High-speed air vehicles designed for rapid global reach capability(Forwarded)

Public Affairs
Air Force Research Laboratory
Kirtland AFB, New Mexico

Contact: Michael P. Kleiman
Phone: 505-846-4704

January 25, 2006

VS Release No. 06-05

High-speed air vehicles designed for rapid global reach capability

The Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle program to demonstrate Mach-20
flight structures and affordable, responsive space lift

Flight achieving hypersonic speed, ranging from 6,000 to 15,000 miles per
hour (Mach 9 to Mach 22), and reaching altitudes between 100,000 to
150,000 feet, requires an airframe structure designed to survive intense
heat and pressure.

Such technology is currently being developed by scientists and engineers
serving with the Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle program.

Initiated in 2003, the joint Air Force and Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency endeavor consists of two distinct objectives: to develop
hypersonic technology for a glided or powered system and advance small,
low cost, and responsive launch vehicles. Other partners participating in
the demonstration program include the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration, Space and Missile Systems Center, Sandia National
Laboratories and the Air Force Research Laboratory's Air Vehicles and
Space Vehicles Directorates. Both AFRL organizations have been working on
the project's hypersonic technology vehicle portion, with Space Vehicles,
located at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., specifically focusing on
technologies for the glided system.

"We have made great progress and are on track for the first glided
hypersonic test vehicle flight in 2007," said Russ Partch, Falcon
Hypersonic Technology Vehicle-1 project manager. "It will enable a
revolutionary capability to quickly respond to events anywhere around the
world."

Planned for a less than one-hour flight in September 2007, the Falcon
HTV-1 will complete its inaugural voyage in the Pacific Ocean. Attaining
Mach 19 speed, the glided air vehicle will briefly exit the Earth's
atmosphere and reenter flying between 19 and 28 miles above the planet's
surface. Demonstrating hypersonic glide technology and setting the stage
for HTV-2 represent the primary focus of the lower risk/lower performance
initial flight.

"This is a very unique vehicle. During the early part of the flight, it
acts like a spacecraft. In the middle phase, the HTV reenters the
atmosphere like the Space Shuttle, and in the latter stage, it flies like
an aircraft," said Partch. "It is an interesting mix of challenges and
technologies."

For the second glided demonstration, scheduled for 2008 or 2009, the
Falcon HTV-2 will feature a different structural design, enhanced
controllability, and higher risk/performance factors during its high-speed
journey. Like its predecessor, the system will reach Mach 22 speed, and
then finish its one-hour plus mission in the Pacific Ocean. On the other
hand, the third, and final, Falcon HTV, slated for flight in 2009, will be
a departure from the previous two demonstrations. The reusable hypersonic
glider will lift off from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island,
Va., and then over an hour later, be recovered in the Atlantic Ocean. In
addition, the HTV-3, flying at a maximum of Mach 10 speed, will be
designed to achieve high aerodynamic efficiency and to validate external
heat barrier panels that will be reusable.

"The HTVs will prove technologies for global reach vehicles that can get a
payload to the area of interest quickly in support of the joint
warfighter," said the HTV-1 project manager.

Currently, program staff at the Space Vehicles Directorate are helping
develop a thermal protection system for the HTV structure to withstand
3,000-degree temperatures and incredible exterior pressures (25 times
those experienced by the Space Shuttle). An important component of this
critical technology, the all carbon aeroshell, must keep from being
crushed or burned up in this environment. To keep the vehicle interior
cool, an advanced multi-layer insulation is being created for long
duration flights. In addition, researchers are designing tools for
enhanced HTV navigation and maneuverability resulting in robust
aerodynamic performance.

"We are now starting to build the HTV-1's critical flight hardware
components," said Partch. "The entire test vehicle will be integrated at
the Lockheed Martin Corporation's facility in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania."

With its initial flight vehicle project progressing rapidly, the Falcon
HTV program is poised to meet, during the next three to four years, the
formidable challenges of accomplishing unprecedented hypersonic technology
validation in flight and demonstrating operationally responsive space
lift. As such, the results of these three experimental flights will have a
significant impact in the development of future affordable, adaptable, and
responsive military delivery platforms and launch systems supporting the
joint warfighter.

IMAGE CAPTIONS:
[http://www.vs.afrl.af.mil/News/Images/06-05.jpg (25KB)]
Artist's drawing of the Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle-1 (Courtesy
of Russ Partch)