[QUOTE][IMG]http://www.mattrhysdavies.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/lack-of-news-sites-bbc-logo.jpg[/IMG]
The US has test-fired a new weapon which can travel at five times the speed of sound, the Pentagon says.
The missile was launched from Hawaii and reached its target on a Pacific atoll 2,300 miles (3,700km) away in less than half an hour.
The Advanced Hypersonic Weapon is part of a programme to build new high-speed long-range missiles.
Its aim is to allow the US military to strike targets anywhere in the world within an hour.
A statement from the Pentagon said the weapon had been launched using a three-stage booster system, which had successfully sent it into the upper atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean.
It reached hypersonic speeds before hitting its target on Kwajalein atoll, part of the Marshall Islands.
New munitions
The term hypersonic is defined as exceeding Mach 5 - five times the speed of sound, or 3,700 mph (6,000km/h).
"The objective of the test is to collect data on hypersonic boost-glide technologies and test range performance for long-range atmospheric flight," said the Pentagon statement.
The US defence department gave no details of the top speed achieved by the weapon.
However, defence analysts Global Security.org say the aim of the programme is to be able to strike a target 3,700 miles (6,000km) away in 35 minutes, with an accuracy of 10m.
They say the Advanced Hypersonic Weapon is one of a number of alternatives the Pentagon is considering to allow a conventional weapon to strike "fleeting targets around the globe faster than today's munitions".
Earlier this year a congressional report said the programme was part of a project to develop a "prompt global strike" system that can deliver long-range weapons anywhere in the world while avoiding flying over third-party nations.
[/QUOTE]
[B]SOURCE:[/B][url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-15790620[/url]
Wow. I never thought that a weapon my own nation is developing would frighten me so much. I guess this really re-enforces the idea of "nowhere to hide".
Hey look more ways to kill each other even faster.
almost 10% of the country is unemployed but at least you have hypersonic missiles right?
Not sure how I feel about this
[QUOTE=Stupideye;33331842]almost 10% of the country is unemployed but at least you have hypersonic missiles right?[/QUOTE]
You know that creating and testing weapons keeps many engineers and scientists at work.
[QUOTE=Stupideye;33331842]almost 10% of the country is unemployed but at least you have hypersonic missiles right?[/QUOTE]
The fuel for these missiles probably is unemployed people :v:
Useful [I]and[/I] dangerous. I like it.
[QUOTE=AceOfDivine;33331895]You know that creating and testing weapons keeps many engineers and scientists at work.[/QUOTE]
...and the same amount of money could be spent rebuilding our crumbling infrustructure, which could literally put tens of thousands of people to work across the country. The two are hardly comparable job-wise.
[QUOTE=AceOfDivine;33331895]You know that creating and testing weapons keeps many engineers and scientists at work.[/QUOTE]
Bothering them because they need to recalculate everything imperial to metric.
[QUOTE=AceOfDivine;33331895]You know that creating and testing weapons keeps many engineers and scientists at work.[/QUOTE]
Of course, but what about the unskilled, lower class who don't have the education to work on things like this? There are better ways to make jobs.
[QUOTE=AceOfDivine;33331895]You know that creating and testing weapons keeps many engineers and scientists at work.[/QUOTE]
I'm sure with the money spent designing, building and testing this missile they could have given support and created jobs for many more people. These weapons cost a lot of money.
Didn't we launch 2 of these in the past 2 years, and we lost contact with them half way through flight?
It actually made it this time, awesome! Maybe we can somehow use this as a means of travel in the future.
Oh shit.
We're all gonna die.
Whoops, was feeling all Middle-Eastern.
[QUOTE=Aerkhan;33331963]Oh shit.
We're all gonna die.
Whoops, was feeling all Middle-Eastern.[/QUOTE]
Well, we all are going to die; don't see what being Middle-Eastern has to do with immortality.
[QUOTE=Trunk Monkay;33331951]Didn't we launch 2 of these in the past 2 years, and we lost contact with them half way through flight?
It actually made it this time, awesome! Maybe we can somehow use this as a means of travel in the future.[/QUOTE]
No, you're thinking of something different. This is a missile, and what you're thinking of was a super-sonic craft.
