Not much is known about the concept at the moment, but it is more than likely that the Mach 5+ machine will be used not only for space industry, but also for military purposes. Guy Norris, editor-in-chief of Aviation Week, caught a model of Boeing’s all-new hypersonic aircraft at the AIAA SciTech show in San Diego recently. The editor-in-chief shared pictures of the new aircraft on Twitter, which were immediately spotted by a contributor to the online news site The Drive.
Four years after first unveiling its hypersonic airliner concept at #AIAASciTech 2018 @Boeing has revealed a refined, more realistic Mach 5 reusable air-breathing design targeting military and space launch roles at @aiaa San Diego event pic.twitter.com/CtpxA5OJGn
— Guy Norris (@AvWeekGuy) January 4, 2022
According to the Aviation Week editor-in-chief’s tweets, Boeing had already unveiled a similar design for a hypersonic aircraft called the Valkyrie at the 2018 SciTech Forum, but this year’s version has already been updated with a number of subtle changes. According to Guy Norris, this year’s version is a “more realistic, more sophisticated design aimed at space exploration and launch, as well as military missions.”
Although Boeing’s current model is basically the same as the previous version, some of the more important differences are visible to the naked eye: the fuselage is flatter in the middle, the wings are shorter and the engines are more widely spaced, in two prominent nacelles. Another Aviation Week editor, Steve Timble, even noticed a peculiar slip at the junction of the wingtip and the fuselage. Based on the information available, the journalist could not yet determine whether the odd fit was part of the original design or whether the mock-up had been sloppily assembled.
Almost nothing is known about the more technical specifications of the aircraft, except that the target hypersonic speed is defined as five times the speed of sound, which is a brutal speed of around 6174 km/h. Exactly what kind of engines will be used to achieve this speed is not yet known, but it is more than likely that ramjet or scramjet engines will be fitted. However, as these engines are barely or not at all operable at low speeds, it is more than likely that they will be used in conjunction with conventional jet engines.
As to why Boeing decided to come up with another hypersonic plane at this time, we can only guess: while the 2018 show’s model was presumably a response to the SR-72, another hypersonic plane developed by Lockheed Martin that received a lot of attention that year, this year’s launch date was suspiciously close to the release of a new batch of information about the US Air Force’s secret Project Mayhem programme. Still very little is known about the latter programme, but what is already emerging is that the emphasis is on developing hypersonic aircraft capable of carrying out strike, surveillance and reconnaissance missions.
Boeing also seems to be aiming for a “hypersonic laurel” in space exploration: in March 2021, the Australian arm of Boeing’s R&D division entered into a partnership with Hypersonix Launch Systems, which is also planning a hypersonic vehicle. It would use Hypersonix’s SPARTAN scramjet engines to deliver payloads into space.
Source: thedrive.com
Recent article
EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
The flying ambulance arrives at lightning speed
Drones News & Articles
Wing and Walmart Join Forces: Ushering a New Era of Drone Deliveries
EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
The electric car revolution could continue in the air
Flying Cars News & Articles
What Economic Challenges and Opportunities Might Arise from a World Where Flying Cars Are Commonplace ?
News & Articles Points of interest
NASA’s new passenger craft will make ocean crossings shorter than the time it takes to watch a movie
Electric airplane News & Articles
Pyka’s Game-changing Pelican: Setting New Aerial Agricultural Standards
EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
Unmanned aerial taxis flew in a unique formation
Electric airplane News & Articles
NASA’s Innovations: Soaring into an Electrified Flight Future
Drones News & Articles
Redefining Drone Warfare: From Expendable Units to Affordable Mass
EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
Could eVTOLs and Air Taxis Replace Public Transport ?
