Lockheed Martin Falcon Hypersonic Cruise Replace SR 71 Part 3

Описание: The unmanned scramjet powered aircraft capable to fly between Mach 6 to 8. Lockheed Martin Falcon program’s Hypersonic Cruise Vehicle Begun in 2003, the joint DARPA and Air Force ‘Force Application and Launch from CONUS’ (FALCON) programme was meant to develop global-range prompt strike capabilities with both nuclear and non- nuclear warheads, using systems less expensive than expendable ICBMs.

As told by Scott Lowther in his book US Supersonic Bomber Projects 2, FALCON was split into two main sub-programmes: the Small Launch Vehicle (SLV), aimed at developing low-cost orbital space launch systems for small payloads, and the Hypersonic Weapons System (HWS), which would develop global-range manoeuvrable strike systems.

The HWS effort was itself split into two areas: the CAV (Common Aero Vehicle), a manoeuvrable glider which could be loaded with a wide variety of nuclear or conventional warheads up to 1,000lb, and the HWS itself. This would be a large airbreathing hypersonic aircraft capable of carrying a number of CAVs and other weapons, able to strike targets 9,000 nautical miles from a launch site in the continental US (CONUS) within two hours of launch.


Three contractors received Phase 1 study contracts for the HWS in 2003… Lockheed Martin, Andrews Space Inc., and Northrop-Grumman. In 2004, Lockheed Martin won the Phase 2 round.
The Lockheed-Martin Hypersonic Cruise Vehicle as revealed publicly was an unmanned scramjet powered aircraft, capable of prompt aircraft-like operations and global range. Details on it are scant, with dimensions being determined solely from a crude scale comparison with the B-52. Inward-turning inlets fed the propulsion system…. a turbojet to about Mach 3, a scramjet to above Mach 6.

A weapons bay was illustrated along the vehicle centreline, with artwork showing the vehicle launching CAV warheads identical in configuration to the HTV-2 (Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 was an experimental hypersonic glide vehicle developed as part of the DARPA Falcon Project designed to fly in the Mach 20 range). A patent on the inward-turning inlets provide good configuration diagrams.
All leading edges were sharp, greatly reducing supersonic drag but requiring advanced materials.

The waverider-configured craft would be optimized to fly at one altitude and velocity (somewhere in the vicinity of Mach 6 to 8); at that design point, performance would be adequate for global range.