[QUOTE=Loriborn;33331986]Well, we all are going to die; don't see what being Middle-Eastern has to do with immortality.[/QUOTE]
joke
your head
I worry for when everyone has these type of weapons, standard.
[QUOTE=ewitwins;33332012]No, you're thinking of something different. This is a missile, and what you're thinking of was a super-sonic craft.[/QUOTE]
[url]http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2011-08-11-hypersonic-glider-launched_n.htm[/url]
[QUOTE=skifer;33332046]I worry for when everyone has these type of weapons, standard.[/QUOTE]
I worry for when everyone has these and start mounting nuclear warheads on them
Wouldn't this cost a hell of a lot to fire, and wouldn't it be cheaper to use a railgun assisted rocket for similar performance.
[QUOTE=wari65;33332099]I worry for when everyone has these and start mounting nuclear warheads on them[/QUOTE]
In a way, not really. If everyone starts mounting nuclear-warheads on them, then they're just re-creating the M.A.D. principal again, and nothing will happen. If they mount conventional ballistics on it, then they'll use the system more frequently, making it far more troublesome.
We've already got laser-guided, satellite and GPS position tracking, computer calculated and aided, unmanned nuclear bombs.
[B]WE CAN ALWAYS MAKE THEM FLY FIVE TIMES FASTER THAN SPEED OF SOUND YOU KNOW?! TURN PEOPLE INTO DUST FASTER AND KILL ERONE![/B]
[IMG]http://media.treehugger.com/assets/images/2011/10/Nuclear-explosion-fireball-photo01.jpg[/IMG]
Amazing advancement to human kind!
[QUOTE=Loriborn;33331986]Well, we all are going to die; don't see what being Middle-Eastern has to do with immortality.[/QUOTE]
I was referring that USA likes invading the Middle-East.
With weapons and guns, because FUCK YEAH AMERICA.
[QUOTE=sHiBaN;33332125]We've already got laser-guided, satellite and GPS position tracking, computer calculated and aided, unmanned nuclear bombs.
[B]WE CAN ALWAYS MAKE THEM FLY FIVE TIMES FASTER THAN SPEED OF SOUND YOU KNOW?! TURN PEOPLE INTO DUST FASTER AND KILL ERONE![/B][/QUOTE]
If you think this shit is scary, read [B]THIS[/B]: [url]https://whiteeagleaerospace.wordpress.com/2010/07/12/the-missile-from-hell/[/url]
The fucking thing was designed to move so fast that anyone or anything below it was either killed by the supersonic waves created by it, or killed by the radiation it was [B]designed[/B] to spew across the landscape.
The bloody thing was built to not only fly automatically, but also to be able to deliver a warhead, fly to another destination, and deliver an upwards of [B]26[/B] warheads.
[QUOTE=Loriborn;33331813]Hey look more ways to kill each other even faster.[/QUOTE]
Look on the bright side, we could be looking for more ways to kill each other slowly.
[QUOTE=ewitwins;33331786][B]SOURCE:[/B][url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-15790620[/url]
Wow. I never thought that a weapon my own nation is developing would frighten me so much. I guess this really re-enforces the idea of "nowhere to hide".[/QUOTE]
1959 called.
They aren't impressed.
[img]http://img684.imageshack.us/img684/9593/739pxx15.jpg[/img]
[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_X-15[/url]
[QUOTE=GunFox;33332434]1959 called.
They aren't impressed.
[img]http://img684.imageshack.us/img684/9593/739pxx15.jpg[/img]
[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_X-15[/url][/QUOTE]
Good sir, I think you misunderstand.
Read about what the missile could [B]DO[/B], not about how fast it could travel.
The thing was a fucking MONSTROSITY!
[QUOTE=ewitwins;33332470]Good sir, I think you misunderstand.
Read about what the missile could [B]DO[/B], not about how fast it could travel.
The thing was a fucking MONSTROSITY![/QUOTE]
The speed with which it can strike is the only notable thing here. Not really sure what you are getting at.
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