Flying Cars News & Articles
The Dawn of Flying Cars: A Glimpse into the Future of Urban Mobility
Drones News & Articles
Harnessing Nature’s Flight: The Bird-Inspired Drone
EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
Navigating the Skies of Tomorrow: Electric Air Taxis Eye the Paris Olympics
Flying Cars News & Articles
Soaring Above: Alef Automotive’s Revolutionary Flying Car Earns FAA Approval
Points of interest
Navigating the Skies: Korea’s PIBOT Set to Outdo Human Pilots
Drones
The Vanguard of Autonomous Flight: XQ-58A Valkyrie
News & Articles Points of interest
China’s JF-22 Hypersonic Wind Tunnel: The Future of Hypersonic Innovation
Drones News & Articles
A New Flight Formation: German Pilots and Drone Swarms
Drones
A New Dawn for Drone Technology: The Hypersonic Revolution
Additional aircraft News & Articles
The Morphobot: An Innovation in Multimodal Robotics
Additional aircraft News & Articles
Blazing Trails in Hypersonic Aviation: Europe’s Destinus Soars to New Heights
News & Articles Points of interest
The Dawn of AI Air Travel: Airbus and its Vision for Autonomy
EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
Technological advances in air taxis and flying vehicles are needed to transform public transport
Air taxi News & Articles
Volocopter’s High-Flying Ambitions for the Olympics
News & Articles Propulsion-Fuel
The Horizon of Aviation: Airbus’ Vision for 2035 and Beyond
EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
A Shift in Aviation Licensing and Training
Drones News & Articles
Russia’s Path to Drone Supremacy
Additional aircraft News & Articles
Spectacular Flight of Man-Made Saucers: Unveiling New Horizons of Sky-High Commute
Air taxi News & Articles
Israel’s Pioneering Venture into Drone Transport
Air taxi News & Articles
More efficient air taxis in the future
Air taxi News & Articles
The Coming Electric Air Taxi Revolution: Competing with Train Tickets ?
News & Articles Propulsion-Fuel
Unveiling the Whisper of Innovation: CycloTech’s Exploration into CycloRotor Noise Levels
Points of interest
Sailing the Skies in Style: Airbus’s Novel Vision for Air Travel
Drones News & Articles
Boosting Agriculture: A Drone Revolution Awaits in Budapest
News & Articles Propulsion-Fuel
Embracing the Future with Rolls-Royce’s Revolutionary UltraFan Engine
Air taxi News & Articles
Testing of perhaps the most promising air taxi begins
Additional aircraft News & Articles
Navigating the Future: Autonomous Helicopters Soar High
EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
Embracing the Future: Seoul’s Leap into Urban Air Mobility
Flying Cars
Toyota takes to the skies: we form an alliance
Drones News & Articles
Toyota Takes to the Skies: Investing in Revolutionary Drone Technology
More articles you may be interested in...
Drones
The Vanguard of Autonomous Flight: XQ-58A Valkyrie
News & Articles Points of interest
China’s JF-22 Hypersonic Wind Tunnel: The Future of Hypersonic Innovation
Drones News & Articles
A New Flight Formation: German Pilots and Drone Swarms
Drones
A New Dawn for Drone Technology: The Hypersonic Revolution
Air taxi News & Articles
The Coming Electric Air Taxi Revolution: Competing with Train Tickets ?
The Dutch company, Electron Aviation, is making a bold promise that is set to disrupt.......... READ MORE
News & Articles Propulsion-Fuel
Unveiling the Whisper of Innovation: CycloTech’s Exploration into CycloRotor Noise Levels
In the fast-paced realm of aeronautical engineering, the introduction of CycloRotors has heralded a paradigm.......... READ MORE
Points of interest
Sailing the Skies in Style: Airbus’s Novel Vision for Air Travel
Navigating the dawn of a fresh chapter in aviation, Airbus recently shared its audacious plans.......... READ MORE
Drones News & Articles
Boosting Agriculture: A Drone Revolution Awaits in Budapest
The stage is set in Hungary, as it stands on the brink of an exciting.......... READ MORE
News & Articles Propulsion-Fuel
Embracing the Future with Rolls-Royce’s Revolutionary UltraFan Engine
Just when you thought the apex of innovation had been reached, Rolls-Royce challenges the notion.......... READ MORE
Air taxi News & Articles
Testing of perhaps the most promising air taxi begins
For some of us, the very idea of an air taxi evokes scenes straight out.......... READ MORE
Additional aircraft News & Articles
Navigating the Future: Autonomous Helicopters Soar High
Unmanned helicopters are no longer a concept in some futuristic Sci-Fi novel. They're here, revolutionizing.......... READ MORE
EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
Embracing the Future: Seoul’s Leap into Urban Air Mobility
In an audacious move to revolutionize its transport system, Seoul - the bustling South Korean.......... READ MORE