Darpa: Now We Know Why Our Mach-20 Ship Crashed

Darpa: Now We Know Why Our Mach-20 Ship Crashed
By David Axe
November 16, 2010

It took six months, but the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency finally has a handle on what caused its hypersonic weapon prototype to “terminate” itself over the Pacific Ocean back in April. The findings have paved the way for a fresh round of tests for the Mach-20 flier, potentially leading to a new class of superfast weapons.

The Hypersonic Test Vehicle 2 — a 12-foot, 2,000-pound wedge packing a three-stage Minotaur booster — launched without incident from California on April 22. It climbed to the edge of space for a planned 30-minute, 4,000-mile jaunt toward Kwajalein in the middle of the Pacific.

But nine minutes into the flight, controllers on the ground lost contact with the HTV-2. The culprit, according to Darpa’s Engineering Review Board? “Higher-than-predicted yaw, which coupled into roll, thus exceeding the available control capability at the time of the anomaly.”

~snip~

Time was, Pentagon planners anticipated adapting HTV into a weapon capable of striking any target in the world within minutes of launch from a base in the United States. With that ambition running afoul of (very sensible) diplomatic concerns, planners instead envisioned using hypersonic technology in a new, superfast bomber.

Now it’s clear the Pentagon wants a less-ambitious bomber similar to models already in service. So instead, HTV-2 and its ilk are likely to lead to a new generation of missiles that can be carried by today’s manned planes.

but too stupid to build it so it works.

The "warmaking and dong-waving" aspect of human nature seems to have gotten totally out of control while the rest of us were watching Netflix or Ellen or something.

...and creates lot of jobs as part of the Military/Industrial complex welfare system. Even a failure makes someone money in having to replace parts and waste even more money.

with hundreds of jobs building "test models" forever into the future.

Depressing, is what it is.

You mean they pick up Dong-Ho and wave him around?




:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :patriot:

somebody's underpants, and that guy ain't going to blow up nothing.