{"id":1798677,"date":"2023-01-08T06:51:08","date_gmt":"2023-01-08T11:51:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1798677"},"modified":"2023-01-08T06:51:26","modified_gmt":"2023-01-08T11:51:26","slug":"pentagon-working-to-regain-u-s-superiority-in-hypersonics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pentagon-working-to-regain-u-s-superiority-in-hypersonics\/","title":{"rendered":"Pentagon Working To Regain U.S. Superiority In Hypersonics"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fpentagon-working-to-regain-u-s-superiority-in-hypersonics%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1798677&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47-->\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/D3BWJG2IPZFQHE3CJW23YG56QA.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\"   style=\"display:none\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"Paragraph-sc-1tqpf5s-0 kEzXdV body-paragraph body-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 In 1959, The U.S. Air Force  Navy NASA partnered with us to fly the first piloted hypersonic test plane, the X-15.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph-sc-1tqpf5s-0 kEzXdV body-paragraph body-paragraph\">During That flight is a high-speed vehicle that travels at speeds of at most 62 mph. Mach 5 was dropped under the wing a B-52 Bomber flying over the area Mojave Desert In Southern California. Pilot Scott Crossfield The aircraft reached an altitude 52,341 feet at its highest point and reached a maximum speed of 124 mph. Mach 2.11.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph-sc-1tqpf5s-0 kEzXdV body-paragraph body-paragraph\">The Flight was initiated by a rigorous testing effort. Three X-15 aircraft flew 199 flights over the next nine-years. The program eventually surpassed performance targets and achieved what is still the nation\u2019s the fastest piloted hypersonic flight at Mach 6.72, or 4,520 km per hour. Though it ended in 1968, discoveries from the program continue to inform the government\u2019s hypersonic vehicle research.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph-sc-1tqpf5s-0 kEzXdV body-paragraph body-paragraph\">In a 1964 report detailing the program\u2019s accomplishments, NASA researcher Wendell Stillwell wrote: \u201cAs long as Earth\u2019s atmosphere exists, wherever men fly that fast, they will be traveling in a region whose secrets the X-15 was first to probe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph-sc-1tqpf5s-0 kEzXdV body-paragraph body-paragraph\">More Half a century later, the X-15 remains the best. Defense Department\u2019s most rigorous hypersonic testing endeavor \u2014 a testament to the program\u2019s success, but also a result of periods of restrained investment in high-speed vehicle research. Whereas The 1960s saw an average of one X-15 airborne test per 18 days. Today, the department supports around a dozen hypersonic flights in a good year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph-sc-1tqpf5s-0 kEzXdV body-paragraph body-paragraph\">Despite The U.S. considered operational hypersonic technology a future capability from its early technological breakthroughs and has debated its place in the military arsenal. In In the meantime, China  Russia Recent years have seen significant advancements in the field of hypersonic systems.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph-sc-1tqpf5s-0 kEzXdV body-paragraph body-paragraph\">Those DoD is seeing an increase in the urgency to develop hypersonic weapons and boost funding for enabling technology. The Pentagon According to estimates by the, the US will spend $15 billion on hypersonic programmes between 2015-2024 in 70 different initiatives. Government Accountability Office. Its Fiscal 2023 budget was $4.7 billion for hypersonic weapon technology and $225.5million for hypersonic defence.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph-sc-1tqpf5s-0 kEzXdV body-paragraph body-paragraph\">As The strategy includes a part. Principal Director For Hypersonics Mike White Would like to restore the old testing rigor. The more programs test, he told C4ISRNET, the more they learn and the faster they\u2019ll deliver.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph-sc-1tqpf5s-0 kEzXdV body-paragraph body-paragraph\">\u201cWe really want to open the aperture to allow the national team to learn at the pace of discovery and not at a pace limited by the availability of flight-test range windows,\u201d He said this in an interview.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph-sc-1tqpf5s-0 kEzXdV body-paragraph body-paragraph\">Last year, White The defense testing community was presented with a challenge Increase The hypersonic test frequency is limited to one flight per day. The target sounds ambitious, but that\u2019s the point, he said. While the shift won\u2019t happen overnight, the hope is that setting a stretch goal will push the enterprise to change the way it operates.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph-sc-1tqpf5s-0 kEzXdV body-paragraph body-paragraph\">\u201cThe goal of one test per week was established to drive us toward a paradigm shift with respect to how and where we test, versus trying to just do more of what we\u2019re doing,\u201d White said. \u201cTo get there will take some time, but we are already well on our way.