This is pretty interesting. Its very possible that the US military already has at least 1 Hypersonic aircraft, possibly code named the SR-72, and resides at the Lockheed Martin "Skunkworks" facility in the super secret "Area 51" airbase.
FULL STORY & IMAGES >>> https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018...ts-us-hypersonic-bomber-has-already-been-made
FULL STORY & IMAGES >>> https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018...ts-us-hypersonic-bomber-has-already-been-made
Skunk Works Exec Hints US Hypersonic Bomber Has "Already Been Made"
Last week we noted that “hypersonic aircraft and missiles are being developed and tested by the United States, Russia, and China at an accelerating pace.” The race for hypersonic technologies has flourished among global superpowers, who realize that the first to possess these technologies will revolutionize their civilian and military programs.
Curiously, Lockheed Martin’s mysterious Skunk Works team might have just spilled the beans about a completed hypersonic aircraft ready to upgrade the long-retired Mach 3 SR-71 dubbed the “Son of Blackbird.”
Jack O’Banion, Vice President of Strategy and Customer Requirements, Advanced Development Programs for Lockheed Martin, spoke at an aerospace conference last week, where he suggested that the hypersonic SR-72 aircraft might already exist.
...
“We couldn’t have made the engine itself—it would have melted down into slag if we had tried to produce it five years ago,” O’Banion said.
“But now we can digitally print that engine with an incredibly sophisticated cooling system integral into the material of the engine itself, and have that engine survive for multiple firings for routine operation.” The aircraft is also agile at hypersonic speeds, with reliable engine starts, he said.
...
... Lockheed failed to confirm any of O’Banion’s comments. The aerospace defense contractor “continues to advance and test technologies which will benefit hypersonic flight,” spokeswoman Melissa Dalton said in an email.
...