I love articles about military tech, especially aerospace stuff...
http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/05/tech/innovation/new-spy-plane/index.html?hpt=hp_c3
http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/05/tech/innovation/new-spy-plane/index.html?hpt=hp_c3
SR-72...Deathbird?
Olgar Shiverstone
Legend
We can hope that given the current budget situation this will survive.
Drones tend to be cheaper than similarly or lesser capable aircraft, so I wouldn't be surprised if it did. Assuming it passes its tests, of course.
Olgar Shiverstone
Legend
It's not clear from reporting what the final form of the aircraft will be -- manned, optionally manned, or unmanned. The early test vehicles are unmanned, but that doesn't mean the target aircraft will be.
Unmanned doesn't necessarily mean cheap -- look at Global Hawk. A hypersonic vehicle with low observability has a very expensive dual-material challenge to overcome: something able to take extreme heat while maintaining LO at reasonable cost. The F22 has a very hard time with that at low supersonic speeds, though they've had 15 years of development in new materials to improve.
Unmanned doesn't necessarily mean cheap -- look at Global Hawk. A hypersonic vehicle with low observability has a very expensive dual-material challenge to overcome: something able to take extreme heat while maintaining LO at reasonable cost. The F22 has a very hard time with that at low supersonic speeds, though they've had 15 years of development in new materials to improve.
I think its clear the aim is to make it a drone:
But as you say, things could change over time. For instance, if the control systems prove to be too easy to hack, or too laggy to work at range at Mach 6, a drone might not be as feasible.
And no, I wasn't saying a drone SR-72 would be cheap, just cheaper than a similarly capable manned vehicle. No life support systems, smaller size = less material required...just all-around no design compromises required to tote around 2 bags of mostly water at hypersonic speeds.
But as you say, things could change over time. For instance, if the control systems prove to be too easy to hack, or too laggy to work at range at Mach 6, a drone might not be as feasible.
And no, I wasn't saying a drone SR-72 would be cheap, just cheaper than a similarly capable manned vehicle. No life support systems, smaller size = less material required...just all-around no design compromises required to tote around 2 bags of mostly water at hypersonic speeds.
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Yeah- the 2 bags in question were the pilot and flight engineer.
I was going for the sad indignant response. It failed.
I wonder about the use of such a weapon system. In an increasingly globalized and interconnected world you seem to have less use for a weapon which is designed to defeat high tech counter measures from other militaries. That seems to be what this thing is designed to do. You can do a lot more with a lot less against the current and near future threats.
That said, it looks really cool and I'm interested in the type of materials and technologies that come from their R & D.
I wonder about the use of such a weapon system. In an increasingly globalized and interconnected world you seem to have less use for a weapon which is designed to defeat high tech counter measures from other militaries. That seems to be what this thing is designed to do. You can do a lot more with a lot less against the current and near future threats.
That said, it looks really cool and I'm interested in the type of materials and technologies that come from their R & D.
Well, the SR-71 was a spy plane, perhaps the best ever. And the SR-72 looks like it is being designed to do everything the Blackbird could, faster...plus deliver a weapon strike.
So the way I see it, flying somewhere between Mach 3-6, it spots a high-value target: upon confirmation, it can deliver a strike on that target. The lag time between target acquisition and strikes on target is diminished to a harrowingly small sliver on the dial. How many times did the news report of missions targeting OBL, Saddam and Colonel Khadaffi that failed or got aborted because the target had left the area...or civilians had entered it.
Of course, that means you really have to be sure about what or whom you're attacking, and quickly. Otherwise, the downward trend in collateral damage would quickly change.
So the way I see it, flying somewhere between Mach 3-6, it spots a high-value target: upon confirmation, it can deliver a strike on that target. The lag time between target acquisition and strikes on target is diminished to a harrowingly small sliver on the dial. How many times did the news report of missions targeting OBL, Saddam and Colonel Khadaffi that failed or got aborted because the target had left the area...or civilians had entered it.
Of course, that means you really have to be sure about what or whom you're attacking, and quickly. Otherwise, the downward trend in collateral damage would quickly change.
Olgar Shiverstone
Legend
"Prompt Global Strike" is the in-vogue term at the moment. The USAF has been using it in concert with conventional ICBM concepts (mostly rejected; too hard to tell from a nuclear strike), hypersonic cruise missiles, and it would seem this SR-72 would fit that O&O.
Ever hear of the A-12? The original Project Oxcart, pre-SR-71?
Absolutely. The Air Force has been pretty anti-UAS (*cough* pardon me, RPV), though, which is why we keep hearing about "optionally manned" from them for things like the Long Range Strike Bomber. If this is funded on Lock-Mart's dime at the moment (or DARPA's) purely unmanned is smart, but I'm not sure where the requirements would creep to when my friends in blue get involved.
Ever hear of the A-12? The original Project Oxcart, pre-SR-71?
Dannyalcatraz said:
Absolutely. The Air Force has been pretty anti-UAS (*cough* pardon me, RPV), though, which is why we keep hearing about "optionally manned" from them for things like the Long Range Strike Bomber. If this is funded on Lock-Mart's dime at the moment (or DARPA's) purely unmanned is smart, but I'm not sure where the requirements would creep to when my friends in blue get involved.
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