[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

That was no where near the surface, where air density is much greater. Maybe Russia's claim is that it can go Mach 27, but isn't going that fast in the lower atmosphere. Ho hum. We already have vehicles that do that.

Also have to remember that in order to get the space shuttle to that velocity took two big booster rockets and a huge fuel tank, and it had to be propelled through our atmosphere to get there. This is something small enough that it could be launched from an aircraft or ship. Every aspect of a hypersonic weapon is technology that has to be invented. Hypersonic manned aircraft? THAT would be an interesting project.

Originally Posted by flipper35

A couple years ago in the summer my brother in law, daughter and I were using the heavens above app watching sats and we spotted one that looked normal until it started doing S turns. It was not the mini shuttle either.

There is a lot up there that very few people know what it is or what is up there.

For kinetic energy, they did some calculations years ago and if they dropped a 2500 pound steel dart from a bird from the Blackbird family when it was at speed and altitude it would go through 30 feet of reinforced concrete, or straight through the deck and out the bottom of a carrier.

Paul, that would be interesting if Russia can develop an engine by 2020 when they can't get the one in the PAK-FA down yet.

Per the excellent Ben Rich book Skunkworks, they actually marketed the Blackbird as an attack platform but the USAF balked because it made the struggling B-1 platform obsolete. Because of their arrogance and inability to admit that the B-1 program was floundering, they ignored the relatively low risk and cost path of using the SR-71 for attack purposes. Which is also, btw, why the Space Force is a pretty decent idea if well executed. The USAF still has a lot of guys that are only interested in loud fast jets, space has in many ways been an afterthought. Considering that it's really the next battlespace, at least between developed nations, it deserves more attention.