Darpa’s Falcon HTV-2 Hit Mach 20 in Flight Tests
darpa’s Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 reached approximately Mach 20 in flight tests. The unmanned launch vehicle was also claimed to be able to fly from New York City to Los Angeles in under 12 minutes, a speed profile that turns navigation and flight-data work into the real story.
Falcon HTV-2 at Mach 20
Mach 20 works out to about 13,000 miles per hour, or 3.6 miles per second. That is the figure attached to Falcon’s hypersonic runs, and it is the number that matters if you are trying to understand why DARPA spent years modeling and simulating the program before it ever flew.
Harry J. Kazianis, who wrote about the vehicle, framed the craft as part of DARPA’s wider effort to push rapid technology demonstrators with the U.S. Air Force. The Falcon HTV-2 program also provided innovations and scientific discovery that framed the Department of Defense’s Conventional Prompt Global Strike programs.
2010 And 2011 Flights
Falcon made its first flight in 2010 and stayed in the air for only nine minutes. During that flight, it hit over Mach 17 for 139 seconds, which is the clearest proof in the record that the vehicle reached hypersonic speeds rather than merely targeting them on paper.
DARPA said the program deployed the largest number of sea, land, air, and space data collection assets in support of hypersonic flight test. DARPA also said Falcon maintained Global Positioning System signals while traveling 3.6 miles per second, validated two-way communication with the vehicle, and verified effective use of the Reaction Control System.
What DARPA Learned
There was a second flight in 2011 that lasted about nine minutes. DARPA wanted to analyze shock waves, boundary layer transition, mechanical stresses, and navigation at Mach 20 speeds, which shows the vehicle was built as a testbed first and not planned as a functioning missile.
The unresolved question is whether the program’s flight-test lessons translated into a later operational system, because the facts here stop at the demonstrator and its two short flights.