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"heading__StyledHeading-sc-123v3ct-0 iKlOni a-heading1\">Focused Flight test<\/h2>\n<p class=\"Paragraph-sc-1tqpf5s-0 kEzXdV body-paragraph body-paragraph\">Over DoD made some clear moves over the past year toward improving its hypersonic testing capabilities. They also moved toward a more regular flight-test pace.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph-sc-1tqpf5s-0 kEzXdV body-paragraph body-paragraph\">Those Initiatives include a Defense Innovation Unit Program called Hypersonic  High-Cadence Airborne Testing CapabilitiesThe company is using commercial technology to create a test plane that could fly in the next 2 years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph-sc-1tqpf5s-0 kEzXdV body-paragraph body-paragraph\">The Test Resource Management Center \u2014 a Pentagon-level office that supports test events and infrastructure across the department \u2014 also partnered with the Navy To develop the Multi-Service Hypersonics Test BedThis will make it easier to demonstrate, and validate hypersonic technology. And TRMC made significant progress in expanding its SkyRange program. This program is currently converting 24 decommissioned buildings. Global Hawk Drones for hypersonic testing<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph-sc-1tqpf5s-0 kEzXdV body-paragraph body-paragraph\">Along The department is expanding its access to hypersonic test ranges with the help of these new programs. According To the Congressional Research ServiceDoD has 11 open air ranges that can be used for test flights. White DoD said it is working with industry and international allies in order to increase this number.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph-sc-1tqpf5s-0 kEzXdV body-paragraph body-paragraph\">The department also increased its investment in its well-resourced test infrastructure. In Get a report Congress This year, the Pentagon Funding gap of $5.7 billion was identified for lab and test infrastructure. This includes $817 million in unfunded hypersonic military construction projects.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph-sc-1tqpf5s-0 kEzXdV body-paragraph body-paragraph\">While TRMC\u2019s annual funding request doesn\u2019t clearly identify hypersonic testing budgets for security reasons, director George Rumford C4ISRNET was informed that the organization prioritizes funding for this work.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph-sc-1tqpf5s-0 kEzXdV body-paragraph body-paragraph\">To illustrate this, he pointed to a section of TRMC\u2019s budget that identifies testing resources for strategic technologies like artificial intelligence, cyber and hypersonics. In fiscal 2018, the department\u2019s five-year forecast predicted TRMC would need just $470 million to support strategic technology testing in fiscal 2022. TRMC\u2019s actual fiscal 2022 funding came in around $1.5 billion, more than three times what it forecast. That Includes funding for ground testing infrastructure like wind tunnels and laboratories to support hypersonic development.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph-sc-1tqpf5s-0 kEzXdV body-paragraph body-paragraph\">That growth wasn\u2019t accidental, Rumford It was part of an effort to increase testing support in key technology areas.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph-sc-1tqpf5s-0 kEzXdV body-paragraph body-paragraph\">\u201cWithin the last five years, the department has made a strategic plan to triple the amount of investment in test infrastructure to accelerate the national defense strategy,\u201d He said. \u201cHypersonics is the big player in that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph-sc-1tqpf5s-0 kEzXdV body-paragraph body-paragraph\">According To WhiteThese focused initiatives and investments are beginning to pay off. In JulyThree U.S. hypersonic programs successfully tested the technology: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency\u2019s Operational Fires missile and its Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapons Concept The Air Force\u2019s Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon, or ARRW. Over A period of approximately three months between November The end of JanuaryHe said that seven flight tests are planned by the department.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph-sc-1tqpf5s-0 kEzXdV body-paragraph body-paragraph\">As ARRW&#8217;s first flight test of its full prototype (or all-up round) was part of the recent series of tests. Dec. 9 in Southern California. The Test extended the streak of successful flights for this program, which had suffered three failures in succession in 2021.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph-sc-1tqpf5s-0 kEzXdV body-paragraph body-paragraph\">White According to him, performance has improved across several hypersonic programs over the past year. This is due to increased system engineering rigor by the companies that develop those weapons.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph-sc-1tqpf5s-0 kEzXdV body-paragraph body-paragraph\">\u201cWe have experienced a dramatic turnaround in our flight-test results,\u201d He said.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"heading__StyledHeading-sc-123v3ct-0 iKlOni a-heading1\">Making The right investments<\/h2>\n<p class=\"Paragraph-sc-1tqpf5s-0 kEzXdV body-paragraph body-paragraph\">Former DoD officials and industry analysts say that while the department\u2019s testing ambitions may be within reach, it needs to invest in the right areas.