As the United States races to close the gap with China in the development of wartime technology, the Pentagon has successfully completed test-flights of a reusable hypersonic rocket-powered aircraft, according to The Wall Street Journal.
It's the U.S. military's first hypersonic flight of a reusable aircraft in more than 50 years.
The Defense Department said on Monday that the fully-autonomous flights were conducted from the Mojave Desert in December and March and exceeded five times the speed of sound.
According to the Journal, the test-flights of the Talon-A were conducted by Stratolaunch, the Mojave Desert-based maker of the hypersonic test aircraft, and Ursa Major, a builder of liquid rocket engines in Colorado.
Despite investing billions over several decades, the United States' progress in developing hypersonic capabilities has reportedly been sporadic. The test-flights are a clear example of how the aims of the Defense Department are being boosted by venture- and private-equity-backed tech companies.
Minimum speeds for hypersonic weapons clock in at 3,800 mph, and their components must be able to withstand the speed, intense temperatures that reach many thousand degrees, and evasive maneuvering designed to avoid the reach of both enemy aircraft and air defense systems. The reusable nature of the aircraft is ideal for the military, given its need for frequent, cost-effective testing.
The last time a reusable hypersonic aircraft was flown by the U.S. military was in 1968, before it shut down the X-15 program, which was a human-piloted flight research initiative that set speed and altitude records.
"The history of hypersonics is full of examples of successful programs that we have shut down prematurely, usually because of money," Mark J. Lewis, president and chief executive officer of the Purdue Applied Research Institute, told the Journal. Lewis previously worked on hypersonics during his time as a senior Defense Department official.
China forged ahead in the world of hypersonics while the Pentagon dithered, and the result has been some of the world's most state-of-the-art hypersonic missiles.
The U.S. has continued testing hypersonic weapons since the X-15 program was shuttered, but tests have dwindled in the decades since, and China conducts hypersonic test-flights at around 10 times the rate the U.S. does, Lewis said.
Stratolaunch CEO Zachary Krevor told the Journal that during the test-flights, the Talon-A was outfitted with radar, antennas, sensors and other communications systems the Defense Department wants to ensure work in a hypersonic environment.
"You collect a treasure trove of data," Krevor said. "That's what these tests are about."