{"id":29269,"date":"2018-10-08T03:21:05","date_gmt":"2018-10-08T03:21:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/10\/08\/air-force-introduces-hypersonic-flight-research-vehicle\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T20:54:50","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T20:54:50","slug":"air-force-introduces-hypersonic-flight-research-vehicle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/2018\/10\/08\/air-force-introduces-hypersonic-flight-research-vehicle\/","title":{"rendered":"Air Force introduces hypersonic flight research vehicle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Air Force has officially named the hypersonic flight<\/a> research vehicle it is testing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The vehicle, dubbed X-60A, is being developed by Generation Orbit Launch Services Inc., under contract to the Air Force Research Laboratory\u2019s<\/a> Aerospace Systems Directorate and High Speed Systems Division.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

X-60A is an air-dropped liquid rocket, purpose-built for hypersonic flight research. This is the first Air Force Small Business Innovative Research program to receive an experimental \u201cX\u201d designation, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base\u2019s public affairs office announced in a press release <\/a>Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Air Force Research Laboratory hopes the X-60A program will increase the frequency of flight testing while also lowering the cost of developing hypersonic technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe X-60A is like a flying wind tunnel to capture data that complements our current ground test capability,\u201d said Col. Colin Tucker, military deputy, Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for science, technology, and engineering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve long needed this type of test vehicle to better understand how materials and other technologies behave while flying at more than 5 times the speed of sound,” Tucker added. “It enables faster development of both our current hypersonic weapon rapid prototypes and evolving future systems.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
A computer simulation shows the Avangard hypersonic vehicle being released from booster rockets. President Vladimir Putin declared Thursday that Russia has developed a range of new nuclear weapons, claiming they can’t be intercepted. (RU-RTR Russian Television via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

X-60A is envisioned as a way to provide the Air Force, other U.S. Government agencies and private industry with a platform to more rapidly develop technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rather than relying simply on ground test facilities to simulate hypersonic flight, an actual flight research vehicle will provide real conditions for researchers to gauge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The testing will likely help in the Air Force\u2019s quest for hypersonic missiles. The service has already issued two contracts to Lockheed Martin to develop hypersonic weapons: the Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon<\/a> and the Hypersonic Conventional Strike Weapon program<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\t