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To: rjsimmon

How controllable would it be flying at 4600 mph through dense atmosphere ? I am guessing it would have to fly a predetermined path with no room for error if it’s to hit a tiny speck (aircraft carrier) in the middle of a vast ocean. Now couple that with ‘Soviet technology’ and it’s more likely to end up straight in the drink.


10 posted on 05/31/2017 7:46:56 AM PDT by libh8er
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To: libh8er
How controllable would it be flying at 4600 mph through dense atmosphere ?

No control surface I have heard of could withstand the dynamic forces acting on it at 5k mph. Hypersonic flight is gravely dangerous and has only been attempted at altitudes that take it out of the atmosphere. The X-51 is probably the most recent hypersonic aircraft and it flew at Mach 5.0 for under 2 minutes and that was at 70,000' MSL. The fuel required was significant and needed to be cooled for flight.

The only plausible method would be terminal re-entry from a ballistic trajectory but then we are talking ICBM or similar platform. If that is the case, then the news story is grossly incorrect.

24 posted on 05/31/2017 8:23:52 AM PDT by rjsimmon (The Tree of Liberty Thirsts)
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