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph-sc-1tqpf5s-0 kEzXdV body-paragraph body-paragraph\">Mark LewisDirector of the National Defense Industrial Association\u2019s Emerging Technology Institute and an expert in hypersonic capability development, told C4ISRNET he\u2019s optimistic DoD can reach its testing targets \u2014 and its history on the X-15 is evidence of that.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph-sc-1tqpf5s-0 kEzXdV body-paragraph body-paragraph\">\u201cWe can, because we have in the past,\u201d He said. \u201cBut if you\u2019re going to test at that pace, you need to do it differently than the way we\u2019ve been doing it so far in many of our hypersonics programs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph-sc-1tqpf5s-0 kEzXdV body-paragraph body-paragraph\">Lewis Has served in many roles within the Pentagon\u2019s research and development and science and technology community, including director of defense research and engineering for modernization and Air Force chief scientist \u2013 positions that included oversight of hypersonic development efforts. He said he\u2019s encouraged by TRMC\u2019s investments, but thinks the department needs to put a greater emphasis on recoverability and creating more realistic testing opportunities.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph-sc-1tqpf5s-0 kEzXdV body-paragraph body-paragraph\">On recoverability, Lewis While it would be ideal to have the whole system retrieved after the test, collecting individual parts of a vehicle can provide data analysis benefits.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph-sc-1tqpf5s-0 kEzXdV body-paragraph body-paragraph\">\u201cI might want to test new high-temperature materials. If I can put them on the outside of the vehicle [and] if I can get that vehicle back, I can take them off. I can look at them. I can see how they survive,\u201d He said. \u201cOtherwise, I\u2019m just relying on sensors and instrumentation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph-sc-1tqpf5s-0 kEzXdV body-paragraph body-paragraph\">Realistic flight testing \u2014 or as Lewis It is called &#8221; \u201cwind tunnels in the sky\u201d \u2014 should also be a priority for the department. While ground-based wind tunnels that replicate the in-flight environment are an important part of a program\u2019s test plan, they have limitations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph-sc-1tqpf5s-0 kEzXdV body-paragraph body-paragraph\">\u201cWind tunnels are always making some compromise,\u201d He said. \u201cThe very fact that you\u2019re in a tunnel and your model is sitting in a chamber and that chamber has walls \u2014 that\u2019s different than a vehicle that\u2019s flying out in the atmosphere.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph-sc-1tqpf5s-0 kEzXdV body-paragraph body-paragraph\">Lewis  White both noted that developing a more robust modeling and simulation infrastructure will lessen risk, but that it\u2019s not a replacement for flight testing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph-sc-1tqpf5s-0 kEzXdV body-paragraph body-paragraph\">\u201cThe more you can test on the ground, the more you reduce risk for flight testing, but there is no facility that can fully simulate hypersonic flight,\u201d White said. \u201cSo, we must fly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph-sc-1tqpf5s-0 kEzXdV body-paragraph body-paragraph\">Roman SchweizerAn analyst at the defense research firm, Cowen Group, said that while a \u201cbuild and test and fail quickly\u201d model is important if the department wants to move fast, frequency also comes with a cost \u2014 and there needs to be a push to reduce that even as the testing cadence picks up.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph-sc-1tqpf5s-0 kEzXdV body-paragraph body-paragraph\">\u201cYou need to keep cost as a function of that,\u201d He spoke to C4ISRNET. \u201cWhenever anyone has introduced new technology, but particularly the military, there\u2019s just a lot of trial and error that goes into it. And if the trial and error are super expensive, you\u2019re not going to be able to do a lot of it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WASHINGTON \u2014 In 1959, The U.S. Air Force Navy NASA partnered with us to fly the first piloted hypersonic test plane, the X-15. During That flight is a high-speed vehicle that travels at speeds of at most 62 mph. Mach 5 was dropped under the wing a B-52 Bomber flying over the area Mojave Desert &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1798680,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[547],"tags":[5458,13883,3761,7554,3819,13882,7238],"class_list":["post-1798677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-bongino-report","tag-bongino","tag-hypersonics","tag-pentagon","tag-regain","tag-report","tag-superiority","tag-u-s"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1798677","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1798677"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1798677\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1798680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1798677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1798677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1798677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}