Anyone who pays attention to the buzzwords making the news these days will have been sensitized to the word "hypersonic" especially when thrown around with "the M word" - missile. I personally think it's a bit over-hyped*, but it's a thing. In a press release on Monday the 14th, Rocket Lab announced they've been cleared by both the US and UK militaries to contract the HASTE system (the Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron - their main launch vehicle) to help with testing and development of hypersonic systems.
"The ability to contribute toward the collective security of the United States and the United Kingdom across both of these important programs is a proud moment for the HASTE team, and a demonstration of Rocket Lab’s commitment to lead from the front when it comes to innovative and unique solutions for hypersonic technology development," Rocket Lab founder and CEO Peter Beck said in a statement on Monday (April 14), when the news was announced.
"Keeping pace with global developments means more affordable tests at a higher rate that expands the boundaries of hypersonic technology — and that’s a capability we're already providing all in one platform with HASTE, at a commercial price and cadence that serves the mission of both nations," he added.
Space.com reports the US budget is $46 billion run by the Air Force called the Enterprise-Wide Agile Acquisition Contract while the UK budget is about $1.3 billion (US dollars) run by the U.K. Ministry of Defense project, called the Hypersonic Technologies & Capability Development Framework.
They also report that HASTE has flown three missions so far, but I seem to find only the first mission got a blog post. I don't know if something else just bumped them out of the news or if being military missions they didn't get much coverage. All three missions have been from Rocket Lab's Launch Complex 2 in the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
Image credit: Rocket Lab USA
*The reason I think "hypersonic missile" is a bit overhyped is that they're not a new thing. Everything that has ever made orbit has been hypersonic. Every ICBM, which operationally don't fly an orbit, is hypersonic. Yeah, I understand that they increase the capability required from anti-missile systems by reducing the available time to respond. The weak spot of every anti-missile system I've ever been aware of is if the other side "floods the zone" by simply sending more than the system can respond to.
Sensitized? These days I'm sensitized to the word billion and that's sad..
ReplyDeleteWhen hypersonic missiles started getting talked about I had to look up just what "hypersonic" was, 5 times the speed of sound. That's fast.
I was screwing around with "Hypersonic" missiles in the Military - it was called the Minuteman Missile. The warheads re-enter the atmosphere at Mach 20+ to target, slowing down to a mere Mach 3 before detonating on target.
ReplyDeleteWhat's the big deal??
It has acronyms. So you know it's going places. HAS isn't good enough, so they added Test (name of rocket). That's better.
DeleteNot to be outdone, the Brits went with Star Wars-esque E-WAAC. Kinda cute, like boaty mcboatface. But totally legit.
The use of hypersonic these days reminds me of the radio broadcast of War Of The Worlds; a technology outside the understanding of the people frightens them. That's a good thing for winning gov contracts. Behind every acronym there is a sinister plot, maybe.
Yeah, but Boaty McBoatface was good name. Especially compared to E-WAAC-a-mole.
DeleteIt was amazing to watch Sprint and Spartan ABMs fired from Meck Island to shoot down those 'transonic' warhead simulators fired from Vandenberg.
DeleteAnd I got to see Minuteman launches from Vandenberg.
I've seen things as a kid that are the stuff of science fiction.
It *used* to be that the big goal of hypersonic was air breathing speed, not rocket speed... That seems to have changed in the last few years.
ReplyDeleteAnd no, I don't believe the Chinese or Russian claims to be ahead of us in the area... They are far better at propaganda than at usable equipment!
Jonathan
"And no, I don't believe the Chinese or Russian claims to be ahead of us in the area... They are far better at propaganda than at usable equipment!" And I'm not ruling out the idea that the propaganda might be coming from OUR defense contractors looking for the Next Big Thing to get a few billion tax dollars.
DeleteOr the Intel agencies to justify more bigger budgets next year...
DeleteBack when I worked with some of them, I saw that first hand.
Jonathan
I watched a ChiCom military parade where they had a bunch of their 'transonic' anti-carrier cruise missiles trundle by on trucks. So great, so deadly, and, curiously, you could see the skins of the missiles flex like they were painted cardboard or cloth over a frame.
DeleteYou might want to Google ASALM, something we gave up on in the 1980's.
ReplyDelete