The chat about hypersonic aircraft has been around for a decent while now, and a hypersonic plane going well above the speed of sound might not seem as interesting as it used to — but some of these are kept under covers, and there are a lot more of such planes, under the works that you might think.
One of these, which is the star of today’s show, is from Kratos Defense & Security Solutions.
If you instantly thought about Greek mythology — or the God of War franchise — you’re right on track.
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Secret hypersonic plane takes off
Dubbed Erinyes, the aircraft completed a successful test flight recently, but there’s not much we know about it.
You see, the project is currently classified, and Kratos is working with the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC).
Hence, there aren’t even any photos of the plane.
Watching a hypersonic plane might be alright, but how about watching the world’s biggest plane launch a hypersonic vehicle?
It carried out several top-secret ‘experiments’ on behalf of the US Department of Defense, and the test flight’s objective was to collect that data.
Hypersonic planes are extremely capable, and you can imagine the convenience if they are added to regular passenger flights.
The Erinyes name comes from the mythical goddess Furies, if you’re familiar with Greek mythology.
Moreover, the entire company and its operations have a Greek mythology theme going on — because this isn’t the end of it.
As fast as it gets
Kratos also makes a rocket engine called Zeus, which is reportedly under development and ready for testing.
Most projects that the aviation company has are under wraps, so there’s not much to know about them.
The hypersonic plane’s specifics are unknown, but since it is a hypersonic vehicle, that means it can reach top speeds above Mach 5 or 3,836 mph.
For reference, Mach 1 is the speed of sound, and that makes this hypersonic plane’s top speed five times that.
That’s certainly fast, isn’t it?
Well, not as fast as the fastest aircraft that flew at Mach 6.7.
Erinyes’ first take-off was part of a test flight, which aptly has the name Hypersonic Test Bed-1 (HTB-1).
According to Kratos, there will be another test flight with a bunch more experiments soon.
Although we don’t know its definition soon, it’s likely happening in the next few months.
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