Review and Evaluation of the Air Force Hypersonic Technology Program (1998) / Chapter Skim
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2 RESPONSES TO PARTS 1 AND 2 OF THE STATEMENT OF TASK
2 RESPONSES TO PARTS 1 AND 2 OF THE STATEMENT OF TASK
Pages 11-33
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From page 11... ...
To the committee's surprise, no operational requirements for a system using this technology have been established, although the committee found several statements by the Air Force and the Navy describing missions for which an air-breathing hypersonic missile would be valuable. In the absence of operational requirements, there has been considerable speculation in the technical community about the operational parameters of such a weapon.
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From page 12... ...
To develop an operational hypersonic missile system, the Air Force would have to take a two-part approach. First, the HyTech Program would have to be expanded to include a full-scale, airframe-integrated, engine flight test program; if the critical enabling technologies were mature, an operational air-breathing hypersonic missile system could be developed with low-to-moderate risk and without concurrency (almost certainly for a speed of Mach 6 and probably for a speed of Mach 8~.
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From page 13... ...
Analyses should include the following parameters: targets, speed, range, survivability, lethality, aircraft compatibility, risk, and cost. These analyses would provide a basis for articulating valid operational requirements for a hypersonic missile system.
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From page 14... ...
Recommendation. If the Air Force determines that there is a requirement for a hypersonic missile system, then it should establish a system-oriented program office to manage the design and development, integration, and flight testing of critical enabling technologies for a hypersonic missile system.
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From page 15... ...
Therefore, thermostructural designs for a hypersonic missile could use well characterized, reliable, high-temperature materials, coatings, and processes, in combination with passive or active cooling. A hypersonic missile system will require the integration of materials with widely different thermal and mechanical properties into one structure.
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From page 16... ...
Engine cycle temperatures for the HyTech baseline hydrocarbon scramjet engine were provided in Mercier, 1998. Temperatures of the cooled and not actively cooled engine structures were calculated by the committee.
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From page 17... ...
Temperatures of the cooled and not actively cooled engine structures were calculated by the committee.
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From page 18... ...
Vehicle Integration Because no one has extensive experience with hypersonic vehicles powered by air-breathing engines, there are many uncertainties in vehicle integration. Nevertheless, the committee believes that, with careful attention to integration issues and the development of coordinated analysis tools, integration of the vehicle will be possible.
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From page 19... ...
, will significantly affect the vehicle structural and control authority requirements during the unpowered descent. Stability, Guidance and Control, Navigation, and Communications Systems Guidance and control encompasses the following phases of a hypersonic missile's flight: boost phase, cruise phase, and terminal phase.
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From page 20... ...
The NASA HYPER-X programs addresses a few of these issues but does not include work on relevant overall guidance and control issues important to a hypersonic missile system. The primary uncertainty in the guidance and control system prior to the terminal phase is in the control algorithms.
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From page 21... ...
Therefore, the missile will require a highly accurate terminal guidance and sensing capability that can direct the missile to the target area, which might be several nautical miles in diameter, and can subsequently search for and select the most important target. A hypersonic missile system should be able to operate in any weather.
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From page 22... ...
In fact, an augmented GPS could very likely have an accuracy of 10 feet circular error probable by 2015. Other technologies that would support the use of GPS in the terminal phase of a hypersonic missile's flight include high-temperature radomes and, if jamming is considered a threat, antijamming techniques.
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From page 23... ...
The Air Force should complete the analyses and establish an operational requirement for a hypersonic missile so that the technologies being investigated by the HyTech Program can be affirmed or the program can be modified.
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From page 24... ...
. The formulation of operational requirements for an air-breathing hypersonic missile system will require comprehensive mission analyses.
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From page 25... ...
to establish operational requirements for the hypersonic missile system. INTERACTIONS WITH OTHER PROGRAMS, QUESTION 2d How does the Air Force hypersonic program interrelate with other Department of Defense hypersonic initiatives, e.g., the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration on hypersonic vehicles?
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From page 26... ...
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Affordable Rapid Response Missile Demonstrator Program This concept definition program relies on the design tools and hardware being refined by Air Force, Navy, NASA, and industry programs to develop the basis for an affordable hypersonic missile. The program objective is to build and demonstrate in flight a test vehicle that will enable the development of an affordable, Mach 6 to Mach 8, scramjet-powered, hydrocarbon-fueled missile to support rapid-response, longrange (100 to 600 nautical miles)
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From page 27... ...
For example, with a 2015 target date for operational capability, does the current program have a coherent plan and road map to build and test a Mach 8 regime hydrocarbon-fueled scramjet engine? Summary Answer The committee finds that initial operational capability for a hydrocarbon-fueled scramjet missile system in 2015 is technically feasible.
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From page 28... ...
scramjet, hypersonic missile system by 2015. The current Air Force program plan does not include flight testing of prototype vehicles to demonstrate the readiness of the scramjet engine technology for a Mach 8 missile system.
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From page 29... ...
This phase would include the conventional steps (i.e., detailed production design, rigorous full-mission system simulation, initial tooling and test equipment, production of two small lots of missiles, complete ground testing, development flight testing, and initial operational testing and evaluation)
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From page 30... ...
Answer If the Air Force determines that there is a requirement for a hypersonic missile system, the committee recommends that the Air Force adopt the road map in Figure 2-6. To achieve
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From page 31... ...
The program should proceed step by step through the various phases, including flight testing, and should address all critical technologies. IN FRASTRUCTURE, QUESTION 2f Are there any evident implications for the Air Force support infrastructure for a hypersonic missile system?
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From page 32... ...
Test Ranges Several test ranges can accommodate a flight test program for a missile with a nominal maximum Mach number of 8 and a range of about 750 nautical miles. The options vary depending on the flight test requirements, such as whether the test vehicle is expendable or recoverable and whether it is air launched or ground launched.
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From page 33... ...
Missile Storage For an operational hypersonic missile to be affordable, it should not entail significant changes to the Air Force support structure in the field. An affordable hypersonic missile will have to approach the "wooden round" concept as much as possible.
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