scale static test firing of a second stage propulsion system was performed.
Described as being unique, the system, a solid-fuel “throttleable” rocket motor, has the capability to turn off before all of its fuel had been depleted. This capability, called on-demand thrust termination, should open up a wide range of targets “located anywhere within a medium-range continuum,” but also create ways for the rockets’ trajectories to be adjusted on the fly.
The OpFires program is presently Phase 2, with the delivery of a fully functional rocket not expected until Phase 3b. What that means in terms of years is anybody’s guess.
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