U.S. MILITARY RELEASES RESULTS OF 13,000 MPH AIRCRAFT TEST FLIGHT OVER THE PACIFIC OCEAN
[LibertyNewsOnline.com]
By: W.J. Hennigan – Los Angeles Times
Posted: April 24, 2012
The results are in from last summer’s attempt to test new technology that would provide the Pentagon with a lightning-fast vehicle, capable of delivering a military strike anywhere in the world in less than an hour.
In August the Pentagon’s research arm, known as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, carried out a test flight of an experimental aircraft capable of traveling at 20 times the speed of sound.
The arrowhead-shaped unmanned aircraft, dubbed Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2, blasted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base, northwest of Santa Barbara, into the upper reaches of the Earth’s atmosphere aboard an eight-story Minotaur IV rocket made by Orbital Sciences Corp.
After reaching an undisclosed altitude, the aircraft jettisoned from its protective cover atop the rocket, then nose-dived back toward Earth, leveled out and glided above the Pacific at 20 times the speed of sound, or Mach 20.
The plan was for the Falcon to speed westward for about 30 minutes before plunging into the ocean near Kwajalein Atoll, about 4,000 miles from Vandenberg.
Pentagon Official Calls for F-35 Production Slowdown
[FoxNews.com]
Published December 02, 2011
U.S. Air Force / Samuel King Jr.July 14, 2011: Members of the 33rd Fighter Wing get a look at the Department fo Defense’s newest aircraft, the U.S. Air Force F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter, on arrival to its new home at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.
A top Pentagon official is calling for a production slowdown for the costly F-35 fighter jet after fatigue testing exposed potential cracks in the design.
In an interview with AOL Defense, U.S. Navy Vice Adm. David Venlet said it would be “wise to sort of temper production” of Lockheed Martin’s Joint Strike Fighter, calling initial assumptions about the design a “miscalculation.”
Venlet said early tests revealed that parts would need to be replaced and redesigned, adding several million dollars to the cost of planes that already carry a $111 million price tag on average.
“The analyzed hot spots that have arisen in the last 12 months or so in the program have surprised us at the amount of change and at the cost,” he told AOL Defense, adding that the fatigue spots are tough to get at, meaning “the cost burden of that is what sucks the wind out of your lungs.”
He said the upgrades aren’t necessary for safety but are important to ensure the jets last longer.
He said early tests performed after discovering a crack in one F-35 type showed other spots that could prematurely show wear.
“The question for me is not: ‘F-35 or not?’” Venlet told AOL Defense. “The question is, how many and how fast?”
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