The Air Force Might've Accidentally Dropped a Hypersonic Missile
A hypersonic missile was recently lost during a flight test when it apparently fell off the B-52 carrying it.
HAWC is a scramjet-powered missile designed to fly faster than Mach 5.
It’s not clear what impact the loss of a multi-million dollar missile will have on the HAWC program.
A hypersonic missile was recently destroyed after it apparently fell off the test aircraft carrying it. The HAWC missile, designed to fly faster than five times the speed of sound, reportedly detached from a B-52 bomber and fell to earth, where pieces of debris were recovered. No one was injured in the incident.
A source told Aviation Week & Space Technology the Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC) is believed to have been undergoing classified captive carry tests while mounted on a B-52 Stratofortress bomber. Captive carry tests typically involve mounting a weapon on the wings of an aircraft as they would under operational conditions, in order to determine safe operating parameters.
Unfortunately, this particular test flight was cut short by a loss of the weapon. Although the source was apparently unclear on exactly how the missile was lost, Aviation Week, “understands pieces of the instrumented test article were recovered after the accident.” This suggests that the HAWC was lost in midair, over land. DARPA responded to a request for information on the incident with a curt “details of those flight demonstrations are classified.”
HAWC is a scramjet-powered hypersonic weapon designed to fly at speeds in excess of Mach 5. Regular jet engines--and ramjets capable of Mach 3 to 6 flight--ingest air at subsonic speeds, using the oxygen content as fuel. Scramjet is short for “supersonic combustible ramjet”, meaning they suck in air at supersonic speeds. More air = more oxygen = more thrust.
HAWC is one of two hypersonic weapons the U.S. Air Force is developing for launch from tactical aircraft. HAWC is thought to resemble a large missile and carried aloft by a large fighter jet or bomber. Once launched, a rocket booster likely accelerates the missile to speeds fast enough that the scramjet can kick in. HAWC will probably carry a conventional high explosive warhead, though even one without a warhead will carry quite a kinetic punch.
In addition to HAWC, the Air Force is also working on the AGM-183 Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW). Edwards Air Force Base released a video of a B-52 conducting captive carry tests of an ARRW in summer 2019.
Hypersonic weapons are currently being developed by all of the major powers, including the U.S., Russia, and China. Hypersonic weapons have two main advantages. One, the weapon is fast, with a Mach 20 weapon flying at 15,345 miles an hour. This makes it possible to respond quickly to fleeting target opportunities, such as a terrorist meeting or a ballistic missile readying for launch. Second, their raw speed gives air defenders little time to detect, track, and shoot them down—if they even have the means to do so. Few if any weapons currently have the ability to shoot down a Mach 20 hypersonic weapon in flight.
Source: Aviation Week & Space Technology
You Might Also Like
