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Many countries are attempting to develop hypersonic weapons, as well as the perfect hypersonic
plane. Russia and China are the leaders in this activity while the United States is third
on this list. The speed of sound is considered Mach 1, and hypersonic weapons can fly five
times faster than that, that is at Mach 5. While this is difficult to imagine, it does
offer a lot of potential for the space programs all over the world, and if you’re curious
which planes fall under this category. Please stay tuned.
But before watching this video. Don’t forget to leave your comment below If you have any
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Today, we present to you the top 10 fastest hypersonic aircraft in the world. It may include
space planes and glide vehicles. This list also includes those which have been decommissioned
and prototypes.
Let's countdown from 10. We have XCOR Lynx from United States
The XCOR Lynx was a proposed suborbital horizontal-takeoff, horizontal-landing (HTHL), rocket-powered
spaceplane that was under development by the California-based company XCOR Aerospace to
compete in the emerging suborbital spaceflight market. 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 2900 pounds force of thrust. According to XCOR, the Lynx 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.
Number 9 Boeing X-51 Wave Rider also from United States
A hypersonic plane designed specifically for Mach trials, it completed its first unmanned
power flight in May of 2010. The Boeing x-51 and booster detached from a B-52A was powered
to mach 4.8 by the booster rocket. It then separated cleanly from the booster and ignited
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 of Point Mugu for over six minutes
of total flight time. This test was the longest air breathing hypersonic flight.
Number 8. REL Skylon from United Kingdom This plane was the result of a series of designs
by Reaction Engines Limited and consisted of an air-breathing rocket propulsion system.
It was developed by Great Britain. The goal is to get to a speed of Mach 5.4 and an altitude
of 85,000 feet. Although designed to be unmanned, there is a proposed module that allows for
one crew member a captain. In addition, the Skylon can accommodate up to 24 passengers
and has a payload of 33,000 lbs. It is 273 feet long and 44 feet high, and the fuselage
diameter is more than 20 feet. The engine is a SABRE engine, and there are four of them
in this aircraft. Number 7. Lockheed Martin SR-72 from United
States This is another plane that never made it to
its goals, and it started as a way to obtain intelligence, reconnaissance, and surveillance
information. It was an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with no payloads identified, even though
its intent was to reach Mach 6 and 80,000 feet. This is quite a lofty goal and, in fact,
it is likely that new weapons and sensors would’ve had to be created to operate at
speeds such as these. In fact, Lockheed Martin had to collaborate with Aerojet Rocketdyne
to develop the best engine for the job. The intent was to provide the plane with an air-breathing
hypersonic propulsion system that would have accommodated a Mach 6 speed using that same
engine.
Number 6. Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (HSTDV) from India
The HSTDV is an unmanned scramjet demonstration aircraft that is run by the Indian Defense
Research and Development Organization, and it is part of India’s goal of providing
an unmanned flight for 20 seconds, while at the same time using a solid rocket launch
booster. Eventually, their target is a speed of Mach 6.5 and an altitude of 20 miles. In
addition to war applications, India will also use HSTDV for multiple civilian applications
including the launching of small satellites at low cost.
Number 5. North American X-15 from United States
The X-15 was a collaboration between NASA and the U.S. Air Force. In the 1960s, the
plane set all types of records, and it even went to outer space and returned with valuable
data that is still used in the development of spacecraft and aircraft today. In October
of 1967, one of those records was set when the X-15, manned by William J. Knight, flew
at Mach 6.70 and a speed of roughly 4,500 MPH. The X-15 can climb 60,000 feet per minute
and has a wing area of 200 square feet. It is also more than 50 feet long and 13 feet
high. Many famous pilots have flown the X-15, including Neil Armstrong, who piloted the
plane in 1962 and reached nearly 4,000 MPH. Number 4. Boeing X-43 also United States
The X-43 went into space without a crew and is the fastest aircraft on record, boasting
a Mach speed of 9.6. A winged booster rocket once flew on an X-43 and drop-launched from
a Boeing B-52 Stratofortress. The rocket was eventually discarded, allowing the X-43 to
fly using just its engine, which is known as a scramjet. These scramjets are able to
operate at Mach speeds of 4.5 or higher. Number 3. AVIC WU-14 or DF-ZF from China
This is a Chinese hypersonic glide vehicle that wasn’t officially in operation until
early October of 2019. In fact, it first flew on the 70th anniversary of the People’s
Republic of China, which made the testing quite significant. Known as the WU-14 by the
Pentagon, the DF-ZF is believed to reach speeds of between Mach 5, i.e., 3,800 MPH; and Mach
10, or 7,680 MPH. There is one weakness in this aircraft, and that is the lack of high-performance
computing power, which translates into less successful design attempts. The aircraft could
possibly be fitted to several of China’s ballistic missiles, although it is more likely
to first be used in anti-ship missiles and other short-range goals.
Number 2. SHEFEX from Germany Known as the Sharp Edge Flight Experiment,
this hypersonic plane is an experiment conducted by Germany with the intent of developing newer,
less expensive, and safer design principles for objects such as hypersonic vehicles, space
capsules, and space planes that have the capability to re-enter the atmosphere and integrate into
a complete system. The reason the plane is supposed to study re-entry is because of the
problems usually associated with re-entry when flying at high rates of speed. This includes
the planes’ heat shields, which must be dependent on materials that are sometimes
fragile and often very expensive. One of the goals of the SHEFEX, therefore, is to gain
the knowledge necessary so that solutions to this problem can be developed.
And at number 1 we have Avangard from Russia This is a hypersonic glide vehicle that is
one of six new Russian strategic weapons revealed in March of 2018. When it approaches a certain
target, the glider emits sharp high-speed horizontal and vertical evasive maneuvers
in flight, meaning it is considered to be invulnerable for any type of defense system.
The blast yield of any nuclear warhead fitted onto the Avangard is believed to be more than
two megatons of TNT. The Avangard has been test-flown many times. According to Russian
reports, the Avangard has actually reached a top speed of Mach 27. This makes it the
fastest hypersonic aircraft in the world. It was announced in early 2018 that the aircraft
is completed and is now ready to be used in real life. That is when the first successful
flight took place. That’s all for today, Thank you for watching.